The Fiscal and Policy Note, a staff summary of the bill’s effects and fiscal consequences, is available for HB 1372/SB 965, the late-filed legislation to adjust timetables and provisions of the recently enacted “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” school legislation.
Among the many resources available for counties to better understand the State requirements for school funding, the fiscal note on HB 1372 is likely the single most useful guiding light. It lays out the effects – both compared to current law, and to pre-Kirwan, pre-pandemic expectations, for its many provisions, including many that affect (or delay the affect on) county budgeting.
Resources online for understanding the fast-moving debate on school funding:
HB 1372 text (34 pages)
HB 1372 fiscal note (25 pages)
Note: the votes on the bill information page for HB 1372 dated 3/16 reflect only the two committees’ procedural vote to reassign the bill solely to the House Appropriations Committee, they are not a vote on the passage of the bill to the floor of the House.
Comparable information on the identical Senate crossfile can be located on its bill page, as well.
MACo expects the bill to pass, in some form, this session. Numerous stakeholders supported the bill, though many offered amendments on various topics.
No testimony was offered at either the House or Senate hearing in opposition to the central matters affecting county funding – the delay in the effects of the FY 22 funding requirements (to match the effects at the State level) and the adjustment to the calculations for FY23 “Maintenance of Effort” funding for each county to be based on FY 21 spending and enrollment.