House Ways and Means reviews draft H955 creating state school-construction aid with 50% base and bonus incentives

The House Ways and Means Committee on April 7 reviewed draft language for H955 that would create a statewide school-construction state-aid program, direct new staffing at the Agency of Education and accelerate rulemaking to implement prioritization and bonus incentives.

John Gray of the Office of Legislative Council walked the committee through findings that cite a facilities assessment conducted under Act 72 of 2021 identifying "over $6 billion in total needs over a 21-year period with an average annual need of $300 million" for replacement in kind. Gray said the draft frames school construction as a statewide funding issue that spreads costs to property taxpayers and can disincentivize districts from taking on capital projects.

The draft ties short-term and long-term funding approaches to the state aid program. In the short term the draft would "catalyze the state aid program by providing state aid in the form of up to an additional" amount that members discussed as somewhere between $50 million and $100 million annually; the committee did not settle…