Sec. A-41. 20-A MRSA §15678, sub-§5, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 504, Pt. A, §6, is amended to read:

B. The amount, as determined by the commissioner, that equals the statewide percentage of salary costs that represents the statewide average benefit costs.

Sec. A-42. 20-A MRSA c. 606-C, headnote, as enacted by IB 2003, c. 2, §1, is repealed.

Sec. A-43. 20-A MRSA §15681, as enacted by IB 2003, c. 2, §1, is repealed.

Sec. A-44. 20-A MRSA §15681-A is enacted to read:

§15681-A.__Other subsidizable costs

The following are other subsidizable costs:

1.__Bus purchases.__Bus purchase costs;

2.__Special education costs.__Beginning in fiscal year 2005- 06, a school administrative unit receives an additional weight of at least 1.20 but not greater than 1.40 for each special education student identified on the annual December 1st child count as required by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for the most recent year, up to a maximum of 15% of the school administrative unit's resident pupils as determined under section 15674, subsection 1, paragraph C, subparagraph (1).__ For those school administrative units in which the annual December 1st child count for the most recent year is less than 15% of the school administrative unit's resident pupils as determined under section 15674, subsection 1, paragraph C, subparagraph (1), the special education child count percentage may not increase more than 0.5% in any given year, up to a maximum of 1.0% in any given 3-year period.__For each special education student above the 15% maximum, the unit receives an additional weight of .38. In addition, each school administrative unit must receive additional funds:

A.__For lower staff-student ratios and expenditures for related services for school administrative units with fewer than 20 special education students identified on the annual December 1st child count as required by the federal