HB 2121

This bill enacts the "Better Spending, Better Schools Act of 2026, which requires each LEA and public charter school to submit an expenditure report to the office of research and education accountability (OREA) in the office of the comptroller of the tr easury and to the department of education by August 1 each year. The department must develop the standardized form that must be used by each LEA and public charter school to report expenditures made in the immediately preceding school year in each of the f ollowing categories:  Instructional costs.  Student support service costs.  School administrative costs, as applicable.  District administrative costs, if applicable.  Operation and maintenance costs.  Professional development costs.  Expenditures made using direct allocations to the LEA or public charter school. This bill requires the department to make the expenditure report submitted by each LEA and public charter school publicly available by posting the report on the state report card. The department must also include on the state report card the total amoun t of state funds appropriated to each LEA and public charter school through the TISA, as well as the required local contribution for the respective school year. ON APRIL 21, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2121, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to require LEAs and public charter schools to annually submit to OREA: (1) A planning and budgetary report for the upcoming school year; and (2) An expenditure report for the immediately preceding school year. This amendment requires the department of education to shall develop the standardized reporting forms for the use of LEAs and public charter schools. The standardized form must require inclusion of the reporting entity's budget, revenue estimates, and p rojected expenditures for the upcoming school year. The full text of this amendment lists eight categories of school expenditures that must be included in the annual reports, disaggregated by the type and source of the revenue used for each reported expe nd iture, designating for each expenditure whether the revenue source is local, state, or federal and whether the revenue is recurring or nonrecurring. This amendment also requires that the reporting form must include the total amounts of all grants and reimbursements received by the LEA or public charter school in the immediately preceding school year, disaggregated by type and source and designating for each grant or reimbursement whether the revenue source is local, state, or federal and whether the revenue is recurring or nonrecurring. This amendment requires the department to: (1) Post the reports submitted by each LEA and public charter school pursuant to this bill on the state report card; (2) Include on the state report card the total amount of state funds appropriated to each LEA and public charter school through the TISA, as well as the required local contribution for the respective school year; (3) Include on the state report card, the total indebtedness of the LEA or public charter school as of the last school day of the respective school year, disaggregated by the type, term, and purpose of each debt obligation; and (4) Establish, by policy, reporting standards, define data categories for reporting purposes, provide technical assistance to LEAs and public charter schools, and establish submission procedures and timelines for consistent, efficient, and accurate repo rting for purposes of this amendment The provisions of this amendment take effect upon becoming a law for purposes of developing and adopting policies, and October 1, 2026, for all other purposes."