Bill Text: NJ A419 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Makes fiscal year 2016 State supplemental appropriation and reduces State appropriation to transfer appropriation from preschool education aid to TPAF.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A419 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A419-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GREGORY P. MCGUCKIN
District 10 (Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Makes fiscal year 2016 State supplemental appropriation and reduces State appropriation to transfer appropriation from preschool education aid to TPAF.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act amending and supplementing "An Act making appropriations for the support of the State Government and the several public purposes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016 and regulating the disbursement thereof," approved June 26, 2015 (P.L.2015, c.63).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The following items in section 1 of P.L.2015, c.63, the annual appropriations act for State fiscal year 2016, are amended to read as follows:
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34 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 30 Educational, Cultural, and Intellectual Development 31 Direct Educational Services and Assistance STATE AID |
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01-5120 General Formula Aid...............................[$7,674,252,000] (From General Fund......................................................$3,933,000 ) (From Property Tax Relief Fund....[$7,670,319,000] $7,014,802,000) |
$6,383,218,000 |
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Total State Aid Appropriation, Direct |
$9,279,065,000 |
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Educational Services and Assistance..................................... ..................................................................[$9,934,582,000] (From General Fund.........................................$154,664,000 ) (From Property Tax Relief Fund................................................. .............................................[$9,779,918,000] $9,124,401,000) |
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State Aid: |
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[01 Preschool Education Aid (PTRF)................... |
($655,517,000)] |
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Notwithstanding the provisions of any law or regulation to the contrary, a district's 2015-2016 allocation of the amounts hereinabove appropriated for Equalization Aid, Educational Adequacy Aid, Adjustment Aid, [Preschool Education Aid,] School Choice Aid, Security Aid, Special Education Categorical Aid, Supplemental Enrollment Growth Aid, Transportation Aid, Under Adequacy Aid, PARCC Readiness, and Per Pupil Growth Aid, shall be as set forth in the February 2015 State Aid notice issued by the Commissioner of Education, as amended subject to the provisions herein.
[Notwithstanding the provisions of any law or regulation to the contrary, the preschool per pupil aid amounts set forth in subsection d. of section 12 of P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-54) shall be adjusted by the geographic cost adjustment developed by the commissioner pursuant to P.L.2007, c.260.]
[Notwithstanding the provisions of any law or regulation to the contrary, amounts hereinabove appropriated for Preschool Education Aid shall be used for such amounts as are necessary: 1) in the case of a district that received Early Launch to Learning Initiative aid in the 2007-2008 school year, an amount equal to the district's 2007-2008 allocation of Early Launch to Learning Initiative aid; 2) in the case of a school district that received a 2008-2009 allocation of Preschool Education Aid based on its 2007-2008 Early Childhood Program Aid allocation, an aid amount equal to the district's 2014-2015 per pupil allocation of Preschool Education Aid multiplied by the district's projected preschool enrollment; and 3) in the case of any other district with an allocation of Preschool Education Aid in the 2014-2015 school year calculated using the provisions of section 12 of P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-54), an amount calculated in accordance with those provisions based upon 2015--2016 projected enrollments multiplied by the per pupil allocations as set forth in the February 2015 State Aid notice issued by the Commissioner of Education.]
(cf: P.L.2015, c.63, s.1)
2. In addition to the amounts appropriated under P.L.2015, c.63 the annual appropriation act for fiscal year 2016, there are appropriated from the Property Tax Relief Fund the following amount for the purpose specified:
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34 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 30 Educational, Cultural, and Intellectual Development 34 Educational Support Services STATE AID |
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39-5094 Teachers' Pension and Annuity Assistance |
$655,517,000 |
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Total State Aid Appropriation, Educational Support |
$655,517,000 |
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Services |
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State Aid: |
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39 Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund (PTRF)................................................ |
($655,517,000) |
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3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill amends and supplements the FY 2016 appropriations act to transfer the appropriation for preschool education aid to the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF). By virtue of this transfer, the State's contribution to that pension system will be increased by $655.5 million, or 40 percent, to a total of nearly $2.294 billion.
Article VIII, section IV, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey stipulates that the Legislature will provide for "... the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all the children in the State between the ages of five and eighteen years." The provision of full-day preschool education to three- and four-year old children exceeds the Legislature's constitutional responsibilities, and is simply unaffordable given the State's current budget realities.
In Abbott v. Burke, 153 N.J. 180 (1998) (Abbott V), the New Jersey Supreme Court declared that the provision of full-day kindergarten for five-year olds was an essential part of a thorough and efficient education for Abbott districts. The Court then noted that since the State also recognized the benefits provided by the provision of preschool programs, the State should provide half-day preschool in the Abbott districts for three- and four-year olds. This has since been expanded to full-day preschool in certain school districts. At the time, the Court specifically declined to rule that the provision of preschool was a constitutional requirement under the "thorough and efficient" language of Article VIII, section IV, paragraph 1 of the State's constitution.
To date, the Supreme Court has never ruled that the provision of preschool for three- and four-year olds is a constitutional requirement under Article VIII, section IV, paragraph 1, which by its explicit terms applies to children between five and 18 years of age. Currently, the State funds full-day preschool in certain school districts at a cost to the State's taxpayers of over $655 million.
At the time that the Court decided Abbott V and the State began to fund preschool in certain districts, the State was in the midst of an unprecedented economic expansion. During that time, the State's public employee pension systems were doing so well that the State skipped payments into the pension systems.
Today, New Jersey is in the midst of an economic crisis, requiring the legislative and executive branches to make exceedingly difficult decisions on budget priorities. As recently noted by our Supreme Court in Burgos v. State of New Jersey, (A-55-14), decided June 15, 2015, the State must get its financial house in order. One of those compelling needs is the State's responsibility to honor its compensation commitment to retired public employees. The Court specifically determined that deciding budgetary priorities in the face of competing and worthwhile demands, within the limits of available funds, is essentially a decision for the political branches of government, and not the judicial branch. As noted by the Supreme Court in Burgos, "The determination to prioritize one appropriation decision above another is best left to the marketplace evaluators and the electorate, to whom the state must answer on such comparative evaluations of fiscal priorities."
The Judicial Branch cannot exercise authority that is exclusively granted to the political branches under our State constitution. In the absence of a constitutional mandate to fund preschool education for three- and four-year olds, it is necessary and appropriate to utilize this $655 million to help the State meet its contractual obligations to current and retired public employees.
