132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 2114		LR 2618(01)
	An Act Regarding Public Preschool Programs Serving Children Who Are 3 Years of Age
	Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement for Original Bill
	Sponsor: Rep. Murphy of Scarborough
	Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded
State Mandates
	Required Activity				Unit Affected	Local Cost
	The bill allows children aged three who are not identified as having a disability to enroll in a public preschool program for children aged three, even if that program only serves and receives state subsidy for children aged three who are identified as having a disability. This could require school administrative units to provide preschool programming to children for whom they do not receive adequate state funding.				School	Moderate limited scope
	The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill does require a local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	This bill expands the definition of a public preschool program to include children who are three years old and clarifies that students who are both three years old and identified as having a disability are eligible for state subsidy, but students who are three years old and are not identified as having a disability are not eligible for state subsidy. State subsidy for preschool programming for students who are three years old and are identified as having a disability is included in the Essential Programs and Services funding formula and therefore this bill does not provide any additional funds. However, as noted in the state mandate discussion above, the bill allows a child who is three years old and is not identified as having a disability to enroll in a public preschool program serving three-year-old students, even if that program only serves (and receives subsidy for) three-year-old students who are identified as having a disability.