FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: January 18, 2023
Time Requested: 10:45 PM |
| Agency: |
Education, WV Department of |
|---|
| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 2553 |
Introduced |
HB2619 |
|
|---|
| CBD Subject: |
Education (K12) |
|---|
|
FUND(S):
0313
Sources of Revenue:
General Fund N/A
Legislation creates:
Increases Existing Expenses
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
The estimated cost to the State under the Public School Support Plan (PSSP) to open the Hope Scholarship to all children is $160,560,225. This is a maximum cost estimate because the WVDE does not have sufficient data to estimate the number of nonpublic students who may choose to participate in the program once participation is expanded.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2023
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2024
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
0 |
0 |
160,560,225 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
0 |
160,560,225 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
This proposed legislation, in its current form, redefines “eligible recipient” to mean “a child who is a resident of this state and is enrolled, eligible to be enrolled, or required to be enrolled in a kindergarten program or elementary or secondary school program in this state at the time of application.” Under current statute, Hope Scholarship eligibility does not expand to include all children until July 1, 2026, at the earliest. Upon passage, the proposed legislation would accelerate the full implementation of the Hope Scholarship statute by approximately three (3) fiscal years.
Current statute provides for an annual appropriation to the WVDE in an amount equal to the greater of no less than two percent of net public school enrollment adjusted for state aid purposes or the total number of eligible Hope Scholarship applicants received by the Treasurer, if available, multiplied by the prior year's statewide average net state aid allotted per pupil. The proposed legislation does not revise that portion of the statute. Therefore, the WVDE’s appropriation request for the 2023-24 fiscal year would not be impacted by this legislation. However, as currently ineligible homeschool and private school students began participating in the Hope Scholarship program, additional appropriations would be required to meet that demand. The WVDE does not have sufficient data to determine how many homeschool and private school students would choose to begin participating in the program once eligibility is expanded to all children.
To estimate the total cost to the State for this proposed legislation, the WVDE used current available homeschool and private school enrollment data to determine the total number of students who may become eligible if the legislation in enacted and implemented. Current data shows there are approximately 11,753 students in nonpublic/private schools and 22,228 students in a homeschool setting for a total of 33,981 students who would become eligible for the program next year. The statewide average net state aid allotted per pupil for the 2022-23 fiscal year is $4,725.07. Therefore, the estimated maximum cost to the State for this proposed legislation is $160,560,225.
Please note that the above estimate is not being reduced by the number of current homeschool and private school students who are already receiving the Hope Scholarship. At the time of this fiscal note request, the Treasurer’s Office had not yet provided that information to us in order to incorporate it into our estimate. It is also important to note that this estimate does not include any additional cost to the State for existing public school students already eligible under current statute who may decide to take advantage of the program. Those costs are already included in the WVDE’s annual appropriation request based upon the funding requirements noted above.
Memorandum
N/A
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Samuel E. Pauley
Email Address: sepauley@k12.wv.us