NY State Senate Bill 2017-S7846

Senate Bill S7846

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to approvals, modifications and rejections of smart schools investment plans by the smart schools review board

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 05, 2018	referred to education delivered to assembly passed senate ordered to third reading cal.556 committee discharged and committed to rules
Mar 02, 2018	referred to education

Votes

- Mar 5, 2018 - Floor Vote
  S7846
  
  60
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  1
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Floor Vote: Mar 5, 2018
      
      aye (60)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Akshar
      
      Alcantara
      
      Amedore
      
      Avella
      
      Bailey
      
      Benjamin
      
      Bonacic
      
      Boyle
      
      Breslin
      
      Brooks
      
      Carlucci
      
      Comrie
      
      Croci
      
      DeFrancisco
      
      Dilan
      
      Felder
      
      Flanagan
      
      Funke
      
      Gallivan
      
      Gianaris
      
      Golden
      
      Griffo
      
      Hamilton
      
      Hannon
      
      Helming
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Jacobs
      
      Kaminsky
      
      Kavanagh
      
      Kennedy
      
      Klein
      
      Krueger
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Larkin
      
      Little
      
      Marcellino
      
      Marchione
      
      Montgomery
      
      Murphy
      
      O'Mara
      
      Ortt
      
      Peralta
      
      Persaud
      
      Phillips
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Ritchie
      
      Rivera
      
      Robach
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Savino
      
      Serino
      
      Serrano
      
      Seward
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Tedisco
      
      Valesky
      
      Young
      
      excused (1)
      
      Parker
  Mar 5, 2018 - Rules Committee Vote
  S7846
  
  23
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  1
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  1
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Rules Committee Vote: Mar 5, 2018
      
      aye (23)
      
      Bonacic
      
      Breslin
      
      Carlucci
      
      DeFrancisco
      
      Dilan
      
      Flanagan
      
      Gianaris
      
      Griffo
      
      Hannon
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Larkin
      
      Little
      
      Marcellino
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Rivera
      
      Robach
      
      Savino
      
      Seward
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Valesky
      
      aye wr (1)
      
      Montgomery
      
      excused (1)
      
      Parker

co-Sponsors

View additional co-sponsors

2017-S7846 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10156
Current Committee:: Assembly Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §3641, Ed L

2017-S7846 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to approvals, modifications and rejections of smart school investment plans by the smart schools review board; requires the board to meet on a monthly basis; provide notification of rejections or modifications within seven days; and make payments within thirty days of approval.

2017-S7846 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7846

SPONSOR: PHILLIPS
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
approvals, modifications and rejections of smart schools investment
plans by the smart schools review board

 
PURPOSE:

To require the smart schools review board to meet on a regular monthly
basis, update districts on their application status, and require moneys
for approved projects to be paid out within 30 days of approval.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Subparagraphs (2) and (3) of paragraph b of subdivision 16 of
section 3641 of the education law are amended to require the smart
schools review board to meet monthly to approve plans, provide updates
on pending applications, require schools to be notified within seven
days of a plan being rejected or modifications being sought, and SED,
DOB, and SUNY must develop a process to notify districts of the status

of their applications and respond to district status inquires within
seven days.

Section 2. Subparagraph 2 of paragraph c of subdivision 16 of section
3641 of the education law, is amended to require payments for approved
projects by the smart schools review board be paid within 30 days of
approval

Section 3. Contains the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Smart Schools Review Board has only seven times since its first
meeting in May of 2016. As of February 1, 2018 there are 243 pending
applications. Districts have complained that it is difficult to get a
response from SED as to their plans' status. Furthermore, given that the
board meets at random intervals of time it is impossible for districts
to know when their project might be approved. Lastly, even after a
project is approved it can take a long time for districts to receive the
money to begin or pay off the project.

This legislation would give districts an avenue to check in on their
application status and provide some consistency by requiring the board
to meet on a more regular basis

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2017-S7846 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7846
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 2, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. PHILLIPS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to  approvals,  modifica-
   tions  and  rejections  of smart schools investment plans by the smart
   schools review board
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subparagraphs 2 and 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 16 of
 section 3641 of the education law, subparagraph 2 as added by section  2
 of  part  C  of  chapter  56  of  the laws of 2014 and subparagraph 3 as
 amended by section 3 of part YYY of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017,  are
 amended to read as follows:
   (2)  No  school  district  shall  be entitled to a smart schools grant
 until such district shall have submitted a smart schools investment plan
 to the smart schools review board and received such board's approval  of
 such  investment  plan.   THE SMART SCHOOLS REVIEW BOARD SHALL MEET ON A
 MONTHLY BASIS FOR PURPOSES OF APPROVING SUCH PLANS AND PROVIDING UPDATES
 ON PENDING APPLICATIONS. In  developing  such  investment  plan,  school
 districts  shall  consult  with  parents,  teachers, students, community
 members and other stakeholders.
   (3) The smart schools review board  shall  review  all  smart  schools
 investment  plans for compliance with all eligibility criteria and other
 requirements set forth in the guidelines. The smart schools review board
 may approve or reject such plans, or may return such plans to the school
 district for modifications; provided that notwithstanding any inconsist-
 ent provision of law, the smart schools review board  shall  approve  no
 such plan first submitted to the department on or after April fifteenth,
 two thousand seventeen, unless such plan calculates the amount of class-
 room  technology  to  be  loaned to students attending nonpublic schools
 pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-five of this chapter in a manner
 that includes the amount budgeted by the school  district  for  servers,
 wireless  access  points  and  other portable connectivity devices to be
 acquired as part of a school connectivity  project;  PROVIDED,  FURTHER,
 THAT  IF  A  PLAN  IS  REJECTED OR MODIFICATIONS ARE SOUGHT, SUCH SCHOOL
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14935-02-8

 S. 7846                             2
 
 DISTRICT SHALL BE NOTIFIED WITHIN SEVEN DAYS OF THE INITIAL  SUBMISSION.
 Upon  approval,  the  smart schools project or projects described in the
 investment plan shall be eligible for  smart  schools  grants.  A  smart
 schools project included in a school district's smart schools investment
 plan  shall  not require separate approval of the commissioner unless it
 is part of a school construction project required to  be  submitted  for
 approval  of  the commissioner pursuant to section four hundred eight of
 this chapter and/or subdivision six of section thirty-six hundred two of
 this article. Any department, agency or public authority  shall  provide
 the  smart  schools  review  board  with  any information it requires to
 fulfill its duties pursuant to this  subdivision.  THE  DEPARTMENT,  THE
 DIVISION OF THE BUDGET AND THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK SHALL DEVEL-
 OP A PROCESS FOR NOTIFYING DISTRICTS OF THE STATUS OF A PENDING APPLICA-
 TION AND SHALL DEVELOP A PROCESS FOR RESPONDING TO INQUIRIES ABOUT PEND-
 ING  APPLICATIONS  IN  A  TIME CERTAIN, BUT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL
 SUCH RESPONSE EXCEED SEVEN DAYS.
   § 2. Subparagraph 2 of paragraph c of subdivision 16 of  section  3641
 of  the  education law, as added by section 2 of part C of chapter 56 of
 the laws of 2014, is amended to read as follows:
   (2) The amounts determined pursuant to this subdivision to be paid  to
 school  districts  shall  be certified by the commissioner in accordance
 with this subdivision. If, upon the option of a school district, a smart
 schools investment plan directs that an amount be transferred or  subal-
 located  to  a  department,  agency,  or public authority to be spent on
 behalf of the school district, such  amounts  shall  be  transferred  or
 suballocated, consistent with such plan, upon the approval of the direc-
 tor  of  the budget. The amounts of money so certified or made available
 shall be paid by  the  comptroller  in  accordance  with  appropriations
 therefor,  provided,  however,  that  the  payment schedule set forth in
 subdivision one of this  section  shall  not  apply  to  such  payments,
 PROVIDED,  FURTHER  THAT SUCH PAYMENTS SHALL, TO THE EXTENT PRACTICABLE,
 BE PAID WITHIN THIRTY DAYS OF APPROVAL OF SUCH  PROJECTS  BY  THE  SMART
 SCHOOLS  REVIEW  BOARD. Such payment shall fulfill any obligation of the
 state or the commissioner to apportion funds pursuant to  this  subdivi-
 sion,  and  whenever  a  school district has been apportioned more money
 pursuant to this subdivision than that to  which  it  is  entitled,  the
 commissioner  may  deduct  such amount from the next apportionment to be
 made to such school district.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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