56 days remain in the 87th Regular Legislative Session.
Legislative Update on Wednesday
The Texas School Coalition will host another virtual legislative update for members this week on Wednesday, April 7, at 2:00 p.m. If you haven't already done so, click on the link below to register for the event and add those details to your calendar.
House Public Education to hear 38 bills
The House Public Education Committee will conduct what promises to be a lengthy hearing on Tuesday, beginning at 8:00 a.m. As you might imagine, with that many bills, the committee will cover nearly every topic related to public education that day. You can see the full list of bills here. There are a few bills in particular we want to call your attention to that will be heard:

HB 3445 (Huberty) - this is the "fund balance bill" it requires districts deemed to have "excess revenue" (meaning cash on hand in excess of 110 days of operating expenses) to use those funds to pay down debt, lower the district tax rate, provide additional employee compensation, or pay for deferred maintenance. FSP reductions and bond elections/issuances prohibitions apply for schools that do not comply. Click here if you need help with some talking points in regards to this topic.

HB 4465 (Dutton) Establishes a grant program (presumably for a portion of the federal stimulus dollars) for funds to assist schools overcome the impact of the disaster. Uses of grant dollars include extended instruction, broadband connectivity, C&I innovation, accelerated instruction, and improvements to air quality and water. Also establishes a new adjustment in school finance formulas (if funds are appropriated) that appears to allow the state to supplant the funding

HB 3846 (Krause) reduces school district local control over school calendars. Bill would require schools to begin instruction only on or after 4th Monday of August (current law, but would prevent any exceptions for DOI districts); also would prevent schools from ending the school year any later than the Friday preceding Memorial Day. 

HB 4545 (Dutton): Allows commissioner authority to purchase instructional materials for schools (rather than allowing schools to select their own), and allows commissioner to "contract on behalf of school districts and open enrollment charter schools to purchase any item for instructional purposes." Requires districts to establish accelerated learning committee (in place of a grade placement committee) for each student who doesn't perform satisfactorily on state assessments. Modifies requirements for accelerated instruction to provide many more specifics and allow parents to choose their child's teacher. Establishes the Strong Foundations Grant Program for PreK-5th campuses to implement rigorous high-quality approach. Creates Accelerated Learning and Sustainment Outcomes Bonus to reward districts for students who have failed state assessment, received accelerated instruction, and then subsequently passed. $500 for each successfully accelerated student who is not economically disadvantaged, and the $1000 for each student who is. 

HB 41 (Talarico): requires an average of one certified teacher per 11 pre-K students and applies 22 to 1 class-size requirements to pre-k.

There are also several bills pertaining to charter schools worth noting: HB 97 (Hinojosa) would prohibit charters from discriminating in admissions on the basis of discipline history. HB 450 (Gonzalez, Mary) requires written notice to impacted districts and legislators of new charter campuses at least 18 months prior to opening. HB 1249 (Ramos) requires that a charter school's three most recent financial statements must be available from a prominently displayed link on the school's website. 

Other topics to be covered through bills to be heard Tuesday include: student IDs, professional development, accountability for under-performing campuses, student assessments, certification, curriculum for certain courses, school food donations, student discipline, school safety, excused absences, and the confidentiality of teacher and principal home addresses. It promises to be a long day! 
House W&M to hear disaster pennies bill
The House Ways & Means Committee will also meet on Tuesday (beginning at 10:00 a.m.), and they will hear a bill that impacts schools as well. HB 3376 (Meyer) prevents a district from levying temporary disaster pennies in response to a disaster that does not cause physical damage (such as an epidemic, pandemic, or drought). As filed, it might apply to Tax Year 2021 rate adoption (if immediate effect is granted due to passage by at least a 2/3 vote in both chambers, otherwise it would take effect September 1, 2021). 
House Appropriations Committee to look at 2020-21 spending and more
On Thursday at 7:30 a.m., the House Appropriations Committee will hear HB 2, the Supplemental Appropriations Bill. That bill, which must pass every session, updates state appropriations in the current spending cycle to make adjustments for savings. As you may recall, the filed version of this bill includes the $5.4 billion in state savings from public education. Sources of savings included. This included $1.3 billion from higher than expected recapture, $1.5 billion from higher than expected property values/property tax collections, and $1.2 billion from the supplantation of state funds with federal ESSER I dollars. Supplemental appropriations bills aren't all about state savings though; they can also spend additional dollars in the current biennium. For example, this bill could be amended to spend ESSER II dollars in the current biennium to allow schools to use those dollars for the purpose of summer school in the summer of 2021. Please note: we're not saying this will happen on Wednesday...just that it could if legislators made that choice.

Speaking of federal funding...on Wednesday, the committee will also hear HB 2021, which establishes a Board on Administration of Federal Funds consisting of the Lieutenant Governor, Speaker, Chairs and Vice ­Chairs of Senate Finance/House Appropriations Committees. This Board would determine acceptance or rejection of federal funds that are not included in the appropriations bill before the Legislature adjourns, and they may also determine a state agency to which assign authority for the spending of such dollars.
"House Bill 3 Clean-Up Bill" to be heard in Senate Education Committee
The Senate Committee on Education will hear the Senate version of the “HB 3 Clean-up Bill,” SB 1536 by Senator Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) on Thursday. We expect there to be a committee substitute of this bill (similar to the House version of the bill), and we will update you on any changes.

You can access our section-by-section of the bill that goes through all the details and compares the filed versions of the bill to the House substitute.

The Senate Committee will also hear bills on Thursday covering topics such as allowing transportation allotment dollars to cover the expense of transporting food and instructional materials to student homes (SB 462 by Lucio), financial literacy & economics curriculum, professional development, and more. They will also here SB 1522 (Taylor), which clarifies that the adjustment of instructional days for a calamity may not exceed the days equivalent to one school year and allows commissioner to divide the adjustment between two years. 
Other Senate Committees to note
On Tuesday, the Senate Local Government Committee will hear two bills that relate to the topic of lobbying expenses paid for local taxing jurisdictions. SB 10 (Bettencourt) prohibits cities and counties from expending dollars on lobbying, but does not pertain to school districts. SB 1879 (Bettencourt) requires public entities (including school districts) to transparently report spending on lobbying, both to the public and the Texas Ethics Commission.

The Senate Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday to hear a variety of bills, including SB 202 (Schwertner) that clarifies that employer contributions are a burden on the TRS-covered employer employer, and that school districts cannot pass employer contributions mandated in the Government Code on to retirees who have been rehired by the school district.
What we're expecting this week
Now that they are back from the break for the Easter holiday, it is full steam ahead! The final two months of the session always involve long hours and a frenzied push to the finish line. Both bodies are expected to begin spending a lot more time on the floor of their respective chambers, as well as in committee hearings.

The Senate will convene at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday and the House will convene at 2:00 p.m.

The Senate is expected to take up the state budget bill, SB 1, upon their return.

As you can see above, there are lots of committee hearings scheduled this week to hear many bills. You can access the full list of all House hearings for the week, or the upcoming hearings in the Senate.

To view any House floor or committee actions, you can watch live or view archives.

Or to see a Senate preceding click here to watch live or view archives.
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