University of Maryland College Park Office of Executive Programs
Newswire Week 3(10/12-10/18)
LOCAL
School board adds to budget The Baltimore Sun - October 16, 2002 Wednesday http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/howard/bal-ho.schools16oct16.story
	At last night's Howard County Board of Education meeting, during which members theoretically granted the wishes of those begging for new schools by tacking an additional $8 million onto the already staggering $78.4 million in the proposed capital budget for fiscal year 2004. The additional money would be needed to fund an array of building projects that the board discussed at the meeting.
NATIONAL
Democrats propose spending plans The Washington Times - October 16, 2002, Wednesday http://www.washtimes.com/national/20021016-95510688.htm
	Democratic leaders yesterday escalated their attacks on President Bush's economic policies, proposing massive new government spending that Republicans scorned as election-year "snake oil" that would do nothing to spur faster growth and job creation. In back-to-back speeches, House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle offered five-point, "pump-priming" economic plans that called for hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending for school construction and health care, a higher $6.65 minimum wage, extended unemployment benefits, and short-term, targeted tax cuts for low- and middle-income workers - whether they pay income taxes or not. Mr. Gephardt's $200 billion spending plan was similar to Mr. Daschle's in many respects but went on to call for increased spending for a variety of domestic initiatives, including school construction and aid to localities for police, firefighters and public health workers.
ACROSS THE NATION
Ohio
School district's negotiated bond deal makes sense this time; but future offerings may need to be put out for bids The Plain Dealer - October 12, 2002 Saturday - editorials http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/opinion/1034415285240320.xml
	Cleveland taxpayers appear to have scored a bargain with city schools' first bond sale related to a $1.5 billion school construction project. The district's poor management of past construction money long has been a sore point. In the 1980s, taxpayers saw millions of dollars approved for school building work redirected to patronage hires and other unplanned expenditures. More recently, the district wasted millions on excess interest charges and questionable expenses for 1990s bond issues. When voters approved the schools' most recent issue in May 2001, they accepted officials' promises that the dollars would go to proper needs.
Massachusetts
$1.7M sought for school projects; Overrides would pay for designs, expansion The Patriot Ledger - October 12, 2002 Saturday http://ledger.southofboston.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/October/12-1633-news11.txt
	Backers of two school construction projects will push at the special town meeting Thursday for the approval of design fees to pay for the projects' building plans. Supporters say approval of the design fees will allow the town to submit the paperwork needed to secure its place in the state reimbursement list by the June 1, 2003, deadline. The projects would also have to be approved by voters in May at town meeting and a subsequent town election.
New York
New Federal Funds Proposed for School Upgrades Schoolconstructionnews.com - October, 2002 http://www.schoolconstructionnews.com/newsflash/printCurrent.html#new
	Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is stepping up her campaign for a bill that would provide grants to states that would then make low-interest loans that municipalities could use to build and repair schools. The proposed legislation requires that the state provide a 25 percent match for federal money. The senator's office estimated that the measure would provide $12.5 million a year in federal aid for each state, responding to a survey showing that 83 percent of the districts in the state cannot afford to pay for school maintenance and renovations.
Wisconsin
Fewer Bonds in Wisconsin May Signal Good News Schoolconstructionnews.com - October, 2002 http://www.schoolconstructionnews.com/newsflash/printCurrent.html#fewer
	School construction may finally have caught up with demand in Wisconsin. A recent survey by the non-partisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance shows the amount of money requested in 2001 by the state voters The group studied the state's school referendums dating back to 1991 and discovered that last year's amounts voters approved $351 million the state requested $1.2 billion and voters approved $653 million. The alliance says the decline may signal good news by indicating the state has succeeded in addressing its most critical school construction needs. It also was noted that a downturn in the economy and higher school taxes might play a role in the declining referendums.
Arizona
Cut of school building funds illegal, judge rules Arizona Daily Sun – October 18, 2002 Friday http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=51073
	State lawmakers illegally diverted $90 million in funds for school building renewal to balance this year's budget, a state judge has ruled. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Edward Burke said lawmakers created a new system of funding schools to comply with a 1994 Supreme Court ruling. That system included a formula to provide schools with sufficient funds each year to keep buildings repaired. But to balance this year's budget, lawmakers provided less than $30 million for those repairs -- far short of the $128 million required by their own formula. That decision, said Burke, makes the school funding scheme unconstitutional.

Articles compiled by Sujin Bae

Graduate assistant for the School Construction Funding Project

Van Munching Hall University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-1821

poissone@wam.umd.edu