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PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor
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H.B. 937
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the end, the result is positive - increased funding for Maryland's children.
The Aging Schools Program was created in 1997 by Senate Bill 795 (Chapter 105 of
the Acts of 1997). Senate Bill 795 was introduced to settle long-standing litigation
between the State and various parties concerning the Baltimore City public school
system. The settlement agreement, and the legislation, provided $230 million to the
City schools over a 5-year period. This increased funding created a concern, and
ultimately an opportunity, for other local subdivisions. In the course of the legislative
process, Senate Bill 795 was amended to provide additional funds through existing
and newly created programs for other subdivisions in Maryland. The programs that
were chosen to receive an increase, the newly created programs and the amounts of
additional funding were directly related to the unique needs of local school systems.
All of the funding in the bill was scheduled to sunset after fiscal year 2002.
The Aging Schools Program was allocated $4.3 million by Chapter 105. The funds
were distributed, by specific amount, to each local jurisdiction in the State. The basis
for the distribution was the amount of pre-1960 square footage in each jurisdiction,
as of April 1995. House Bill 937 establishes a formula relying on data that was
updated in February 2002.
In 1998, the General Assembly enacted legislation to increase the academic
performance of at-risk children and settle the Prince George's County Public School
System desegregation litigation (Chapters 565 and 704 of the Acts of 1998). Again, the
legislation created new programs, and enhanced existing programs, that were of
interest to local jurisdictions. The School Accountability Funding for Excellence
(SAFE) Program (Chapter 565) provided an additional $6 million for the Aging
Schools Program. Again, this was accomplished by including specific allocations for
each jurisdiction. As was the case with Chapter 105 of 1997, all funding in Chapter
565 of 1998 was to sunset after fiscal year 2002.
Legislation passed in the 1999 Session of the General Assembly created the
Commission on Education Finance, Equity, and Excellence, which came to be known
as the Thornton Commission. The Thornton Commission issued an interim report
that contained several recommendations to be considered by the General Assembly
during the 2001 Session. One of those recommendations was to continue the funding
for the programs that were set to sunset after fiscal year 2002, including the Aging
Schools Program, through fiscal year 2003. This recommendation was enacted as part
of Senate Bill 719 (Chapter 420 of the Acts of 2001). This year, the General Assembly
passed Senate Bill 856 (Chapter 288 of the Acts of 2002), historic legislation that
further implements the Thornton Commission's recommendations, which extends the
Aging Schools Program through fiscal year 2004.
The extensive, yet brief, history of the Program leads to my decision to veto House Bill
937. First, local school systems have been planning to receive the specific allocations
contained in the law for fiscal year 2003 since the 2001 Session. House Bill 937
significantly reduces the amount that some local jurisdictions will receive and
completely eliminates funding for 3 jurisdictions (Charles, Dorchester and Somerset
Counties). In all, 17 jurisdictions, small and large, wealthy and poor, would receive
less money than anticipated. For example, Cecil County would receive approximately
half of the $355,000 it was scheduled to receive; Wicomico County would receive
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- 5271 -
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