Appropriates $10,979,400 to the Public Schools Educational Support Program/Division of Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind for fiscal year 2019.

This is the FY 2019 original appropriation bill for the Division of Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind of the Public Schools Educational Support Program. It appropriates $10,979,400 and does not have an authorized full-time equivalent position cap. For benefit costs, the bill removes $1,450 per eligible FTP to bring the annual employer contribution for health insurance down to $11,650 by including a two-month employee and employer premium holiday, adds a 6.8% increase for life insurance, and adjusts funding for workers' compensation in amounts that vary by agency. Funding for replacement items includes $178,100 from the General Fund for one mid-sized school bus for $85,000, and four sedans totaling $93,100. This bill also provides funding for a 3% ongoing merit-based salary increase for permanent employees, to be distributed at the discretion of the bureau administrator. This bill also includes an endowment fund increase of $7,000 that will be used for additional operating expenditures. The bill funds three line items, which provide $185,900 for career ladder equivalence for year two of a three-year phase-in of increased instructor salaries and benefits that allows the bureau to achieve levels that are equivalent to the public school career laddersalarycompensationsystem; $5,000forahydraulicsnowplowattachment; and$25,000foraportable AuditoryBrainResponse(ABR)testingapparatusthatwillbeusedbythebureau'slicensedstaffaudiologist. Ofthetotalappropriation, $7,023,000isfortheCampusOperationsProgramand$3,956,400isforOutreach Programs.