MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Senator(s) Ferris

AN ACT ENTITLED THE MISSISSIPPI STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1999; TO AMEND SECTION 37-16-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE STUDENT ASSESSMENT STANDARDS FOR STUDENT PROMOTION AND GRADUATION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-17-6, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DEFINE STANDARDS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A PERFORMANCE-BASED ACCREDITATION SYSTEM FOR INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, TO REQUIRE ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT UNDER A CONSERVATORSHIP TO REIMBURSE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOR THE SALARY AND OTHER ACTUAL COSTS RELATED TO THE DUTIES OF THE CONSERVATOR, TO AUTHORIZE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO INITIATE AND MAKE DECISIONS REGARDING THE OPERATION OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS UNDER A CONSERVATORSHIP, TO CLARIFY THE AUTHORITY OF THE CONSERVATOR, TO DELETE CERTAIN REFERENCES TO LEVEL I AND LEVEL II SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO RECOMMEND TO THE HOUSE AND SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEES A PROGRAM FOR IDENTIFYING AND GRANTING FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO SCHOOLS THAT IMPROVE; TO AMEND SECTION 37-17-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THAT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION SHALL HAVE ALL POWERS OF THE PREVIOUSLY EXISTING SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT IN CASES WHERE THE SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS BEEN ABOLISHED DUE TO A STATE OF EMERGENCY AND IN CONFORMITY; TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-120, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ENTER INTO LONG-TERM CONTRACTS FOR STUDENT ASSESSMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Student Achievement Improvement Act of 1999."

SECTION 2. Section 37-16-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-16-7. (1) Each district school board shall establish standards for graduation from its schools which shall include as a minimum:

(a) Mastery of * * * minimum academic skills as measured by assessments developed and administered by the State Board of Education * * *.

(b) Completion of a minimum number of academic credits, and all other applicable requirements prescribed by the district school board.

(2) A student who meets all requirements prescribed in subsection (1) of this section shall be awarded a standard diploma in a form prescribed by the state board.

(3) The State Board of Education may establish student proficiency standards for promotion to grade levels leading to graduation.

SECTION 3. Section 37-17-6, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-17-6. (1) The State Board of Education, acting through the Commission on School Accreditation, shall establish and implement a permanent performance-based accreditation system, and all public elementary and secondary schools shall be accredited under this system.

(2) No later than June 30, 1995, the State Board of Education, acting through the Commission on School Accreditation, shall require school districts to provide school classroom space that is air conditioned as a minimum requirement for accreditation.

(3) (a) Beginning with the 1994-1995 school year, the State Board of Education, acting through the Commission on School Accreditation, shall require * * * that school districts employ certified school librarians according to the following formula:

Number of Students Number of Certified

Per School Library School Librarians

(b) The State Board of Education, however, may increase the number of positions beyond the above requirements.

(c) The assignment of such school librarians to the particular schools shall be at the discretion of the local school district. No individual shall be employed as a certified school librarian without appropriate training and certification as a school librarian by the State Department of Education.

(d) * * * School librarians in such district shall spend at least fifty percent (50%) of direct work time in a school library and shall devote no more than one-fourth (1/4) of the workday to administrative activities which are library related.

(e) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit any school district from employing more certified school librarians than are provided for in this section.

(f) Any additional millage levied to fund school librarians required for accreditation under this subsection shall be included in the tax increase limitation set forth in Sections 37-57-105 and 37-57-107 and shall not be deemed a new program for purposes of the limitation.

(4) On or before July 1, 2000, the State Board of Education shall implement the performance-based accreditation system for school districts and for individual schools which shall include the following:

(a) High expectations for students and high standards for all schools, with a focus on the basic curriculum;

(b) Strong accountability for results with appropriate local flexibility for local implementation;

(c) A process to implement accountability at both the school district level and the school level;

(d) Individual schools shall be held accountable for student growth and performance;

(e) Set annual performance standards for each of the schools of the state and measure the performance of each school against itself through the standard that has been set for it;

(f) A determination of which schools exceed their standards and a plan for providing recognition and rewards to such schools;

(g) A determination of which schools are failing to meet their standards and a determination of the appropriate role of the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education in providing assistance and initiating possible intervention; and

(h) Development of a comprehensive student assessment system to implement these requirements.

The State Board of Education may continue to assign school district performance levels by using a number classification and may assign individual school performance levels by using a number classification to be consistent with school district performance levels.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require a nonpublic school which receives no local, state or federal funds for support to become accredited by the State Board of Education.

(6) The State Board of Education shall create an accreditation audit unit under the Commission on School Accreditation * * * to determine whether schools are complying with accreditation standards. * * *

(7) The State Board of Education shall be specifically authorized and empowered to withhold adequate minimum education program or adequate education program fund allocations, whichever is applicable, to any public school district for failure to timely report student, school personnel and fiscal data necessary to meet state and/or federal requirements.

(8) * * *

(9) The State Board of Education shall establish, for those school districts failing to meet accreditation standards, a program of development to be complied with in order to receive state funds, except as otherwise provided in subsection (14) of this section when the Governor has declared a state of emergency in a school district or as otherwise provided in Section 206, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. The state board, in establishing these standards, shall provide for notice to schools and sufficient time and aid to enable schools to attempt to meet these standards, unless procedures under subsection (14) of this section have been invoked.

(10) Beginning July 1, 1998, the State Board of Education shall be charged with the implementation of the program of development in each applicable * * * school district as follows:

(a) Develop an impairment report for each district failing to meet accreditation standards in conjunction with school district officials * * *;

(b) Notify any applicable * * * school district failing to meet accreditation standards that it is on probation until * * * corrective actions are taken or until the deficiencies have been removed. * * * The local school district shall develop a corrective action plan * * * to improve its deficiencies. For district academic deficiencies, the corrective action plan for each such school district shall be based upon a complete analysis of the following: student test data, student grades, student attendance reports, student drop-out data, existence and other relevant data. The corrective action plan shall describe the specific measures to be taken by the particular school district and school to improve: (a) instruction; (b) curriculum; (c) professional development; (d) personnel and classroom organization; (e) student incentives for performance; (f) process deficiencies; and (g) reporting to the local school board, parents and the community. The corrective action plan shall describe the specific individuals responsible for implementing each component of the recommendation and how each will be evaluated. All corrective action plans shall be provided to the State Board of Education as may be required. * * * The decision of the State Board of Education establishing the probationary period of time shall be final;

(c) Offer, during the probationary period, technical assistance to the school district in making corrective actions. Beginning July 1, 1998, subject to the availability of funds, the State Department of Education shall provide technical and/or financial assistance to all such school districts in order to implement each measure identified in that district's corrective action plan through professional development and on-site assistance. Each such school district shall apply for and utilize all available federal funding in order to support its corrective action plan in addition to state funds made available under this paragraph;

(d) Contract, in its discretion, with the institutions of higher learning or other appropriate private entities to assist school districts;

(e) Provide for publication of public notice at least one (1) time during the probationary period, in a newspaper published within the jurisdiction of the school district failing to meet accreditation standards, or if no newspaper is published therein, then in a newspaper having a general circulation therein. The publication shall include the following: declaration of school system's status as being on probation; all details relating to the impairment report, and other information as the State Board of Education deems appropriate. Public notices issued under this section shall be subject to Section 13-3-31 and not contrary to other laws regarding newspaper publication.

(11) (a) If the recommendations for corrective action are not taken by the local school district or if the deficiencies are not removed by the end of the probationary period, the Commission on School Accreditation shall conduct a hearing to allow such affected school district to present evidence or other reasons why its accreditation should not be withdrawn. Subsequent to its consideration of the results of such hearing, the Commission on School Accreditation shall be authorized, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to withdraw the accreditation of a public school district, and issue a request to the Governor that a state of emergency be declared in that district * * *.

(b) If the State Board of Education and the Commission on School Accreditation determine that an extreme emergency situation exists in a school district which jeopardizes the safety, security or educational interests of the children enrolled in the schools in that district and such emergency situation is believed to be related to a serious violation or violations of accreditation standards or state or federal law, the State Board of Education may request the Governor to declare a state of emergency in that school district. For purposes of this paragraph, such declarations of a state of emergency shall not be limited to those instances when a school district's impairments are related to a lack of financial resources, but also shall include serious failure to meet minimum academic standards, as evidenced by a continued pattern of poor student performance.

(c) Whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency in a school district in response to a request made under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, the State Board of Education may take one or more of the following actions:

(i) Declare a state of emergency, under which some or all of state funds can be escrowed except as otherwise provided in Section 206, Constitution of 1890, until the board determines corrective actions are being taken or the deficiencies have been removed, or that the needs of students warrant the release of funds. Such funds may be released from escrow for any program which the board determines to have been restored to standard even though the state of emergency may not as yet be terminated for the district as a whole;

(ii) Override any decision of the local school board or superintendent of education, or both, concerning the management and operation of the school district, or initiate and make decisions concerning the management and operation of the school district;

(iii) Assign an interim conservator who will have those powers and duties prescribed in subsection (14) of this section;

(iv) * * * Grant transfers to students who attend this school district so that they may attend other accredited schools or districts in a manner which is not in violation of state or federal law;

(v) For states of emergency declared under paragraph (a) only, if the accreditation deficiencies are related to the fact that the school district is too small, with too few resources, to meet the required standards and if another school district is willing to accept those students, abolish that district and assign that territory to another school district or districts. If the school district has proposed a voluntary consolidation with another school district or districts, then if the State Board of Education finds that it is in the best interest of the pupils of the district for such consolidation to proceed, the voluntary consolidation shall have priority over any such assignment of territory by the State Board of Education;

(vi) For states of emergency declared under paragraph (b) only, reduce local supplements paid to school district employees, including, but not limited to, instructional personnel, assistant teachers and extracurricular activities personnel, if the district's impairment is related to a lack of financial resources, but only to an extent which will result in the salaries being comparable to districts similarly situated, as determined by the State Board of Education;

(vii) For states of emergency declared under paragraph (b) only, the State Board of Education must take such action as prescribed in Section 37-17-13.

(d) At such time as satisfactory corrective action has been taken in a school district in which a state of emergency has been declared, the State Board of Education may request the Governor to declare that the state of emergency no longer exists in the district.

(12) Upon the declaration of a state of emergency in a school district under subsection (11) of this section, the Commission on School Accreditation shall be responsible for public notice at least once a week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks * * * in a newspaper published within the jurisdiction of the school district failing to meet accreditation standards, or if no newspaper is published therein, then in a newspaper having a general circulation therein. The size of such notice shall be no smaller than one-fourth (1/4) of a standard newspaper page and shall be printed in bold print. If a conservator has been appointed for the school district, such notice shall begin as follows: "By authority of Section 37-17-6, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended, adopted by the Mississippi Legislature during the 1991 Regular Session, this school district (name of school district) is hereby placed under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Education acting through its appointed conservator (name of conservator)."

The notice also shall * * * include, in the discretion of the State Board of Education, any or all details relating to the school district's emergency status, including the declaration of a state of emergency in the school district and a description of the district's impairment deficiencies, conditions of any conservatorship and corrective actions recommended and being taken. Public notices issued under this section shall be subject to Section 13-3-31 and not contrary to other laws regarding newspaper publication.

Upon termination of the state of emergency in a school district, the Commission on School Accreditation shall cause notice to be published in the school district in the same manner provided in this section, to include any or all details relating to the corrective action taken in the school district which resulted in the termination of the state of emergency.

(13) The State Board of Education or the Commission on School Accreditation shall have the authority to require school districts to produce the necessary reports, correspondence, financial statements, and any other documents and information necessary to fulfill the requirements of this section.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to grant any individual, corporation, board or conservator the authority to levy taxes except in accordance with presently existing statutory provisions.

(14) (a) Whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency in a school district in response to a request made under subsection (11) of this section, the State Board of Education, in its discretion, may assign an interim conservator to the school district who will be responsible for the administration, management and operation of the school district, including, but not limited to, the following activities:

(i) Approving or disapproving all financial obligations of the district, including, but not limited to, the employment, termination, nonrenewal and reassignment of all certified and noncertified personnel, contractual agreements and purchase orders, and approving or disapproving all claim dockets and the issuance of checks; in approving or disapproving employment contracts of superintendents, assistant superintendents or principals, the interim conservator shall not be required to comply with the time limitations prescribed in Sections 37-9-15 and 37-9-105;

(ii) Supervising the day-to-day activities of the district's staff, including reassigning the duties and responsibilities of personnel in a manner which, in the determination of the conservator, will best suit the needs of the district;

(iii) Reviewing the district's total financial obligations and operations and making recommendations to the district for cost savings, including, but not limited to, reassigning the duties and responsibilities of staff;

(iv) Attending all meetings of the district's school board and administrative staff;

(v) Approving or disapproving all athletic, band and other extracurricular activities and any matters related to those activities;

(vi) Maintaining a detailed account of recommendations made to the district and actions taken in response to those recommendations; * * *

(vii) Reporting periodically to the State Board of Education on the progress or lack of progress being made in the district to improve the district's impairments during the state of emergency; and

(viii) Appointing a parent advisory committee, comprised of parents of students in the school district, which may make recommendations to the conservator concerning the administration, management and operation of the school district.

Except when, in the determination of the State Board of Education, the school district's impairment is related to a lack of financial resources, the cost of the salary of the conservator and any other actual and necessary costs related to the conservatorship paid by the State Department of Education shall be reimbursed by the local school district from nonminimum program funds. The department shall submit an itemized statement to the superintendent of the local school district for reimbursement purposes, and any unpaid balance may be withheld from the district's minimum or adequate education program funds.

At such time as * * * the Governor, pursuant to the request of the State Board of Education, declares that the state of emergency no longer exists in a school district, * * * the powers and responsibilities of the interim conservator assigned to such district shall cease * * *.

(b) In order to provide loans to school districts under a state of emergency which have impairments related to a lack of financial resources, the School District Emergency Assistance Fund is created as a special fund in the State Treasury into which monies may be transferred or appropriated by the Legislature from any available public education funds. The maximum amount that may be appropriated or transferred to the School District Emergency Assistance Fund for any one (1) emergency shall be Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00), and the maximum amount that may be appropriated during any fiscal year shall be Three Million Dollars ($3,000,000.00).

The State Board of Education may loan monies from the School District Emergency Assistance Fund to a school district that is under a state of emergency in such amounts, as determined by the board, which are necessary to correct the district's impairments related to a lack of financial resources. The loans shall be evidenced by an agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education and shall be repayable in principal, without necessity of interest, to the State General Fund or the Education Enhancement Fund, depending on the source of funding for such loan, by the school district from any allowable funds that are available. The total amount loaned to the district shall be due and payable within five (5) years after the impairments related to a lack of financial resources are corrected. If a school district fails to make payments on the loan in accordance with the terms of the agreement between the district and the State Board of Education, the State Department of Education, in accordance with rules and regulations established by the State Board of Education, may withhold that district's minimum program funds in an amount and manner that will effectuate repayment consistent with the terms of the agreement; such funds withheld by the department shall be deposited into the State General Fund or the Education Enhancement Fund, as the case may be.

If the State Board of Education determines that an extreme emergency exists, simultaneous with the powers exercised in this subsection, it shall take immediate action against all parties responsible for the affected school districts having been determined to be in an extreme emergency. Such action shall include, but not be limited to, initiating civil actions to recover funds and criminal actions to account for criminal activity. Any funds recovered by the State Auditor or the State Board of Education from the surety bonds of school officials or from any civil action brought under this subsection shall be applied toward the repayment of any loan made to a school district hereunder.

(15) In the event a majority of the membership of the school board of any school district resigns from office, the State Board of Education shall be authorized to assign an interim conservator, who shall be responsible for the administration, management and operation of the school district until such time as new board members are selected or the Governor declares a state of emergency in that school district under subsection (11), whichever occurs first. In such case, the State Board of Education, acting through the interim conservator, shall have all powers which were held by the previously existing school board, and may take such action as prescribed in Section 37-17-13 and/or one or more of the actions authorized in * * * this section.

(16) Beginning with the school district audits conducted for the 1997-1998 fiscal year, the State Board of Education, acting through the Commission on School Accreditation, shall require each school district to comply with standards established by the State Department of Audit for the verification of fixed assets and the auditing of fixed assets records as a minimum requirement for accreditation.

(17) Before December 1, 1999, the State Board of Education shall recommend a program to the Education Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate for identifying and rewarding public schools that improve or are high-performing. The program shall be described by the board in a written report, which shall include criteria and a process through which improving schools and high-performing schools will be identified and rewarded.

The State Superintendent of Education and the State Board of Education also shall develop a comprehensive accountability plan to ensure that local school boards, superintendents, principals and teachers are held accountable for student achievement. A written report on the accountability plan shall be submitted to the Education Committees of both houses of the Legislature before December 1, 1999, with any necessary legislative recommendations.

SECTION 4. Section 37-17-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-17-13. (1) Whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency in a school district in response to a certification by the State Board of Education and the Commission on School Accreditation made under Section 37-17-6(11)(b), the State Board of Education, in addition to any actions taken under Section 37-17-6 * * *, shall abolish the school district and assume control and administration of the schools formerly constituting the district, and appoint a conservator to carry out this purpose under the direction of the State Board of Education. In such case, the State Board of Education shall have all powers which were held by the previously existing school board, and the previously existing superintendent of schools or county superintendent of education, including, but not limited to, those enumerated in Section 37-7-301, and the authority to request tax levies from the appropriate governing authorities for the support of the schools and to receive and expend the tax funds as provided by Section 37-57-1 et seq., and Section 37-57-105 et seq.

(2) When a school district is abolished under this section, loans from the School District Emergency Assistance Fund may be made by the State Board of Education for the use and benefit of the schools formerly constituting the district in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section 37-17-6(14) for such loans to the district. The abolition of a school district under this section shall not impair or release the property of that school district from liability for the payment of the loan indebtedness, and it shall be the duty of the appropriate governing authorities to levy taxes on the property of the district so abolished from year to year according to the terms of the indebtedness until same shall be fully paid.

(3) After a school district is abolished under this section, at such time as the State Board of Education determines that the impairments have been substantially corrected, the State Board of Education shall reconstitute, reorganize or change or alter the boundaries of the previously existing district; * * * however, * * * no partition or assignment of territory formerly included in the abolished district to one or more other school districts may be made by the State Board of Education without the consent of the school board of the school district to which such territory is to be transferred, such consent to be spread upon its minutes. At that time, the State Board of Education, in appropriate cases, shall notify the appropriate governing authority or authorities of its action and request them to provide for the election or appointment of school board members and a superintendent or superintendents to govern the district or districts affected, in the manner provided by law.

SECTION 5. Section 25-9-120, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-9-120. (1) Contract personnel, whether classified as contract workers or independent contractors shall not be deemed state service or nonstate service employees of the State of Mississippi, and shall not be eligible to participate in the Public Employees' Retirement System, or the state employee health plan, nor be allowed credit for personal and sick leave and other leave benefits as employees of the State of Mississippi, notwithstanding Sections 25-3-91 through 25-3-101; 25-9-101 through 25-9-151; 25-11-1 through 25-11-126; 25-11-128 through 25-11-131; 25-15-1 through 25-15-23 and for the purpose set forth herein. Contract workers, i.e., contract personnel who do not meet the criteria of independent contractors, shall be subject to the provisions of Section 25-11-127.

(2) There is hereby created the Personal Service Contract Review Board, which shall be composed of the State Personnel Director, the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration, or his designee, the Commissioner of Corrections, or his designee, the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, or his designee, and the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality, or his designee. The State Personnel Director shall be chairman and shall preside over the meetings of the board. The board shall annually elect a vice-chairman, who shall serve in the absence of the chairman. No business shall be transacted, including adoption of rules of procedure, without the presence of a quorum of the board. Three (3) members shall be a quorum. No action shall be valid unless approved by the chairman and two (2) other of those members present and voting, entered upon the minutes of the board and signed by the chairman. Necessary clerical and administrative support for the board shall be provided by the State Personnel Board. Minutes shall be kept of the proceedings of each meeting, copies of which shall be filed on a monthly basis with the Legislative Budget Office.

(3) The Personal Service Contract Review Board shall have the following powers and responsibilities:

(a) Promulgate rules and regulations governing the solicitation and selection of contractual services personnel including personal and professional services contracts for any form of consulting, policy analysis, public relations, marketing, public affairs, legislative advocacy services or any other contract that the board deems appropriate for oversight, with the exception of any personal service contracts entered into for computer or information technology-related services governed by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services, any personal service contracts entered into by the Mississippi Department of Transportation, and any contract for attorney, accountant, auditor, physician, dentist, architect, engineer, veterinarian and utility rate expert services. Any such rules and regulations shall provide for maintaining continuous internal audit covering the activities of such agency affecting its revenue and expenditures as required under Section 7-7-3(6)(d), Mississippi Code of 1972.

(b) Approve all personal and professional services contracts involving the expenditures of funds in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00);

(c) Develop standards with respect to contractual services personnel which require invitations for public bid, requests for proposals, record keeping and financial responsibility of contractors. The Personal Service Contract Review Board may, in its discretion, require the agency involved to advertise such contract for public bid, and may reserve the right to reject any or all bids;

(d) Prescribe certain circumstances whereby agency heads may enter into contracts for personal and professional services without receiving prior approval from the Personal Service Contract Review Board. The Personal Service Contract Review Board may establish a pre-approved list of providers of various personal and professional services for set prices with which state agencies may contract without bidding or prior approval from the board.

(e) To provide standards for the issuance of requests for proposals, the evaluation of proposals received, consideration of costs and quality of services proposed, contract negotiations, the administrative monitoring of contract performance by the agency and successful steps in terminating a contract;

(f) To present recommendations for governmental privatization and to evaluate privatization proposals submitted by any state agency;

(g) To authorize personal and professional service contracts to be effective for more than one (1) year provided a funding condition is included in any such multiple year contract, except the State Board of Education, which shall have the authority to enter into contractual agreements for student assessment for a period up to ten (10) years. The State Board of Education shall procure these services in accordance with the Personal Service Contract Review Board procurement regulations;

(h) To request the State Auditor to conduct a performance audit on any personal or professional service contract;

(i) Prepare an annual report to the Legislature concerning the issuance of personal service contracts during the previous year, collecting any necessary information from state agencies in making such report.

(4) No member of the Personal Service Contract Review Board shall use his official authority or influence to coerce, by threat of discharge from employment, or otherwise, the purchase of commodities or the contracting for personal or professional services under this section.

SECTION 6. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.