SB 273 GENERAL & LAND FUNDS FOR SCHOOLS

Sen William Soules

Actions: [6] SCC/SEC/SFC-SCC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 273 (SB 273) relates to public school finance and provides that income derived from state trust lands for the benefit of the common schools and distributed from the State Lands Maintenance Fund to the Common School Current Fund shall not supplant General Fund support for public schools. 

 SECTION 1 amends  Public Lands Section 19-1-17 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1917, Chapter 115, Section 1, as amended) under Permanent, Income and Current Funds in Subsection A to create the 41 funds listed in Subsection B. Subsection C is inserted:

C. The earnings derived from state lands for the benefit of the common schools and distributed from the state lands maintenance fund to the common school current fund shall not be used to supplant general fund support for public schools." 

SECTION 2 adds a new section of the Public School Finance Act titled Public School Support to direct that distributions from the State Lands Maintenance Fund to the Common School Current Fund  shall not supplant General Fund support for public schools. State Lands Maintenance Fund distributions shall be allocated each fiscal year to the school districts separate from the state equalization guarantee distribution.  

 Senate Bill 273 amends and adds to current Public Lands statute, which does not currently provide that school funding from the General Fund shall be distributed to schools separate from the funding distributed from the state trust lands common schools funds.