1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; expanding the alternative 
  1.3             facilities program; modifying the compensatory revenue 
  1.4             formula; increasing referendum equalization aid; 
  1.5             establishing an elementary achievement program; 
  1.6             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, 
  1.7             sections 124.95, subdivision 1; and 124A.03, 
  1.8             subdivision 1f; Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, 
  1.9             sections 124.239, subdivisions 5a and 5b; 124.961; and 
  1.10            124A.22, subdivision 3. 
  1.11  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.12     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  1.13  124.239, subdivision 5a, is amended to read: 
  1.14     Subd. 5a.  [ALTERNATIVE FACILITIES AID.] A district's 
  1.15  alternative facilities aid is the amount equal to the district's 
  1.16  annual debt service costs, provided that the amount does not 
  1.17  exceed the amount certified to be levied for those purposes for 
  1.18  taxes payable in 1997, or for a district that made a levy under 
  1.19  subdivision 5, paragraph (b), the lesser of the district's 
  1.20  annual levy amount, or the amount of levy that it certified for 
  1.21  that purpose for taxes payable in 1997. 
  1.22     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  1.23  124.239, subdivision 5b, is amended to read: 
  1.24     Subd. 5b.  [ALTERNATIVE FACILITIES APPROPRIATION.] (a) An 
  1.25  amount not to exceed $17,000,000 $23,300,000 is appropriated 
  1.26  from the general fund to the commissioner of children, families, 
  1.27  and learning for fiscal year 2000 and each year thereafter for 
  1.28  payment of alternative facilities aid under subdivision 5a.  The 
  2.1   2000 appropriation includes $1,700,000 for 1999 and 
  2.2   $15,300,000 $21,600,000 for 2000. 
  2.3      (b) The appropriation in paragraph (a) must be reduced by 
  2.4   the amount of any money specifically appropriated for the same 
  2.5   purpose in any year from any state fund. 
  2.6      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 124.95, 
  2.7   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.8      Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) For purposes of this 
  2.9   section, the eligible debt service revenue of a district is 
  2.10  defined as follows: 
  2.11     (1) the amount needed to produce between five and six 
  2.12  percent in excess of the amount needed to meet when due the 
  2.13  principal and interest payments on the obligations of the 
  2.14  district for eligible projects according to subdivision 2, 
  2.15  including the amounts necessary for repayment of energy loans 
  2.16  according to section 216C.37 or sections 298.292 to 298.298, 
  2.17  debt service loans and capital loans, lease purchase payments 
  2.18  under section 124.91, subdivisions 2 and 3, alternative 
  2.19  facilities levies under section 124.239, subdivision 5, lease 
  2.20  levies under section 124.91, subdivision 1, minus 
  2.21     (2) the amount of debt service excess levy reduction for 
  2.22  that school year calculated according to the procedure 
  2.23  established by the commissioner. 
  2.24     (b) The obligations in this paragraph are excluded from 
  2.25  eligible debt service revenue: 
  2.26     (1) obligations under section 124.2445; 
  2.27     (2) the part of debt service principal and interest paid 
  2.28  from the taconite environmental protection fund or northeast 
  2.29  Minnesota economic protection trust; 
  2.30     (3) obligations issued under Laws 1991, chapter 265, 
  2.31  article 5, section 18, as amended by Laws 1992, chapter 499, 
  2.32  article 5, section 24; and 
  2.33     (4) obligations under section 124.2455. 
  2.34     (c) For purposes of this section, if a preexisting school 
  2.35  district reorganized under section 122.22, 122.23, or 122.241 to 
  2.36  122.248 is solely responsible for retirement of the preexisting 
  3.1   district's bonded indebtedness, capital loans or debt service 
  3.2   loans, debt service equalization aid must be computed separately 
  3.3   for each of the preexisting school districts. 
  3.4      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  3.5   124.961, is amended to read: 
  3.6      124.961 [DEBT SERVICE APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.7      (a) $35,480,000 in fiscal year 1998, $38,159,000 
  3.8   $41,093,000 in fiscal year 1999, and $38,390,000 $41,390,000 in 
  3.9   fiscal year 2000 and each year thereafter is appropriated from 
  3.10  the general fund to the commissioner of children, families, and 
  3.11  learning for payment of debt service equalization aid under 
  3.12  section 124.95.  The 2000 appropriation includes $3,842,000 for 
  3.13  1999 and $34,548,000 $37,251,000 for 2000. 
  3.14     (b) The appropriations in paragraph (a) must be reduced by 
  3.15  the amount of any money specifically appropriated for the same 
  3.16  purpose in any year from any state fund. 
  3.17     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 124A.03, 
  3.18  subdivision 1f, is amended to read: 
  3.19     Subd. 1f.  [REFERENDUM EQUALIZATION REVENUE.] A district's 
  3.20  referendum equalization revenue equals $315 $615 times the 
  3.21  district's actual pupil units for that year. 
  3.22     Referendum equalization revenue must not exceed a 
  3.23  district's total referendum revenue for that year. 
  3.24     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  3.25  124A.22, subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  3.26     Subd. 3.  [COMPENSATORY EDUCATION REVENUE.] (a) The 
  3.27  compensatory education revenue for each building in the district 
  3.28  equals the formula allowance times the compensation revenue 
  3.29  pupil units computed according to section 124.17, subdivision 
  3.30  1d.  Revenue shall be paid to the district and must be allocated 
  3.31  according to section 124A.28, subdivision 1a. 
  3.32     (b) For a district with more than 5,000 students eligible 
  3.33  for a free or reduced price lunch, compensatory education 
  3.34  revenue equals the greater of: 
  3.35     (1) the amount calculated under paragraph (a); or 
  3.36     (2) the statewide average amount of compensatory revenue 
  4.1   per pupil unit times the district's pupil units for that year. 
  4.2      Sec. 7.  [ANOKA-HENNEPIN ELEMENTARY ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM.] 
  4.3      A high achievement program within the elementary grades is 
  4.4   established in independent school district No. 11, 
  4.5   Anoka-Hennepin, to develop high levels of learning according to 
  4.6   the graduation standards.  The program must focus on learning 
  4.7   experiences outside of the regular classroom for students who 
  4.8   have mastered individual preparatory standards and demonstrate 
  4.9   high interests or talents in certain learning areas.  The 
  4.10  program must identify different groups of high achievers across 
  4.11  all ten learning areas.  The program must provide the state with 
  4.12  a model for defining standards of excellence at the elementary 
  4.13  level. 
  4.14     Sec. 8.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  4.15     $2,300,000 is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal 
  4.16  year 1999 to the commissioner of children, families, and 
  4.17  learning for the high achievement program in independent school 
  4.18  district No. 11, Anoka-Hennepin, according to section 7.  The 
  4.19  program must be implemented in grades kindergarten through five 
  4.20  in all elementary buildings in the district.