Chapter 174
2009 -- S 0944 AS AMENDED
Enacted 07/16/09
A N A C T
RELATING TO EDUCATION
Introduced By: Senators Gallo, Ruggerio, Blais, DeVall, and DiPalma
Date Introduced: May 27, 2009
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled
"EDUCATION" is hereby amended
by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER
89
UNIFORM
EXPENDITURE
ACT OF 2009
16-89-1.
Short title. – This act shall be known and may
be cited as the "Grant, Gift and
Donation Acceptance and
Expenditure Act of 2009."
16-89-2.
Findings of fact. – The general assembly makes
the following findings of fact:
(1) The present
financial resources of cities, towns and the state are stretched to their
limit with regard to providing adequate funding for
education, yet the need to fund public
education at its present level remains unabated.
(2) School districts,
school departments, and school committees are limited in their ability
to seek alternative sources of funding for budgetary
items outside of the annual appropriation of
state aid to education and municipal tax levies.
16-89-3.
Purpose. – The purpose of this chapter is:
(1) To enable and
allow school districts, school departments, and school committees to
accept grants, gifts and donations from any private
individual, public or private business entity,
any government or governmental subdivision thereof,
including quasi-public agencies; and
(2) To restrict the
expenditure of such grants, gifts and donations to a specific school
district, school department, or school committee programming
or a facility related need as
specified according to the terms of the gift, grant or donation
as conditioned by the grantor, giftor
or donor.
16-89-4.
Grants, gifts and donations. - Acceptance and expenditure.
– Any school
district, school department or school committee may accept any
and all gifts, grants and donations
of money, equipment, supplies, materials, services and
any other contribution of value,
conditional or otherwise, from any local, state, or federal
government or governmental
subdivision thereof, including quasi-public agencies of any kind,
or from any person, firm,
association, foundation, corporation or business entity for use
in any program or facility thereof;
provided, however, that the gift, grant or donation is
utilized and disposed of pursuant to the
express terms or conditions stipulated by such gift, grant or
donation.
16-89-5.
Grant, gifts and donation. - fiduciary
responsibility of municipalities. -
Accounting. – (a)
Any amount of money received by any municipality for
expenditure pursuant
to this chapter shall be deposited by the chief finance
officer of the municipality into the
municipal treasury in a separate, restricted receipt account
identifiable to the particular grant, gift
or donation and shall be expended solely by and upon the
demand of the school district, school
department or school committee in accord with the express terms
and conditions of said grant,
gift or donation.
(b) Any account
established hereunder shall be interest bearing and any interest on funds
so deposited shall remain with and become part of the
grant, gift or donation and shall be
expended as part of said grant, gift or donation.
(c) Any other grant,
gift or donation of any kind, other than money, including, but not
limited to equipment, supplies, materials, services and any
other contribution of value may be
received directly by school districts, school departments, or
school committees so long as said
grant, gift or donation shall be accounted for from time of
receipt to time of disposition, and so
long as direct receipt of such is not otherwise prohibited
by law.
16-89-6.
Effect on annual municipal appropriation. – Nothing
in this chapter shall be
construed to mean that the present annual municipal
appropriation to any school district, school
department or school committee shall be or may be decreased or
diminished by the amount of any
grant, gift or donation made pursuant to this chapter.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02639
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