To amend part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide full Federal funding of such part, to provide an exception to the local maintenance of effort requirements, and for other purposes.

February 11, 2004

Mr. BASS (for himself, Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire, Mr. FERGUSON, and Mr. SIMMONS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

To amend part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide full Federal funding of such part, to provide an exception to the local maintenance of effort requirements, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Mandatory IDEA Full Funding Compromise Act'.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO IDEA.

(a) Funding- Section 611(j) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411(j)) is amended to read as follows:

`(j) Funding-

`(1) In general- For the purpose of carrying out this part, other than section 619, there are authorized to be appropriated--

`(A) $13,574,398,000, or 25.2 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2005, and, there are hereby appropriated $4,700,000,000, or 7.6 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2005, which shall become available for obligation on July 1, 2005, and shall remain available through September 30, 2006;

`(B) $15,746,302,000, or 28.3 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2006, and, there are hereby appropriated $6,871,904,000, or 10.7 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2006, which shall become available for obligation on July 1, 2006, and shall remain available through September 30, 2007;

`(C) $17,918,205,000, or 31.2 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2007, and, there are hereby appropriated $9,043,807,000, or 13.6 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2007, which shall become available for obligation on July 1, 2007, and shall remain available through September 30, 2008;

`(D) $20,090,109,000, or 28.3 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2008, and, there are hereby appropriated $11,215,711,000, or 16.3 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2008, which shall become available for obligation on July 1, 2008, and shall remain available through September 30, 2009;

`(E) $22,262,307,000, or 36.4 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2009, and, there are hereby appropriated $13,387,909,000, or 18.8 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2009, which shall become available for obligation on July 1, 2009, and shall remain available through September 30, 2010;

`(F) $25,198,603,000, or 40 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2010, and, there are hereby appropriated $16,324,205,000, or 22.4 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2), whichever is less, for fiscal year 2010, which shall become available for obligation on July 1, 2010, and shall remain available through September 30, 2011; and

`(G) 40 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2) for fiscal year 2011 and each subsequent fiscal year, and, there are hereby appropriated 22.4 percent of the amount determined under paragraph (2) for fiscal year 2011 and each subsequent fiscal year, which shall become available for obligation (A) with respect to fiscal year 2011, on July 1, 2011, and shall remain available through September 30, 2012, and (B) with respect to each subsequent fiscal year, on July 1 of that fiscal year and shall remain available through September 30 of the succeeding fiscal year.

`(2) Amount- The amount referred to in each of subparagraphs (A) through (G) of paragraph (1) is the product of--

`(A) the number of children with disabilities in all States who are receiving special education and related services--

`(i) aged 3 through 5 if the State is eligible for a grant under section 619; and

`(ii) aged 6 through 21; and

`(B) the average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary and secondary schools in the United States.'.

(b) Exception to the Local Maintenance of Effort Requirements- Section 613(a)(2)(B) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1413(a)(2)(B)) is amended to read as follows:

`(B) Exception- Notwithstanding the restriction in subparagraph (A)(iii), a local educational agency may reduce the level of expenditures, for 1 fiscal year at a time, if--

`(i) the State educational agency determines, and the Secretary agrees, that the local educational agency is in compliance with the requirements of this part during that fiscal year (or, if appropriate, the preceding fiscal year); and

`(ii) such reduction is--

`(I) attributable to the voluntary departure, by retirement or otherwise, or departure for just cause, of special education personnel;

`(II) attributable to a decrease in the enrollment of children with disabilities;

`(III) attributable to the termination of the obligation of the agency, consistent with this part, to provide a program of special education to a particular child with a disability that is an exceptionally costly program, as determined by the State educational agency, because the child--

`(aa) has left the jurisdiction of the agency;

`(bb) has reached the age at which the obligation of the agency to provide a free appropriate public education to the child has terminated; or

`(cc) no longer needs such program of special education;

`(IV) attributable to the termination of costly expenditures for long-term purchases, such as the acquisition of equipment or the construction of school facilities; or

`(V) equivalent to the amount of Federal funding the local educational agency receives under this part for a fiscal year that exceeds the amount the agency received under this part for the preceding fiscal year, but only if these reduced funds are used for any activity that may be funded under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.).'.

(c) Repeal- Section 613(a)(2) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1413(a)(2)) is further amended--

(1) by striking subparagraph (C);

(2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (C); and

(3) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking `paragraphs (B) and (C)' and inserting `paragraph (B)'.

END