By: Martinez Fischer H.R. No. 408
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, A Travis County District Judge found that the Texas
public school finance system violates the "efficiency" provisions
of Article VII, ยง 1, Texas Constitution, because it fails to provide
substantially equal access to revenues necessary to provide a
general diffusion of knowledge; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature finds that there is an urgent need
to provide critical budgetary relief to our public school finance
system to ensure that the young men and women of Texas entering
college are adequately prepared academically for first year college
courses; and
WHEREAS, The 2011 revenue estimate was inaccurate and, as a
direct result, public schools received an unjustified $5.4 billion
dollar budget cut and there is nearly $8.8 billion unspent from last
biennium, some of which could be used to help our Texas schools; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature has an affirmative and independent
constitutional duty to "make suitable provision for the support and
maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools"; and
WHEREAS, This duty exists regardless of any declarations of
emergency by other branches of government, and legislation to
fulfill this duty may be passed by the Legislature at any time,
regardless of pending administrative or judicial actions, just as
with other important legislative initiatives including H.B. 8
("Jessica's Law"), 80th Regular Session, or S.B. 175 ("The Top Ten
Percent Plan"), 81st Regular Session; and
WHEREAS, Section 5(c), Article III, Texas Constitution,
states that either house may determine its order of business by an
affirmative vote of four-fifths of its membership despite
constitutional restrictions set forth in Section 5(b), Article III,
Texas Constitution; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas
Legislature, by an affirmative vote of four-fifths of its
membership, That the order of its business for the regular session
is hereby determined to be that which is set forth in Section 5(b),
Article III, Texas Constitution, except that during the first 60
days of the regular session the House may consider a bill relating
to public school finance in order to remedy identified
constitutional infirmities.