There is hereby created in the State Treasury an Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund and an Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund. Any monetary interest which accrues in the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund shall be retained in the fund from year to year and shall be subject only to the provisions of this chapter. On or before November 15 of each fiscal year, if the total revenues deposited into the Education Trust Fund during the immediately preceding fiscal year exceed the fiscal year appropriation cap for the immediately preceding fiscal year, the excess shall be transferred to the Education Trust Fund Rainy Day Account until the account has been repaid in full. If the account has been repaid in full, any excess remaining shall be transferred to the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund and the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund created in this chapter. The transfers to the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund and the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund shall be made annually as follows:
(a) Any excess remaining for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, up to two percent of the previous year's Education Trust Fund appropriations, shall be transferred to the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund. Thereafter, an amount up to one percent of the previous year's Education Trust Fund appropriations shall be transferred to the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund annually until the fund reaches seven and one-half percent of the previous year's appropriations from the Education Trust Fund.
(b) Funds in excess of those transferred in subsection (a) shall be transferred to the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund each year. Amounts in the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund shall be appropriated by and through an independent supplemental appropriation bill for the following nonrecurring expenses: Repairs or deferred maintenance of facilities for public education purposes in the state, for classroom instructional support as provided in Section 16-13-231(b)(2)c. and Section 16-13-231.3, for insuring facilities, for transportation as provided in Section 16-13-233, for school security measures, and for the acquisition or purchase of education technology and equipment, or both. These funds, however, shall not be used as a pledge for the issuance or payment of debt service. No funds shall be appropriated until the balance of the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund at the end of the previous fiscal year equals or exceeds $10 million. Amounts in the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund shall be budgeted and allotted in accordance with Sections 41-4-80 through 41-4-96 and Sections 41-19-1 through 41-19-12, but shall not be limited by the fiscal year appropriation cap.
(c) The annual appropriation of these funds shall be divided between the public schools and institutions of higher education in the state in accordance with the percentage split between these two sectors of education as certified by the Legislative Services Agency, Fiscal Division at the end of the preceding fiscal year. Public schools shall be interpreted to include the Alabama School of Math and Science, the Alabama School of Fine Arts, the portion of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind providing appropriate elementary/secondary instruction, and may include the Department of Youth Services School District.
Last modified: May 3, 2021