HB 5324 — AN ACT CONCERNING EDUCATION MANDATE RELIEF.

(3) accept any gift, donation or bequest for the purpose of performing the duties described in this section;

(4) establish bylaws to govern its procedures;

and (5) perform such other acts as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out the duties described in this section.

[(f)] (g) Not later than January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the council shall develop and submit an annual report on its review of the implementation and cost of statutory and regulatory education mandates on local and regional boards of education.

Such annual report shall include, but need not be limited to, (1) a review of [all] each education mandate on local and regional boards of education passed by the General Assembly during the prior legislative session and not fewer than ten existing education mandates required by state law, (2) the costs sHB5324 / File No.

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412 incurred by local and regional boards of education resulting from the implementation of such education mandates, and (3) how such education mandates are being implemented by local and regional boards of education, including, but not limited to, the manner in which and how often such education mandate is being implemented.

The council shall submit such report, and any recommendations for legislation, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education and the Commissioner of Education, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a.

Sec.

5.

4 July 1, 2026 Repealer10-260b sectionSec. Statement of Purpose:

To5 repealJuly and1, reduce2026 educationRepealer mandates.section ED Joint Favorable Subst.

[ProposedsHB5324 deletions/ areFile enclosedNo. in brackets.

Proposed412 additions6 aresHB5324 indicatedFile by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.] LCO No.

1799412 3The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of 3the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ Local and Regional School See Below See Below See Below Districts Explanation The bill modifies or eliminates various requirements related to education, resulting in the fiscal impacts described below.

Section 1 has no fiscal impact.

It exempts school and constituent unit employees from completing a human trafficking refresher training every three years after the initial training.

It is assumed any time that would have been spent on the refresher training will be used for other professional development.

Section 2 delays potential costs incurred by certain school districts.

The section delays, until July 1, 2028, the requirement that certain school facilities that produce at least 26 tons per year of source-separated organic materials must separate these materials and recycle them at an organic composting facility.

This correspondingly delays, until FY 29, any costs a board of education (BOE) would incur in order to comply with the recycling provision.

Section 3 exempts, beginning in FY 27, overexposure of an insured member from a BOE's minimum budget requirement (MBR) for education, allowing for greater future budget flexibility in the event of overexposure.

sHB5324 / File No.

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412 Section 4 expands the duties of the Education Mandate Review AdvisoryCouncil,whichdoesnot have afiscalimpact asthecouncil has the necessary expertise to meet the requirements.

Section 5 results in potential savings to districts beginning in FY 27 by repealing certain requirements including:

(1) a voluntary family history questionnaire regarding the risk of reading proficiency challenges;

(2) implementation of mental health plans for student athletes;

and (3) reporting the usage of websites, online services or mobile applications without a contract.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

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412 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 5324 AN ACT CONCERNING EDUCATION MANDATE RELIEF.

SUMMARY This bill narrows the scope of the Education Mandate Review Advisory Council to (1) annually review each education mandate on local and regional boards of education (school boards) enacted in the previous session and at least 10 existing mandates, and (2) authorizes the council to get help and data from state agencies to carry out its duties.

By law, the council reports annually to the Education Committee with recommendations to repeal or modify mandates in the report (§ 4).

It also makes several changes on certain education mandates state law imposes on school boards, including:

1.

delays from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2028, the requirement that certain public or private schools or educational facilities producing more than 26 tons per year of organic materials separate and recycle the material at an authorized composting facility (§ 2) and 2.

expands an existing exception to the minimum budget requirement (MBR) for self-insured school districts to let them exclude from the MBR calculation any insurance loss due to overexposure of an insured member (§ 3).

Additionally, the bill eliminates the following education mandates current law places on school boards, their employees, or the State Department of Education (SDE):

1.

the requirement that every three years school district employees get refresher training on identifying and reporting suspected human trafficking (but it keeps the requirement for an initial training for every employee) (§ 1);

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412 2.

the requirement that SDE develop or approve a voluntary family history questionnaire, distributed during the school year, to help identify students at risk of a reading proficiency problem (CGS § 10-14ee) (§ 5);

3.

the requirement that SDE develop a plan to raise awareness of mental health resources for student athletes, post it on the department website, and help school boards implement the plan (§ 5);

and 4.

the requirement that school boards annually implement this plan for student athletes (§ 5).

The bill also repeals the requirement that school boards annually report to the Commission for Educational Technology information on their use of websites or mobile applications that are not under a contract that meets the state data privacy law (but this requirement has already been repealed by PA 26-1, § 98) (§ 5).

EFFECTIVE DATE:

July 1, 2026 § 4 — EDUCATION MANDATE REVIEW ADVISORY COUNCIL PA 24-45 created a 10-member council to advise and annually report to the Education Committee on (1) the cost and implementation of education mandates and (2) any proposals to add to or revise them.

The bill explicitly adds that the council may:

1.

review education mandates, including a new requirement to review each mandate enacted in the previoussession plus at least existing mandates and submit the related annual reports;

2.

obtain from any state agency, board, or commission the help and data necessary to carry out its duties;

3.

accept any gift, donation, or bequest in order to carry out its duties;

and sHB5324 / File No.

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412 4.

establish procedural bylaws and take action as necessary and appropriate to carry out its duties.

§ 2 — DELAYS ORGANIC MATERIAL RECYCLING MANDATE The bill delays from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2028, the requirement that certain public or private schools or educational facilities producing more than 26 tons per year of organic materials separate and recycle the material at an authorized composting facility.

By law, the requirement applies to buildings or facilities (1) with grades kindergarten to 12 or any grade combination and (2) within 20 miles of an authorized source- separated organic material composting facility.

The material must be recycled at a composting facility that has available capacity and will accept the source-separated organic material.

§ 3 — EXPANDS A MINIMUM BUDGET REQUIREMENT EXCEPTION The MBR generally prohibits towns from budgeting less for education in the upcoming fiscal year than was budgeted for the current year, but there are exceptions.

The law allows an exception for a self-insured school district that experiences a loss due to one or more recognized catastrophic events and must increase its budget appropriation to cover the cost.

The bill expands this exception to include any self-insured school district that has an insurance loss due to overexposure of an insured member.

BACKGROUND Related Bill sHB 5524 (File 398), favorably reported by the Environment Committee, delays the organic materials recycling requirement for schools until July 1, 2027.

COMMITTEE ACTION Education Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 45 Nay 0 (03/16/2026) sHB5324 / File No.

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