I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2965 

To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide certain 

exceptions to the maintenance of effort requirement for local educational 

agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 8, 2015 

Mr. WALBERG (for himself, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. BENISHEK, 

and Mr. BISHOP of Michigan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

to provide certain exceptions to the maintenance of effort 

requirement for local educational agencies, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building on Local Dis5 trict Flexibility in IDEA Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXCEPTIONS TO THE MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT 

2 REQUIREMENT FOR LOCAL EDUCATIONAL 

3 AGENCIES. 

4 Section 613(a)(2) of the Individuals with Disabilities 

5 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1413(a)(2)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking ‘‘sub7 paragraphs (B) and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara8 graphs (B), (C), and (E)’’; 

9 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

10 (A) in clause (iii)(III), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

11 the end; 

12 (B) in clause (iv), by striking the period at 

13 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(v) improved efficiencies that do not 

16 result in a reduction in special education 

17 services; or 

18 ‘‘(vi) the reduction of expenditures for 

19 employment related benefits provided to 

20 special education personnel (such as pay, 

21 retirement contributions, annual and sick 

22 leave, and health and life insurance) pro23 vided that such reduction of expenditures 

24 does not result in a reduction in special 

25 education services.’’; and 

26 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(E) WAIVERS FOR EXCEPTIONAL OR UN2 CONTROLLABLE CIRCUMSTANCES.—The State 

3 educational agency may waive the requirements 

4 of subparagraph (A)(iii) for a local educational 

5 agency, for 1 fiscal year at a time, if— 

6 ‘‘(i) the State educational agency de7 termines that the local educational agency 

8 has not reduced the level of expenditures 

9 for the education of children with disabil10 ities for such fiscal year disproportionately 

11 to other expenditures; and 

12 ‘‘(ii)(I) the State educational agency 

13 determines that granting a waiver would 

14 be equitable due to exceptional or uncon15 trollable circumstances such as a natural 

16 disaster or a precipitous and unforeseen 

17 decline in the financial resources of the 

18 local educational agency; or 

19 ‘‘(II) the local educational agency pro20 vides clear and convincing evidence to the 

21 State educational agency that all children 

22 with disabilities have available to them a 

23 free appropriate public education and the 

24 State educational agency concurs with the 


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1 evidence provided by the local educational 

2 agency.’’. 

Æ 


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