2000 Legislation
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HOUSE BILL NO. 793 – Schools, unsafe, loans

HOUSE BILL NO. 793

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H0793.....................................................by WAYS AND MEANS
SCHOOLS - UNSAFE - Adds to existing law to require school districts to
identify and abate unsafe and unhealthy conditions in schools in the
district; and to create a School Safety and Health Revolving Loan Fund from
which school districts can borrow money from the state of Idaho to abate
unsafe and unhealthy conditions in schools.
                                                                        
03/29    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/30    Rpt prt - hld at desk

Bill Text


 H0793
                                                                        
                                                                        
  ||||              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ||||
 Fifty-fifth Legislature                  Second Regular Session - 2000
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                                                        
                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 793
                                                                        
                                BY WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE
                                                                        
  1                                        AN ACT
  2    RELATING TO SAFE SCHOOLS; AMENDING CHAPTER 16, TITLE 33, IDAHO  CODE,  BY  THE
  3        ADDITION  OF  A  NEW  SECTION 33-1613, IDAHO CODE, TO REQUIRE ABATEMENT OF
  4        UNSAFE AND UNHEALTHY CONDITIONS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES AND TO PROVIDE
  5        THE MECHANISM FOR SUCH ABATEMENT; AMENDING CHAPTER  16,  TITLE  33,  IDAHO
  6        CODE,  BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 33-1017, IDAHO CODE, TO CREATE THE
  7        SCHOOL SAFETY AND HEALTH REVOLVING LOAN FUND TO BE USED  TO  ABATE  UNSAFE
  8        AND  UNHEALTHY  CONDITIONS  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  FACILITIES WHEN THE SCHOOL
  9        DISTRICT'S FUNDS ARE INSUFFICIENT AND TO PROVIDE FOR ADMINISTRATION OF THE
 10        FUND; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY, PROVIDING RETROACTIVE APPLICATION  AND  PRO-
 11        VIDING THE EFFECT ON CERTAIN LOTTERY MONEYS.
                                                                        
 12    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
 13        SECTION  1.  That  Chapter  16,  Title 33, Idaho Code, be, and the same is
 14    hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and  des-
 15    ignated as Section 33-1613, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:
                                                                        
 16        33-1613.  SAFE  PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES REQUIRED. (1) Definition. As used
 17    in this section, "public  school  facilities"  means  the  physical  plant  of
 18    improved  or  unimproved real property owned or operated by a school district,
 19    including school buildings, administration  buildings,  playgrounds,  athletic
 20    fields,  etc., used by schoolchildren or school district personnel in the nor-
 21    mal course of providing a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free
 22    common schools, but does not include areas, buildings or  parts  of  buildings
 23    closed  from  or not used in the normal course of providing a general, uniform
 24    and thorough system of public, free common schools.  The  aspects  of  a  safe
 25    environment  conducive to learning as provided by section 33-1612, Idaho Code,
 26    that pertain to the physical plant used to  provide  a  general,  uniform  and
 27    thorough  system  of  public,  free common schools are hereby defined as those
 28    necessary to comply with the safety and health requirements set forth in  this
 29    section.
 30        (2)  Inspection.  It  is the duty of the board of trustees of every school
 31    district at least once in every school year to require an independent  inspec-
 32    tion  of  the  district's  school facilities to determine whether those school
 33    facilities comply with codes addressing safety and health standards for facil-
 34    ities, including electrical,  plumbing,  mechanical,  elevator,  fire  safety,
 35    boiler  safety,  life  safety,  structural,  snow loading, and sanitary codes,
 36    adopted by or pursuant to the Idaho building code advisory  act,  chapter  41,
 37    title  39, Idaho Code, adopted by the state fire marshal, adopted by generally
 38    applicable local ordinances, or adopted by rule of the state board  of  educa-
 39    tion  and applicable to school facilities. The inspection shall be done pursu-
 40    ant to section 39-4130, Idaho Code, or by an independent inspector profession-
 41    ally qualified to conduct inspections under the applicable code.  The  results
 42    of the inspection shall be presented to the board of trustees for their review
 43    and consideration.
                                                                        
                                           2
                                                                        
  1        (3)  Abatement  required  --  Reporting.  The  board of trustees shall, in
  2    their sole discretion, accept or reject the results of the inspection in whole
  3    or in part and in so doing shall identify any unsafe or  unhealthy  conditions
  4    in  the  district.  The  board  of  trustees  shall require that the unsafe or
  5    unhealthy conditions be abated and shall instruct the district's personnel  to
  6    take necessary steps to abate unsafe or unhealthy  conditions.  The  board  of
  7    trustees  must issue a report in the same school year in which the inspections
  8    are made declaring whether any unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified  have
  9    not  been  abated. The state board of education may, by rule, provide for uni-
 10    form reporting of unsafe and unhealthy conditions and for uniform reporting of
 11    abatement or absence of abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions.
 12        (4)  Costs of and plan of abatement. If the school district can abate  all
 13    unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified with the funds available to the dis-
 14    trict,  it  shall  do  so, and it need not separately account for the costs of
 15    abatement nor segregate funds expended for abatement. If the  school  district
 16    cannot  abate  all  unsafe  or  unhealthy conditions identified with the funds
 17    available to it, the board of trustees shall direct that a plan  of  abatement
 18    be  prepared. The plan of abatement shall provide a timetable that shall begin
 19    no later than the following school year and that shall provide  for  abatement
 20    with  all  deliberate speed of unsafe and unhealthy conditions identified. The
 21    district shall immediately begin to implement its plan of abatement  and  must
 22    separately  account  for its costs of abatement of unsafe and unhealthy condi-
 23    tions and separately segregate funds for the abatement of unsafe and unhealthy
 24    conditions as required by subsection (5) of this section.
 25        (5)  Special provisions for implementation of plan of abatement.
 26        (a)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of law concerning expenditure of
 27        lottery moneys distributed to the school district, all lottery moneys pro-
 28        vided to the school district for a school year in which  the  school  dis-
 29        trict  cannot  abate  unsafe  or  unhealthy  conditions identified and not
 30        legally encumbered to other uses at the time and all  lottery  moneys  for
 31        following  school  years  shall be segregated and expended exclusively for
 32        abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions identified until all  of  the
 33        unhealthy  and  unsafe  conditions identified are abated, provided, if the
 34        school district has obtained a loan from the safety and  health  revolving
 35        loan  fund,  the provisions of section 33-1017, Idaho Code, and the condi-
 36        tions of the loan shall determine the use of the district's lottery moneys
 37        during the term of the loan.
 38        (b)  If the lottery moneys referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection
 39        will, in the board of trustees' estimation, be insufficient to  abate  the
 40        unsafe  and  unhealthy  conditions identified, the plan of abatement shall
 41        identify additional sources of funds to  complete  the  abatement  of  the
 42        unsafe  and  unhealthy  conditions.  The board of trustees may choose from
 43        among the following sources, or from other sources of its own  identifica-
 44        tion,  but the plan of abatement must identify sufficient sources of funds
 45        for abatement.
 46             (i)   If the school district is not levying under  chapter  8,  title
 47             33,  Idaho Code, at the maximum levies allowed by law for levies that
 48             may be imposed by a board of trustees without an election, the  board
 49             of  trustees  may  increase any of those levies as allowed by law for
 50             the school year following the school year in which it was  unable  to
 51             abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified.
 52             (ii)  If  the  school  district is levying under chapter 8, title 33,
 53             Idaho Code, at the maximum levies allowed by law for levies that  may
 54             be imposed by the board of trustees without an election; or, if after
 55             increasing  those  levies  to  the  maximum levies allowed by law for
                                                                        
                                           3
                                                                        
  1             levies that may be imposed by the board of trustees without an  elec-
  2             tion,  there  will  still  be  insufficient  funds to abate unsafe or
  3             unhealthy conditions identified, the school  district,  after  giving
  4             notice  and  conducting  a hearing, may declare a financial emergency
  5             and/or may apply for a loan from the safety and health revolving loan
  6             fund as provided  in section 33-1017, Idaho Code, to obtain funds  to
  7             abate the unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified.
  8             (iii) Upon  the  declaration  of  a financial emergency, the board of
  9             trustees shall have the power to impose  a  reduction  in  force,  to
 10             freeze  some  or all salaries in the district, and/or to suspend some
 11             or all contracts that may be legally suspended upon  the  declaration
 12             of  a  financial  emergency;  provided, that when a board of trustees
 13             declares a financial emergency, or when a declaration of a  financial
 14             emergency  is  imposed  by  the  state  treasurer pursuant to section
 15             33-1017, Idaho Code, and there is a reduction in force, some  or  all
 16             salaries are frozen, or some contracts are suspended, the payments to
 17             the school district under the foundation program of chapter 10, title
 18             33,  Idaho  Code,  and  in particular the staff allowances under that
 19             chapter, shall not be reduced during the duration  of  the  financial
 20             emergency  as  a  result of a reduction in force, frozen salaries, or
 21             suspended salaries from what the staff allowance would be without the
 22             reduction in force, frozen salaries or suspended contracts.
 23        (c)  All costs of abatement for a program implementing plans of  abatement
 24        under  subsection (5) of this section must be separately accounted for and
 25        documented with regard to abatement of each unsafe or unhealthy  condition
 26        identified. Funds obtained under section 33-1017, Idaho Code, must be used
 27        exclusively  to  abate  unsafe  or  unhealthy conditions identified. Funds
 28        obtained pursuant to section 33-1017, Idaho Code, in excess of funds  nec-
 29        essary to abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified must be returned
 30        as provided in section 33-1017, Idaho Code. Return of these funds shall be
 31        judicially enforceable as provided in section 33-1017, Idaho Code.
                                                                        
 32        SECTION  2.  That  Chapter  10,  Title 33, Idaho Code, be, and the same is
 33    hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION , to be known and des-
 34    ignated as Section 33-1017, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:
                                                                        
 35        33-1017.  SCHOOL SAFETY AND HEALTH REVOLVING LOAN FUND. (1) Fund  created.
 36    There is hereby created a fund in the state treasury to be known as the school
 37    safety  and  health  revolving loan fund to which shall be credited all moneys
 38    that may be appropriated, apportioned, allocated and paid back to  that  fund.
 39    Moneys  in  this  fund  shall be used exclusively as provided in this section,
 40    except that moneys in this fund shall be returned to the budget  stabilization
 41    fund as provided in this section.
 42        (2)  Approval  of loan. A school district that does not have the financial
 43    resources to abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified pursuant to  sec-
 44    tion 33-1613, Idaho Code, and which is eligible to seek additional funds under
 45    subsection  (5)(b)(ii)  of section 33-1613, Idaho Code, may apply to the state
 46    treasurer for a loan from the safety and health revolving loan fund. The  loan
 47    shall  be  approved  if  the district's loan application meets the criteria of
 48    section 33-1613, Idaho Code, and of this section. If the  board  of  examiners
 49    finds that existing and anticipated loans under this section have depleted the
 50    school  safety  and health revolving loan fund to an extent that the fund does
 51    not have available sufficient moneys to loan  to  an  eligible  district,  the
 52    board  of  examiners  shall declare that additional loans may be made from the
 53    budget stabilization fund in section 57-814, Idaho Code, up to any  limits  of
                                                                        
                                           4
                                                                        
  1    the  use  of that fund provided by statute or declared by the governor in time
  2    of general revenue shortfalls or major disaster.
  3        (3)  Conditions of loan -- Repayment of loan.
  4        (a)  The school  district's  application  shall  identify  the  unsafe  or
  5        unhealthy  conditions  that  would be abated with the proceeds of the loan
  6        and shall propose a method of and timetable for abating  those  conditions
  7        and for repaying the loan.
  8        (b)  The state treasurer shall review the application to determine whether
  9        the  application  is  for  abatement  of unsafe or unhealthy conditions as
 10        described in section 33-1613, Idaho Code, and  to  determine  whether  the
 11        estimated costs of abatement and proposed plan of abatement is reasonable.
 12        In reviewing the application, the state treasurer may call upon the assis-
 13        tance  of  the  state division of building safety, the state fire marshal,
 14        the state department of administration, the state board of education,  the
 15        state department of education, or other knowledgeable persons to determine
 16        whether  conditions  identified  to be abated meet the criteria of section
 17        33-1613, Idaho Code, and to determine whether the plan of abatement, esti-
 18        mated costs of abatement and proposed methods of abatement are reasonable.
 19        The state treasurer shall  process  the  application  for  a  loan  within
 20        thirty-five (35) days after its receipt.
 21             (i)   If  the state treasurer determines that the application has not
 22             identified unsafe or unhealthy conditions  as  described  in  section
 23             33-1613, Idaho Code, the state treasurer shall return the application
 24             with  a written statement that contains reasons why the loan applica-
 25             tion does not meet the  criteria  of  this  section  and  of  section
 26             33-1613, Idaho Code.
 27             (ii)  If  the  state  treasurer  determines  that the application has
 28             identified unsafe or unhealthy conditions  as  described  in  section
 29             33-1613, Idaho Code, the state treasurer shall then determine whether
 30             the  application  has  proposed  reasonable methods of and reasonable
 31             estimates of costs of abatement. The state  treasurer  shall  approve
 32             the  plan  of  abatement  if  the  district has proposed a reasonable
 33             method of abatement and if its estimated costs of abatement are  rea-
 34             sonable;  otherwise, the state treasurer shall return the application
 35             with a written statement of how the application  can  be  amended  to
 36             qualify.
 37        (c)  The  state treasurer may accept the school district's proposed method
 38        of and timetable for repaying the loan or may impose  reasonable  alterna-
 39        tive or substitute methods of and timetables for repayment consistent with
 40        this  subsection, which alternative or substitute methods shall be binding
 41        on the school district.  At  a  minimum,  the  school  district  shall  be
 42        required  to  repay in each fiscal year succeeding the year of the loan an
 43        amount no less than the lottery proceeds that the  school  district  would
 44        otherwise  receive  for that fiscal year and additional foundation support
 45        moneys, if any, accruing as a result of an initial overestimation of state
 46        average daily attendance support units and later distribution of  residual
 47        amounts  resulting from fewer support units than originally estimated. The
 48        loan shall provide for the school safety and health revolving  loan  fund,
 49        or  the budget stabilization fund, to the extent that it was the source of
 50        the loan, to intercept the lottery proceeds that would otherwise go to the
 51        district until the loan is fully repaid. In addition, the state  treasurer
 52        may impose reasonable fiscal conditions on the district during the term of
 53        loan  repayment  including,  but  not  limited  to, restrictions in use of
 54        otherwise unrestricted district moneys to assist in repayment of the  loan
 55        or  in  abatement  of unsafe or unhealthy conditions, the declaration of a
                                                                        
                                           5
                                                                        
  1        financial emergency during some or all of the term  of  repayment  of  the
  2        loan,  or interception by the school safety and health revolving loan fund
  3        of a portion of the state foundation program payments  under  chapter  10,
  4        title 33, Idaho Code, that would otherwise go to the district to repay the
  5        loan.  The  initial  term of the loan shall not exceed ten (10) years, but
  6        may be extended  in the state treasurer's discretion for another ten  (10)
  7        years.
  8        (d)  If  a loan is approved, the state treasurer shall establish a line of
  9        credit for the school district and monthly reimburse the  school  district
 10        for  costs incurred to abate the unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified
 11        as the reason for the loan. The state treasurer may  prescribe  forms  and
 12        procedures for administration of this line of credit.
 13        (e)  A  school  district  may repay its loan or any portion of its loan in
 14        advance at any time without penalty.
 15        (4)  Interest. Loans to school districts under  this  section  shall  bear
 16    interest  at the average rate of interest that would be available to the state
 17    treasury were the loan funds retained in the state treasury, as determined  by
 18    the state treasurer.
 19        (5)  Certification  of loan funds spent. If a district obtains a loan pur-
 20    suant to this section, the board of trustees shall certify the total  expendi-
 21    tures  of  loaned funds that were actually spent to abate unsafe and unhealthy
 22    conditions.
 23        (6)  Excess funds. If any funds loaned pursuant to this section  were  not
 24    spent  on  abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions, they must be returned
 25    to the school safety and health loan fund or the budget stabilization fund, as
 26    the case may be. This subsection shall be judicially enforceable by the  state
 27    treasurer,  and  any  amounts  due  for repayment under this subsection may be
 28    recovered by offset from state foundation program moneys that would  otherwise
 29    be paid to the school district.
 30        (7)  Procedures.  The state treasurer may prescribe forms for applying for
 31    a loan under this section. No actions taken under this section  are  contested
 32    cases  or  rulemaking subject to chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, and none of
 33    the contested case or rulemaking procedures of chapter  52,  title  67,  Idaho
 34    Code, apply to actions taken under this section.
 35        (8)  Investment  of  idle  funds.  The  state  treasurer shall invest idle
 36    moneys in the fund. All interest on such investments shall be deposited in the
 37    fund.
                                                                        
 38        SECTION 3.  An emergency existing  therefor,  which  emergency  is  hereby
 39    declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its
 40    passage  and approval, and retroactively to January 1, 2000; provided however,
 41    this act shall not apply to any  expenditure  of  lottery  moneys  during  the
 42    1999-2000  school year that were legally encumbered before the time of passage
 43    and approval of this act.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact


                 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
                       RS 10334

The purpose of this bill is to require each school district 
to identify and abate unsafe and unhealthy conditions in the 
school district and to create a school safety and health 
revolving loan fund from which school districts may borrow 
funds from the state of Idaho to abate unsafe or unhealthy 
conditions in schools.

                       FISCAL IMPACT

The request for start-up of this loan fund is $20,000,000. The 
state treasurer is not seeking additional staff to administer 
the loan fund.

Contact
Name: Sen. Darrel Diede
Rep. Lawerence Denney
Phone: 208-332-1000
Mike Gilmore, Attorney General's Office
Phone: 208-334-4130

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE                      H 793