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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T



SPONSOR: Cisneros DATE TYPED: 02/11/00 HB
SHORT TITLE: Educational Technology Fund Distribution SB 214/aSEC
ANALYST: Fernandez

APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY00 FY01 FY00 FY01
NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)



Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to

SOURCES OF INFORMATION



State Department of Public Education (SDE)



SUMMARY



Synopsis of SEC Amendment



The Senate Education Committee amendment corrects a drafting error, changing the base equity factor from .0075 to .075.



Synopsis of Original Bill



Senate Bill 214 revises distribution of funds appropriated to the Educational Technology Fund.

The bill establishes a base equity factor or minimum funding level of .0075 of the total appropriation to the Educational Technology Fund.



Significant Issues



School districts are guaranteed to receive the minimum funding level. According to SDE, it is difficult for smaller rural districts to purchase technology under the current formula which is based on a per pupil allocation.



SDE indicates that the base equity factor should provide opportunities for small and rural districts that were not otherwise available with the current formula.



FISCAL IMPLICATIONS



Passage of this bill does not result in an increase or decrease in required funding but rather in a redistribution of the appropriation level.



The following is the revised formula: