FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: January 11, 2023
Time Requested: 08:56 PM |
| Agency: |
Education, WV State Board of |
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| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 1950 |
Introduced |
HB2148 |
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| CBD Subject: |
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FUND(S):
0317
Sources of Revenue:
General Fund N/A
Legislation creates:
Creates New Fund:
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
The WVDE cannot identify any significant additional cost or cost-savings for the State under this proposed legislation; however, there may be some additional one-time costs relating to administrative functions necessary to transition existing contracts to the newly created entity and on-going cost increases for rent if School Building Authority (SBA) administrative staff is relocated to the primary WVDE location in Building 6 on the Capitol Complex. Unfortunately, WVDE lacks the data necessary to estimate those potential costs.
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 |
0 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 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):
The stated intent of the proposed legislation is to create the Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction, merge the powers and authority of the SBA into the Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction, remove gubernatorial appointments, and dissolve the SBA. Under this proposed legislation, the current functions of the SBA would be transferred to the newly created Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction, although the WVDE did not identify any changes in the entity’s functions when compared to the current SBA functions; therefore, the WVDE does not believe that this proposed legislation will result in significant additional costs or cost-savings for the State. The WVDE believes that there may be some additional one-time costs relating to administrative functions necessary to transition existing contracts to the newly created entity, and on-going cost increases for rent if SBA administrative staff is relocated to the primary WVDE location in Building 6 on the Capitol Complex. Unfortunately, WVDE lacks the data necessary to estimate those potential costs.
Memorandum
This proposed legislation creates the Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction, which would consist of the current members of the State Board of Education. This legislation appears to create a new layer of government rather than simply bestowing the authority and responsibilities of the SBA to the State Board of Education. The additional layer created by establishing the Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction creates some vagueness and inconsistencies within the proposed legislation and other sections of statute. For instance, §18-2L-3(a)(12) contemplates the transfer of funds from the Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction to the West Virginia Board of Education (State Board), which would essentially be a transfer of funds to itself.
This also creates some contradictions within the statute regarding the rule-making procedures the Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction would follow (W. Va. Code §18-2L-17). The West Virginia Board of Education follows the rule-making procedures contained within W. Va. Code §29A-3B-1 et. seq. However, the proposed legislation would require the Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction to follow the rule-making procedures contained within W. Va. Code §29A-3A-1 et seq. Furthermore, the proposed statute does not expressly address whether the Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction would be required to refile SBA rules that exist at the effective date of the proposed legislation. W. Va. Code §18-9D-21 concerning authorizing rules of the SBA is being repealed by the proposed statute, which would effectively invalidate all existing SBA rules.
This proposed legislation also contains at least one instance in which the word “authority” was inadvertently changed to “Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction.” This can be found on lines 75-76 of the proposed legislation (page 7, W. Va. Code §18-2L-3(a)(18)). The original statute in §18-2D-3(a)(18) states that “noting in this section shall be construed to supersede, limit or impair the authority of county boards…” While §18-2L-3(a)(18)) of the proposed statute now reads, “nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede, limit or impair the Office of School Rehabilitation and Construction of county boards…”
Additionally, this proposed legislation includes references to Regional Education Service Agencies (RESAs) which were dissolved during the 2017 Regular Legislative Session through the enactment of House Bill No. 2711.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Samuel E. Pauley
Email Address: sepauley@k12.wv.us