Assigned to ED               FOR COMMITTEE

 

 

 

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Phoenix, Arizona

 

FACT SHEET FOR H.C.M. 2001

 

special  education; full federal funding

 

Purpose

 

Requests the President and Congress to provide the full 40 percent federal funding for special education programs authorized under federal law.

 

Background

 

            In 1975, the United States Congress established the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This legislation is aimed at preventing children with disabilities from being denied free and appropriate education services and increasing the number of special education students successfully completing school and entering the workforce.

 

The federal legislation provides grants to state education agencies based on the number of disabled children age 3-21 in the state, not exceeding 12 percent of the total school age population. The student count is then multiplied by 40 percent of the national average per special education pupil expenditure to calculate the state’s maximum grant amount.

 

According to recent estimates by the Arizona Department of Education, the federal government funds approximately 12 percent of special education costs for the state. This is less than the 40 percent funding allocation as mandated by IDEA.  Arizona’s estimated FY 2001 IDEA grant is $76.9 million. H.C.M. 2001 requests that Congress increase the federal funding to the required 40 percent level, making Arizona’s IDEA grant $228.2 million (State Policy Reports, Vol 18, Issue 9, May 2000).

 

H.C.M. 2001 is created from recommendations of the two-year Joint Legislative Committee on Special Education and Regulations study that was published in December 2000.

 

Provisions

 

1.      Requests the President and Congress to provide the full 40 percent federal funding for special education programs authorized under federal law.

 

2.      Requires the Arizona Secretary of State to transmit copies of the memorial to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and to each member of Congress from Arizona.

 

House Action

 

ED                   1/29/01            DP            9-0-0-1-0

3rd Read            2/6/01                          57-0-3-0

 

 

Prepared by Senate Staff

February 13, 2001