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Committee rejects proposal to keep school maintenance funding at 135% in 3–2 vote
Summary
A Senate select committee voted 3–2 to reject a bill that would retain a 135% multiplier for state school major-maintenance funding instead of reverting to 115%, a change proponents say would add about $31.9 million to the biennial allocation and help fund aging and oversized school buildings.
A Senate select committee considered legislation to retain an elevated funding multiplier for school building square footage but voted 3–2 to reject the measure after lawmakers debated whether the extra state funding should cover older, oversized facilities or risk creating incentives for districts to add noninstructional "enhancements."
The bill would keep the state’s major-maintenance formula at 135% of allowable square footage — up from the prior 115% — a change the select committee adopted last year and recommended be continued. Supporters said the higher multiplier better matches funding to the real inventory of space across many districts and reduces deferred maintenance that can force costly replacements.
"We went from a 115% of that square footage to a 135%," the sponsor told the committee, describing last year’s temporary change and the rationale for continuing it. Del McComey, director of the State Construction Department,…
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