FY 2015-16 COMMUNITY COLLEGES BUDGET H.B. 4113 (CR-1): CONFERENCE REPORT
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$364,724,900 |
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Items Included by the Senate and House |
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1. Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) Rate Cap. The Governor, Senate, and House included an additional $17.2 million to continue funding the difference between the employer's capped contribution rate for unfunded accrued liabilities (20.96%) and the actual unfunded actuarial accrued liability contributions rate. MPSERS reform legislation requires the State to pay the difference between these amounts. The FY 2015-16 State payment totals $69.5 million. |
17,200,000 |
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2. Renaissance Zone Reimbursements. Payments are made pursuant to Public Act 376 of 1996. The Act requires the State to reimburse a community college district each year for all tax revenue lost as a result of the exemption of property under the Act. The Governor, Senate, and House increased funding from $3.5 million to $5.1 million based on current projections. |
1,600,000 |
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Conference Agreement on Items of Difference |
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3. Part-Time Independent Student Grants. The Governor and Senate included $6.0 million to initiate a revised version of the Part-Time Independent Student Grants created by Public Act 102 of 1986. The grants were established to foster the pursuit of postsecondary education by part-time students who have financial need. The House reduced funding for the grants to $2,928,100. The Conference did not include funding for the grants. The language section associated with this program (Sec. 215) was also removed. |
0 |
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4. Performance Funding. The Governor included a $4.3 million SAF (1.4%) increase for community college operations distributed through a modified version of the Performance Indicators Task Force Formula that has been used in recent years. The Governor eliminated the Local Strategic Value portion of the formula which was previously used to distribute 15.0% of the formula allocations. The Governor transferred the 15.0% to the Weighted Degree portion of the formula, increasing that distribution from 17.5% of the formula to 32.5%. The Senate and House maintained the Local Strategic Value portion of the formula and did not concur with the Governor's changes. The Senate concurred with the amount of the Governor's funding increase ($4.3 million). The House increased funding to $6.1 million (2.0% increase). The Conference concurred with the Senate. Table 1 and Table 2 include details of allocations by college. |
4,300,700 |
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5. Funding Shift. The FY 2014-15 supplemental (2015 PA 5) shifted $167.1 million from the State General Fund to the School Aid Fund (SAF), resulting in the entire FY 2014-15 Community College budget being funded from the SAF. The Governor's FY 2015-16 recommendation for community colleges shifted $137.1 million back to the State General Fund, leaving $256.7 million supported by the SAF. The SAF was used to support all of the funding increases recommended by the Governor, and fund a share of base costs. The House concurred with the Governor's recommended level of funding from SAF. The Senate shifted an additional $14.4 million from the State General Fund to the SAF, resulting in FY 2015-16 funding of $271.1 million from the SAF. The Conference concurred with the Governor and House ($256.7 million SAF). |
0 |
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$23,100,700 |
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FY 2015-16 Conference Report Ongoing/One-Time Gross Appropriation............................. |
$387,825,600 |
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Amount Over/(Under) GF/GP Target: $0 |
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Boilerplate Changes from FY 2014-15 Year-to-Date: |
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Items Included by the Senate and House |
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1. Transparency. Requires each community college to make available through links on its website homepage its annual operating budget, links to the most recent activities classification structure report, current collective bargaining agreements, health care plans, audits and financial reports, projected General Fund revenue and expenditures and debt service obligations, estimated costs incurred due to Affordable Health Care Act (ACA), opportunities for earning college credit through dual enrollment and compliance with best practices. Includes certain format requirements consistent with K-12 reporting. Provides that the State Budget Director determines compliance and allows for withholding of State aid payments for noncompliance. The Governor eliminated estimated costs of ACA, Board of Trustees resolution regarding compliance with best practices, the State Budget Director's authority to withhold funds for failure to comply with transparency site requirements, and dual enrollment reporting requirements. The Senate and House did not concur with the Governor and maintained current-year language. (Sec. 209) |
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2. Block Transfers. (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers implement any agreement or agreements among the community colleges and universities concerning the transferability of college courses resulting from the recommendations of the committee created under former section 210a. (2) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, the Michigan Community College Association, and the Presidents Council, State universities of Michigan shall together submit an implementation update report to the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees on Community Colleges and Higher Education, the Senate and House Fiscal Agencies, and the State Budget Director by March 1, 2015. The Governor removed the implementation update report and transferred the implementation requirement in (1) to a new Sec. 213 (2). The Senate and House maintained the implementation update report and included a new section providing for a workgroup to reach agreement on a 60-credit block that would transfer to universities. (Secs. 210b and 210c) |
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3. Independent Part-Time Student Grants. The Governor, Senate, and House included new language encouraging colleges to prioritize Independent Part-Time Student grants for aid to students who have enrolled in an academic program after not being enrolled for more than a semester or term, who have previously earned credits in an academic program, and who have not yet earned a certificate or degree. The Senate and House added two subsections that outline Department of Treasury responsibilities regarding payment schedules and needs analysis criteria. The Conference eliminated funding for the program and therefore removed this section. (Sec. 215) |
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4. Deleted Section. The Governor, Senate, and House deleted one-time reporting requirement for ACS advisory committee. (Sec. 217) (4) |
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5. Associate Degree Report. Requires community colleges to report to the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) the numbers and type of associate degrees and other certificates awarded during the previous fiscal year. The Governor, Senate, and House added a sentence stating colleges shall work with the WDA and Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI) to develop a systematic approach for accomplishing this task. (Sec. 226) |
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6. Restored Sections. The Senate and House restored the following sections that were deleted by the Governor: Anticipated appropriations for subsequent fiscal year (Sec. 201a); prohibits use of appropriations for construction or maintenance of self-liquidating projects and requires compliance with Section 238 if the Management and Budget Act and Joint Capital Outlay Subcommittee use and finance requirements -- includes penalty for noncompliance (Sec. 208); encourages community colleges to achieve efficiencies through collaborations (Sec. 212); prohibition on use of appropriations for purchase or lease of foreign automobiles (Sec. 227); and prohibition on disciplinary action against an employee for communicating with a member of the Legislature or legislative staff (Sec. 228). |
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Conference Agreement on Items of Difference |
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7. Legislative Intent. Legislative intent references in sections 210, 213, 222, and 229 were eliminated by the Governor and the House. The Conference concurred with the House. |
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8. Performance Indicators Task Force. Delineates formula used for FY 2014-15 based on 2006 recommendations of the Performance Indicators Task Force. Sets criteria for Local Strategic Value component of the formula and requires certification of compliance by each college through a board of trustees' resolution. The Governor eliminated the Local Strategic Value portion of formula and increased weighted degrees to 32.5% of formula distribution. The Senate, House, and Conference did not concur with eliminating the Local Strategic Value portion of the formula. The Governor added a new prerequisite requiring colleges to actively participate in, and submit timely updates to, the Michigan Transfer Network in order to receive performance funding. The Senate and House concurred with the new prerequisite. The Senate clarified "active participation" as submitting timely updates, including updated course equivalencies at least every six months. The Conference concurred with the Senate clarification regarding "active participation." (Sec. 230) |
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9. Performance Metrics Review. The Senate included a new section creating a task force to review, evaluate, discuss, and make recommendations regarding performance indicators established under the authority of Section 242 of Public Act 154 of 2005. The task force shall review whether the current metrics are the most appropriate and reliable performance indicators available and the most efficient methodology for connecting state funding to those indicators. Provides for report with recommendations. The Conference concurred with the Senate. (Sec. 230a) |
Date Completed: 5-22-15 Fiscal Analyst: Bill Bowerman
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.