SB 960 Maryland Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Maryland Public Charter School Program - School Facilities - Funding

SB 960 requires Maryland's Interagency Commission on School Construction to distribute state funds directly to public charter schools for maintaining and operating their facilities, rather than through local governments. The bill mandates that starting in fiscal year 2028, the state budget must include funding equal to $1,600 multiplied by the prior year's total enrollment across all public charter schools. This applies to facilities owned or leased by charter schools, or those they occupy for educating students. The law takes effect July 1, 2026, and requires the Commission to establish regulations for implementation.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 11, 2026 Last action Apr 10, 2026

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What changed between versions

First - Maryland Public Charter School Program - School Facilities - Funding → Third - Maryland Public Charter School Program - School Facilities - Funding · 7 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to expand funding eligibility to include debt service and rent payments, while adding strict restrictions that prevent funds from being used if a school is located in a building owned by a local school system undergoing state-funded capital projects. The amendments also introduce new reporting requirements for schools receiving funds and clarify that these funds cannot be used to justify cuts to local school system budgets. Additionally, the per-student funding amount was adjusted from $1,600 to $200, and the bill was formally re-referred to the Budget and Taxation committee.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from covering only maintenance and operation costs to explicitly include debt service and rent payments, but it now contains specific exclusions for schools housed in local school system buildings undergoing state-funded construction.

FISCAL

Funding eligibility was expanded to cover debt service and rent or lease payments in addition to capital improvements and maintenance.

The annual appropriation per student was changed from $1,600 to $200.

ELIGIBILITY

New restrictions prevent funding distribution if a school is located in a local school system building undergoing a state-funded capital improvement project.

REQUIREMENT

Public charter schools receiving funds must now report the status of their capital improvement, debt service, or lease projects before receiving funds for the next fiscal year.

ENFORCEMENT

New regulations require procedures for mid-year funding requests and ensure funds are provided if a local school system rescinds a capital project request.

A new provision states that funds distributed to charter schools cannot be used as justification to reduce funding for local school systems.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was re-referred to the Budget and Taxation committee and marked as adopted with floor amendments.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Motion Special Order until Later Today (Senator Rosapepe) Adopted

upper

Apr 9, 2026

Introduced

Floor Amendment {

upper

Apr 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Motion Special Order until Next Session (Senator Kagan) Adopted

upper

Apr 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Apr 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

Motion Special Order until 4/9 (Senator Rosapepe) Adopted

upper

Apr 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Apr 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments Report by Budget and Taxation

upper

Mar 20, 2026

Committee

Rereferred to Budget and Taxation

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

First Reading Senate Rules

upper

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors