HF 533 (LSB 2042HV (5) 85)

HOUSE FILE 533

BY  COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 227)

A BILL FOR

An Act providing for entrepreneurial education funds for student organizations and clubs and including effective date and applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 11.6, subsection 1, paragraph a, subparagraph (1), Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  Except for entities organized under chapter 28E having gross receipts of one hundred thousand dollars or less in a fiscal year, the financial condition and transactions of all government subdivisions shall be audited at least once each year, except that cities having a population of seven hundred or more but less than two thousand shall be examined at least once every four years, and cities having a population of less than seven hundred may be examined as otherwise provided in this section. The audit of school districts shall include an audit of all school funds including categorical funding provided by the state, the certified annual financial report, the certified enrollment as provided in section 257.6, supplementary weighting as provided in section 257.11, and the revenues and expenditures of any nonprofit school organization established pursuant to section 279.62, and entrepreneurial education funds established pursuant to section 298A.15. Differences in certified enrollment shall be reported to the department of management. The audit of school districts shall include at a minimum a determination that the laws of the state are being followed, that categorical funding is not used to supplant other funding except as otherwise provided, that supplementary weighting is pursuant to an eligible sharing condition, and that postsecondary courses provided in accordance with section 257.11 and chapter 261E supplement, rather than supplant, school district courses. The audit of a city that owns or operates a municipal utility providing local exchange services pursuant to chapter 476 shall include performing tests of the city’s compliance with section 388.10. The audit of a city that owns or operates a municipal utility providing telecommunications services pursuant to section 388.10 shall include performing tests of the city’s compliance with section 388.10.
    Sec. 2.  Section 12B.10, subsection 6, Code 2013, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  m.  Investments by a student organization or club of moneys from an entrepreneurial education fund governed by section 298A.15.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  298A.15  Entrepreneurial education funds.
   1.  Funds established —— purposes.  For the purposes of enhancing student learning by encouraging students to develop and practice entrepreneurial skills at an early age and of fostering a business-ready workforce in this state, a school corporation may establish an entrepreneurial education fund at the request of a student organization or club and upon approval by the school board. An entrepreneurial education fund is a special revenue fund and shall consist only of moneys earned through entrepreneurial activities or returns on investments made for entrepreneurial purposes by the student organization or club, private donations and private contributions, and any interest earned on such moneys, that are deposited in the fund. Moneys in the fund shall be used only for investments made, or activities undertaken, for entrepreneurial purposes in accordance with this section. The student organization or club may designate an entrepreneurial purpose for the use of moneys in the fund in accordance with this section. A school corporation may expend moneys in the fund for use by the student organization or club in accordance with this section upon approval of the designated entrepreneurial purpose by the school board. A school organization or club shall deposit any return on an investment made with moneys from the fund in the school corporation’s entrepreneurial education fund. The school corporation shall not transfer or contribute to the fund any other moneys that are not moneys earned through entrepreneurial activities or returns on investments made for entrepreneurial purposes by the student organization or club.
   2.  Funds transferred.  At the request of a student organization or club and upon approval by the school board, a school corporation shall transfer moneys in a student activity fund established under section 298A.8, for deposit by the student organization or club in an entrepreneurial education fund. However, a school corporation shall not transfer such moneys unless the moneys are attributable through appropriate documentation to the specific student organization or club and unless the student organization or club shows through appropriate documentation that the student organization or club earned the moneys through entrepreneurial activities as defined in subsection 4, paragraph “a”.
   3.  Conflicts of interest prohibited.  A student organization or club shall not invest moneys from an entrepreneurial education fund for an entrepreneurial purpose in which a member of the student organization or club, an advisor or supervisor of the student organization or club, or an immediate family member of such persons, has a financial interest. Sections 279.7A and 301.28 apply to this section.
   4.  Definitions.  For purposes of this section:
   a.  “Entrepreneurial activities” means starting, maintaining, or expanding a business venture, including a seasonal business venture.
   b.  “Entrepreneurial purpose” means establishing or investing in a start-up company, early-stage company, or existing company developing a new product or new technology if the investment is in keeping with the education program of the school corporation; if the student organization or club or its members will, as a stated condition of the investment, take an active role in the company which active role directly relates to and furthers the educational purposes for which the student organization or club is established; and if a reasonable return upon the investment is expected.
   c.  “Immediate family member” means a spouse; natural or adoptive parent, child, or sibling; or stepparent, stepchild, or stepsibling.
    Sec. 4.  EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
    Sec. 5.  APPLICABILITY.  Section 298A.15, subsection 2, as enacted in this Act, applies to moneys in a student activity fund established under section 298A.8, on and after the effective date of this Act, that are attributable through appropriate documentation to a specific student organization or club and that were earned by the student organization or club through entrepreneurial activities as defined in section 298A.15, subsection 4, paragraph “a”. 
EXPLANATION
   This bill permits a school corporation, at the request of a student organization or club and upon approval of the school board, to establish an entrepreneurial education fund for the purposes of enhancing student learning by encouraging students to develop and practice entrepreneurial skills at an early age and of fostering a business-ready workforce in Iowa. The bill provides that an entrepreneurial education fund is a special revenue fund and can consist only of moneys earned through entrepreneurial activities or returns on investments made for entrepreneurial purposes by the student organization or club, private donations and private contributions, and any interest earned on such moneys, that are deposited in the fund. The bill provides that moneys in the fund can only be used for investments made or activities undertaken for entrepreneurial purposes in accordance with the bill.
   The bill provides that the student organization or club may designate an entrepreneurial purpose for the use of moneys in the entrepreneurial education fund in accordance with the bill. The bill permits a school corporation to expend moneys in the fund for use by the student organization or club in accordance with the bill upon approval of the designated entrepreneurial purpose by the school board. The bill requires the school organization or club to deposit any return on an investment made with moneys from the fund in the fund. The bill prohibits a school corporation from transferring or contributing to the fund any other moneys that are not moneys earned through entrepreneurial activities or returns on investments made for entrepreneurial purposes by the student organization or club.
   The bill requires a school corporation, upon request of a student organization or club and upon approval by the school board, to transfer moneys in a student activity fund for deposit by the student organization or club in an entrepreneurial education fund. However, the bill prohibits a school corporation from transferring such moneys unless the moneys are attributable through appropriate documentation to the specific student organization or club and unless the student organization or club shows through appropriate documentation that the student organization or club earned the moneys through entrepreneurial activities.
   The bill prohibits a student organization or club from investing moneys from an entrepreneurial education fund for an entrepreneurial purpose in which a member of the student organization or club, an advisor or supervisor of the student organization or club, or an immediate family member of such persons, has a financial interest. The bill applies other prohibitions of conflicts of interest to entrepreneurial education funds.
   The bill defines “entrepreneurial activities” as starting, maintaining, or expanding a business venture, including a seasonal business venture. The bill defines “entrepreneurial purpose” as establishing or investing in a start-up company, early-stage company, or existing company developing a new product or new technology if the investment is in keeping with the education program of the school corporation; if the student organization or club or its members will, as a stated condition of the investment, take an active role in the company which directly relates to and furthers the educational purposes for which the student organization or club is established; and if a reasonable return upon the investment is expected.
   The bill specifies that entrepreneurial education funds are subject to the annual auditing requirements applicable to government subdivisions including school districts in Code section 11.6.
   The bill excludes investments of moneys from entrepreneurial education funds from the limitations on the investment of public funds in Code section 12B.10.
   The bill takes effect upon enactment.
   The bill applies to moneys in a student activity fund on and after the effective date of the bill that are attributable through appropriate documentation to a specific student organization or club, and that were earned by the student organization or club through entrepreneurial activities.