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 re-
ferred 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building on Local Dis-
trict Flexibility in IDEA Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXCEPTIONS TO THE MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT 
REQUIREMENT FOR LOCAL EDUCATIONAL 
AGENCIES. 
Section 613(a)(2) of the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1413(a)(2)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking ‘‘sub-
paragraphs (B) and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara-
graphs (B), (C), and (E)’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (B)— 
(A) in clause (iii)(III), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in clause (iv), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(v) improved efficiencies that do not 
result in a reduction in special education 
services; or 
‘‘(vi) the reduction of expenditures for 
employment related benefits provided to 
special education personnel (such as pay, 
retirement contributions, annual and sick 
leave, and health and life insurance) pro-
vided that such reduction of expenditures 
does not result in a reduction in special 
education services.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(E) WAIVERS FOR EXCEPTIONAL OR UN-
CONTROLLABLE
CIRCUMSTANCES.—The State 
educational agency may waive the requirements 
of subparagraph (A)(iii) for a local educational 
agency, for 1 fiscal year at a time, if— 
‘‘(i) the State educational agency de-
termines that the local educational agency 
has not reduced the level of expenditures 
for the education of children with disabil-
ities for such fiscal year disproportionately 
to other expenditures; and 
‘‘(ii)(I) the State educational agency 
determines that granting a waiver would 
be equitable due to exceptional or uncon-
trollable circumstances such as a natural 
disaster or a precipitous and unforeseen 
decline in the financial resources of the 
local educational agency; or 
‘‘(II) the local educational agency pro-
vides clear and convincing evidence to the 
State educational agency that all children 
with disabilities have available to them a 
free appropriate public education and the 
State educational agency concurs with the 
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evidence provided by the local educational 
agency.’’. 
Æ 
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