A00940 Summary:

BILL NOA00940
 
SAME ASNo Same As
 
SPONSORJacobson
 
COSPNSREachus
 
MLTSPNSR
 
 
Establishes the task force on education funding and property tax reform within the education department to conduct a comprehensive study and provide recommendations on education funding and the role of property taxes in funding New York's education system.
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A00940 Actions:

BILL NOA00940
 
01/11/2023referred to education
01/03/2024referred to education
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A00940 Committee Votes:

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A00940 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A940
 
SPONSOR: Jacobson
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to establish a task force on education funding and property tax reform   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 creates the task force on education funding and property tax reform within the State Education Department. The purpose of the task force shall be to conduct a comprehensive study and provide recommenda- tions on education funding and the role of property taxes in funding New York's education system to ensure an effective, efficient, and equitable system of funding public education. Subdivision 1 provides that the task force will be review and offer recommendations on the following: the current reliance on property taxes to fund New York's education system including its impact on taxpayers and high-need school districts, the district-specific factors such as impact of regional cost and student needs in education funding, federal changes which impact property taxes including but not limited to the cap on state and local tax deduction, community and school district income and wealth as it relates to property taxes, the use of property taxes to fund education in other states, spending disparities among neighboring school districts, and additional relevant factors that the task force deems necessary. Subdivision 2 provides that the task force shall consist of seventeen members as follows: the Commissioner of Education or his or her desig- nee, who shall serve as chair of the task force, four appointees by the governor, four appointees by the temporary president of the senate, four appointees by the speaker of the Assembly, and four appointees by the commissioner of education. All appointments of the task force shall be made no later than 30 days after the effective date of this act. The task force may begin its duties when .a majority of members have been appointed. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority and shall receive no compen- sation for their services. Subdivision 3 provides that the task force shall make a report to the Governor, Temporary President of the Senate, and Speaker of the Assembly on its findings on or before December 31, 2023. Section 2 sets forth the enacting clause which is immediately.   JUSTIFICATION: Currently our public schools are funded from a mix of sources: Federal, State and local. State aid averages about 50% although some poorer school districts receive more than that. Federal aid is less than 10% and the balance is from local taxes - primarily the property tax. The property tax is an unfair way to fund our schools. It is unfair to the child since it means that the quality of a child's education is based on the property wealth of the district. It is unfair to the taxpayer, since it has nothing to do with the ability of the taxpayer to pay. Those on fixed incomes or out of work and those whose incomes have not kept up with the increase in school property taxes are particularly affected by the unfair burden of the property tax. If we were starting from scratch, no one would devise this system of funding our schools. The task force will be review and offer recommendations on the follow- ing: the current reliance on property taxes to fund New York's education system including its impact on taxpayers and high-need school districts, the district-specific factors such as impact of regional cost and student needs in education funding, federal changes which impact proper- ty taxes including but not limited to the cap on state and local tax deduction, community and school district income and wealth as it relates to property taxes, how other states use property taxes to fund education and spending disparities among neighboring school districts. The task force may also take up additional relevant factors that it deems neces- sary. It is necessary to compare our system of funding public education to that in other states to see what we can learn. Obviously, the way we fund education in New York State is not working. The time to reform how we finance our public schools is now and the task force to be estab- lished by this bill would be an important first step.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2017-2018: A11235 - Referred to Assembly Education Committee S8879 - Referred to Senate Finance Committee 2019-2020: S1687 - Advanced to Third Senate Reading; Committed to Senate Rules Committee 2021-2022: A9642 - Referred to Assembly Education Committee S2684-A - Referred to Senate Finance Committee   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: Minimal cost to the State to complete the task force report.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
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A00940 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                           940
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 11, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. JACOBSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Education
 
        AN  ACT  to establish a task force on education funding and property tax
          reform
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Task  force on education funding and property tax reform.
     2  1. There is hereby created a task force on education funding and proper-
     3  ty tax reform in New York state within the state  education  department.
     4  The  purpose of the task force shall be to conduct a comprehensive study
     5  and provide recommendations on education funding and the role of proper-
     6  ty taxes in funding New York's education system to ensure an  effective,
     7  efficient,  and  equitable  system of funding public education. The task
     8  force shall review and offer recommendations on the following:
     9    (a) the current reliance on property taxes to fund New  York's  educa-
    10  tion  system,  including  its  impact  on taxpayers and high-need school
    11  districts;
    12    (b) district-specific factors, such as the impact  of  regional  costs
    13  and student need in education funding;
    14    (c)  federal  changes  which  impact property taxes, including but not
    15  limited to, the federal cap on the state and local tax deduction;
    16    (d) community and school district income and wealth as it  relates  to
    17  local property taxes;
    18    (e) the use of property taxes to fund education in other states;
    19    (f) spending disparities among neighboring school districts; and
    20    (g) additional relevant factors that the task force deems necessary.
    21    2. (a) The task force shall consist of seventeen members as follows:
    22    (i)  the  commissioner  of education or his or her designee, who shall
    23  serve as chair of the task force;
    24    (ii) four people appointed by the governor;
    25    (iii) four people appointed by the temporary president of the senate;
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02144-01-3

        A. 940                              2
 
     1    (iv) four people appointed by the speaker of the assembly; and
     2    (v) four people appointed by the commissioner of education.
     3    (b)  All  appointments  of  members of the task force shall be made no
     4  later than thirty days after the effective date of this  act.  The  task
     5  force  may begin its duties when a majority of the total number of posi-
     6  tions have been appointed. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing
     7  authority.  The members of the task force shall receive no  compensation
     8  for their services.
     9    3. The task force shall make a report to the governor, temporary pres-
    10  ident of the senate and speaker of the assembly of its findings, conclu-
    11  sions and recommendations on or before December 31, 2023.
    12    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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