Assembly Bill 94

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program

Topics: Milwaukee: School, Parochial and private educational institutions, Public Instruction, Department of, School: State aid

Passed the Assembly, then stopped

The Assembly passed it on May 10, 2011, but the Senate never voted on it. A bill has to ⁠. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

Introduced, passed

Apr 13, 2011
Committee, passed

Approved
Assembly vote, passed

Passed 84 to 9
Senate vote, stopped here

Stopped here. The Senate never voted on it.
Governor, not reached
Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Mar 23, 2012: “Failed to concur in pursuant to ⁠”

Read the bill

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Terms on this page

Second chamber's vote

A bill has to pass both the Assembly and the Senate in the same form before it goes to the governor.

Official term: Concurrence. More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate. More in the glossary

Roll call

A vote where each lawmaker's yes or no is recorded by name.

Official term: Roll call vote. More in the glossary

What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

This bill makes a number of changes to the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), including the following:

1. Under current law, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) pays a pupil's cost of attending a private school participating in the MPCP by making the check out to the pupil's parent but sending it to the private school. The pupil's parent must endorse the check for the use of the school.

Read the full summary

This bill directs DPI to make the payment directly to the private school on behalf of the pupil's parent, and allows DPI to combine payments for all pupils attending a private school under the MPCP into a single check. Payment for summer school programs must be made in November and be by separate check.

2. The bill provides that if more than one pupil from the same family applies to attend the same private school, the pupils may use a single application.

3. DPI's administrative rules provide that, in determining a private school's per pupil operating and debt service cost for the purpose of determining the amount of the state's payment to the private school, certain revenues, such as fees charged pupils for books, are subtracted. This bill codifies this administrative rule, but provides that the amount of each subtraction may not be more than the actual cost to the school of the service or material related to that revenue.

The bill also allows a private school to include in its cost an amount equal to 10.5 percent of the fair market value of the private school's buildings and premises if legal title to the private school's buildings and premises is held in the name of the private school's parent organization or a related party. Once a private school chooses to include this amount in its cost, it must be included in each subsequent school year.

4. Currently, each private school participating in the MPCP is subject to uniform financial accounting standards established by DPI and annually must submit to DPI an independent financial audit of the private school conducted by a certified public accountant and provide evidence of sound fiscal practices. Each private school must also provide to DPI evidence of the school's financial viability.

This bill requires that the private school's audit must be conducted using the auditing standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and that the audit of the private school's fiscal and internal control practices must be conducted in accordance with attestation standards established by the AICPA.

5. Under current law, the state payment for each full-time equivalent (FTE) summer school pupil is approximately 40 percent of the payment for each FTE regular school year pupil. This bill eliminates this reduction.

Who's behind it

15 lawmakers are its ⁠. All 15 are Republicans.

9 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 24 names

Authors (15)

Tyler August · Republican, Assembly
Edward Brooks · Republican, Assembly
Paul F. Farrow · Republican, Senate
Steve Kestell · Republican, Assembly
John Klenke · Republican, Assembly
Joe Knilans · Republican, Assembly
Dale Kooyenga · Republican, Senate
Howard Marklein · Republican, Senate
Kevin Petersen · Republican, Assembly
Keith Ripp · Republican, Assembly
Richard Spanbauer · Republican, Assembly
Jeffrey Stone · Republican, Assembly
Pat Strachota · Republican, Assembly
Travis Tranel · Republican, Assembly
Robin Vos · Republican, Assembly

Signed on in support (9)

Alberta Darling · Republican, Senate
Glenn Grothman · Republican, Senate
Randy Hopper · Republican, Senate
André Jacque · Republican, Senate
Mary Lazich · Republican, Senate
Terry Moulton · Republican, Senate
Jeremy Thiesfeldt · Republican, Assembly
Van Wanggaard · Republican, Senate
Rich Zipperer · Republican, Senate

What it would cost

State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

Fiscal Estimate From DPI

Versions and amendments

Every text the Legislature printed for this bill, including proposed changes. Each opens on the Legislature's site.