1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; recognizing cost of living 
  1.3             differences among school districts; creating an index; 
  1.4             adjusting the general education formula allowance; 
  1.5             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, 
  1.6             sections 126C.05, by adding a subdivision; and 
  1.7             126C.10, subdivision 2; proposing coding for new law 
  1.8             in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 126C. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 126C.05, is 
  1.11  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 18.  [COST OF LIVING INDEX.] "Cost of living index" 
  1.13  means a measure of the relative price level of goods and 
  1.14  services across Minnesota school districts.  The index must be 
  1.15  determined according to section 126C.115. 
  1.16     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 126C.10, 
  1.17  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.18     Subd. 2.  [BASIC REVENUE.] The basic revenue for each 
  1.19  district equals the formula allowance times the resident pupil 
  1.20  units for the school year times the district's cost of living 
  1.21  index.  The formula allowance for fiscal year 1997 is $3,505.  
  1.22  The formula allowance for fiscal year 1998 is $3,581 and The 
  1.23  formula allowance for fiscal year 1999 and fiscal year 2000 is 
  1.24  $3,530.  The formula allowance for fiscal year 2001 and 
  1.25  subsequent fiscal years is $3,597. 
  1.26     Sec. 3.  [126C.115] [COST OF LIVING INDEX.] 
  1.27     Subdivision 1.  [INDEX.] (a) For fiscal years 2002 and 
  2.1   later, the cost of living index must be developed by measuring 
  2.2   the relative price level of a market basket of goods and 
  2.3   services in different regions of the state.  The cost of living 
  2.4   index for each school district equals the index number for that 
  2.5   district's region divided by the state average price level. 
  2.6      (b) For fiscal years 2000 and 2001, a district's cost of 
  2.7   living index is equal to the greater of: 
  2.8      (1) one; or 
  2.9      (2) the amount obtained by dividing the district's home 
  2.10  county cost of living index number determined by the program 
  2.11  evaluation division of the office of the legislative auditor in 
  2.12  its January 1989 study by the statewide average index of .946.  
  2.13  For purposes of this section, a district's home county is the 
  2.14  county where the district's main administrative office is 
  2.15  located. 
  2.16     Subd. 2.  [REGIONS.] For fiscal years 2002 and later, the 
  2.17  department of children, families, and learning shall determine 
  2.18  the appropriate cost of living regions in the state and assign 
  2.19  each school district to a region. 
  2.20     Subd. 3.  [BIENNIAL COMPUTATION.] The department shall 
  2.21  calculate the cost of living index every other year. 
  2.22     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.23     Sections 1 to 3 are effective July 1, 1999.