GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1025*

Short Title:  Ensure Adequate Textbook Funds.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senators Warren, Allran, Block, Kincaid, Lee, Sands, Speed, and Staton.
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Referred to:  Education.
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May 28, 1992

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ENSURE THAT SUFFICIENT FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PROVIDE TEXTBOOKS TO PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 115C-96 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-96.  Powers and duties of the State Board of Education in regard to textbooks.
The children of the public elementary and secondary schools of the State shall be provided with free basic textbooks within the appropriation of the General Assembly for that purpose. To implement this directive, the State Board of Education shall evaluate annually the amount of money necessary to provide textbooks based on the actual cost and availability of textbooks and shall request sufficient appropriations from the General Assembly.
The State Board of Education shall administer a fund and establish rules and regulations necessary to:
(1)	Acquire by contract such basic textbooks as are or may be on the adopted list of the State of North Carolina which the Board finds necessary to meet the needs of the State public school system and to carry out the provisions of this Part.
(2)	Provide a system of distribution of these textbooks and distribute the books that are provided without using any depository or warehouse facilities other than those operated  by the State Board of Education.
(3)	Provide for the free use, with proper care and return, of elementary and secondary basic textbooks.  The title of said books shall be vested in the State."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 143-11 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143-11.  Survey of departments.
On or before the fifteenth day of December, biennially in the even-numbered years, the Director shall make a complete, careful survey of the operation and management of all the departments, bureaus, divisions, officers, boards, commissions, institutions, and agencies and undertakings of the State and all persons or corporations who use or expend State funds, in the interest of economy and efficiency, and of obtaining a working knowledge upon which to base recommendations to the General Assembly as to appropriations for maintenance and special funds and capital expenditures for the succeeding biennium.  If the Director and the Commission shall agree in their recommendations for the budget for the next biennial period, he shall prepare their report in the form of a proposed budget, together with such comment and recommendations as they may deem proper to make.  If the Director and Commission shall not agree in substantial particulars, the Director shall prepare the proposed budget based on his own conclusions and judgment, and the Commission or any of its members retain the right to submit separately to the General Assembly such statement of disagreement and the particulars thereof as representing their views.  The budget report shall contain a complete and itemized plan of all proposed expenditures for each State department, bureau, board, division, institution, commission, State agency or undertaking, person or corporation who receives or may receive for use and expenditure any State funds, in accordance with the classification adopted by the State Controller, and of the estimated revenues and borrowings for each year in the ensuing biennial period beginning with the first day of July thereafter.  Opposite each item of the proposed expenditures, the budget shall show in separate parallel columns the amount expended for the last preceding appropriation year, for the current appropriation year, and the increase or decrease.  The budget shall clearly differentiate between general fund expenditures for operating and maintenance, special fund expenditures for any purpose, and proposed capital outlays.
The Director shall accompany the budget with:
(1)	A budget message supporting his recommendations and outlining a financial policy and program for the ensuing biennium.  The message will include an explanation of increase or decrease over past expenditures, a discussion of proposed changes in existing revenue laws and proposed bond issues, their purpose, the amount, rate of interest, term, the requirements to be attached to their issuance and the effect such issues will have upon the redemption and annual interest charges of the State debt.
(2)	State Controller reports including:
a.	An itemized and complete financial statement for the State at the close of the last preceding fiscal year ending June 30.
b.	A statement of special funds.
(2a)	A statement showing the itemized estimates of the condition of the State treasury as of the beginning and end of each of the next two appropriation years.
(3)	A report on the fees charged by each State department, bureau, division, board, commission, institution, and agency during the previous fiscal year, the statutory or regulatory authority for each fee, the amount of the fee, when the amount of the fee was last changed, the number of times the fee was collected during the prior fiscal year, and the total receipts from the fee during the prior fiscal year.
(4)	A statement showing the State Board of Education's request, in accordance with G.S. 115C-96, for sufficient funds to provide textbooks to public school students.
It shall be a compliance with this section by each incoming Governor, at the first session of the General Assembly in his term, to submit the budget report with the message of the outgoing Governor, if he shall deem it proper to prepare such message, together with any comments or recommendations thereon that he may see fit to make, either at the time of the submission of the said report to the General Assembly, or at such other time, or times, as he may elect and fix.
The function of the Advisory Budget Commission under this section applies only if the Director of the Budget consults with the Commission in preparation of the budget."
Sec. 3.  This act is effective upon ratification and applies to all budget requests beginning with the budget request for the 1993-95 fiscal biennium.