84R4994 PAM-D
By: White of Tyler H.B. No. 1065
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Interstate Primary and Secondary Public Education
Compact.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 4, Education Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 163 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 163. INTERSTATE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PUBLIC
EDUCATION COMPACT
Sec. 163.001. EXECUTION OF COMPACT. This state enacts the
Interstate Primary and Secondary Public Education Compact and
enters into the compact with all other states legally joining in the
compact in substantially the following form:
Whereas, the separation of powers, both between the branches
of the Federal government and between Federal and State authority,
is essential to the preservation of individual liberty;
Whereas, the Constitution creates a Federal government of
limited and enumerated powers, and reserves to the States or to the
people those powers not granted to the Federal government;
Whereas, the Federal government has enacted many laws that
have preempted State laws with respect to Primary and Secondary
Public Education, and placed increasing strain on State budgets,
impairing other responsibilities such as infrastructure and public
safety;
Whereas, the Member States seek to protect local control over
Primary and Secondary Public Education decisions, and believe the
best method to achieve that end is by vesting regulatory authority
over Primary and Secondary Public Education in the States;
Whereas, by acting in concert, the Member States may express
and inspire confidence in the ability of each Member State to govern
Primary and Secondary Public Education effectively; and
Whereas, the Member States recognize that consent of Congress
may be more easily secured if the Member States collectively seek
consent through an interstate compact;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Member States hereto resolve, and by the
adoption into law under their respective State Constitutions of
this Primary and Secondary Public Education Compact, agree, as
follows:
Sec. 1. Definitions. As used in this Compact, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Commission" means the Interstate Primary and Secondary
Public Education Excellence Commission.
"Effective Date" means the date upon which this Compact shall
become effective for purposes of the operation of State and Federal
law in a Member State, which shall be the later of:
a) the date upon which this Compact shall be adopted
under the laws of the Member State; and
b) the date upon which this Compact receives the
consent of Congress pursuant to Article I, Section 10, of the United
States Constitution, after at least two Member States adopt this
Compact.
"Primary and Secondary Public Education" includes all
aspects of a public education system from kindergarten through
grade twelve.
"Member State" means a State that is signatory to this
Compact and has adopted it under the laws of that State.
"Member State Base Funding Level" means a number equal to the
total Federal spending on Primary and Secondary Public Education in
the Member State during Federal fiscal year 2014. On or before the
Effective Date, each Member State shall determine the Member State
Base Funding Level for its State, and that number shall be binding
upon that Member State.
"Member State Current Year Funding Level" means the Member
State Base Funding Level multiplied by the Member State Current
Year Population Adjustment Factor multiplied by the Current Year
Inflation Adjustment Factor.
"Member State Current Year Population Adjustment Factor"
means the average population of the Member State in the current year
less the average population of the Member State in Federal fiscal
year 2014, divided by the average population of the Member State in
Federal fiscal year 2014, plus 1. Average population in a Member
State shall be determined by the United States Census Bureau.
"Current Year Inflation Adjustment Factor" means the Total
Gross Domestic Product Deflator in the current year divided by the
Total Gross Domestic Product Deflator in Federal fiscal year
2014. Total Gross Domestic Product Deflator shall be determined by
the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of
Commerce.
Sec. 2. Pledge. The Member States shall take joint and
separate action to secure the consent of the United States Congress
to this Compact in order to return the authority to regulate Primary
and Secondary Public Education to the Member States consistent with
the goals and principles articulated in this Compact. The Member
States shall improve Primary and Secondary Public Education policy
within their respective jurisdictions and according to the judgment
and discretion of each Member State.
Sec. 3. Legislative Power. The legislatures of the Member
States have the primary responsibility to regulate Primary and
Secondary Public Education in their respective States.
Sec. 4. State Control. Each Member State, within its
State, may suspend by legislation the operation of all federal
laws, rules, regulations, and orders regarding Primary and
Secondary Public Education that are inconsistent with the laws and
regulations adopted by the Member State pursuant to this
Compact. Federal and State laws, rules, regulations, and orders
regarding Primary and Secondary Public Education will remain in
effect unless a Member State expressly suspends them pursuant to
its authority under this Compact. For any federal law, rule,
regulation, or order that remains in effect in a Member State after
the Effective Date, that Member State shall be responsible for the
associated funding obligations in its State.
Sec. 5. Funding.
(a) Each Federal fiscal year, each Member State shall have
the right to Federal monies up to an amount equal to its Member
State Current Year Funding Level for that Federal fiscal year,
funded by Congress as mandatory spending and not subject to annual
appropriation, to support the exercise of Member State authority
under this Compact. This funding shall not be conditional on any
action of or regulation, policy, law, or rule being adopted by the
Member State.
(b) By the start of each Federal fiscal year, Congress shall
establish an initial Member State Current Year Funding Level for
each Member State, based upon reasonable estimates. The final
Member State Current Year Funding Level shall be calculated, and
funding shall be reconciled by the United States Congress based
upon information provided by each Member State and audited by the
United States Government Accountability Office.
Sec. 6. Interstate Primary and Secondary Public Education
Excellence Commission.
(a) The Interstate Primary and Secondary Public Education
Excellence Commission is established. The Commission consists of
members appointed by each Member State through a process to be
determined by each Member State. A Member State may not appoint
more than two members to the Commission and may withdraw membership
from the Commission at any time. Each Commission member is
entitled to one vote. The Commission shall not act unless a
majority of the members are present, and no action shall be binding
unless approved by a majority of the Commission's total membership.
(b) The Commission may elect from among its membership a
Chairperson. The Commission may adopt and publish bylaws and
policies that are not inconsistent with this Compact. The
Commission shall meet at least once a year, and may meet more
frequently.
(c) The Commission may study issues of Primary and Secondary
Public Education regulation that are of particular concern to the
Member States. The Commission may make non-binding
recommendations to the Member States. The legislatures of the
Member States may consider these recommendations in determining the
appropriate Primary and Secondary Public Education policies in
their respective States.
(d) The Commission shall collect information and data to
assist the Member States in their regulation of Primary and
Secondary Public Education, including assessing the performance of
various State Primary and Secondary Public Education programs and
compiling information on the cost of providing Primary and
Secondary Public Education. The Commission shall make this
information and data available to the legislatures of the Member
States. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Compact, this
Act does not authorize the disclosure of information, documents, or
records that are not subject to disclosure under the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section
1232g).
(e) The Commission shall be funded by the Member States as
agreed to by the Member States. The Commission shall have the
responsibilities and duties as may be conferred upon it by
subsequent action of the respective legislatures of the Member
States in accordance with the terms of this Compact.
(f) The Commission shall not take any action within a Member
State that contravenes any State law of that Member State.
Sec. 7. Congressional Consent. This Compact shall be
effective on its adoption by at least two Member States and consent
of the United States Congress. This Compact shall be effective
unless the United States Congress, in consenting to this Compact,
alters the fundamental purposes of this Compact, which are:
(a) To secure the right of the Member States to regulate
Primary and Secondary Public Education in their respective States
pursuant to this Compact and to suspend the operation of any
conflicting federal laws, rules, regulations, and orders within
their States; and
(b) To secure Federal funding for Member States that choose
to invoke their authority under this Compact, as prescribed by
Section 5 above.
Sec. 8. Amendments. The Member States, by unanimous
agreement, may amend this Compact from time to time without the
prior consent or approval of Congress and any amendment shall be
effective unless, within one year, the Congress disapproves that
amendment. Any State may join this Compact after the date on which
Congress consents to the Compact by adoption into law under its
State Constitution.
Sec. 9. Withdrawal; Dissolution. Any Member State may
withdraw from this Compact by adopting a law to that effect, but no
such withdrawal shall take effect until six months after the
Governor of the withdrawing Member State has given notice of the
withdrawal to the other Member States. A withdrawing State shall
be liable for any obligations that it may have incurred prior to the
date on which its withdrawal becomes effective. This Compact shall
be dissolved upon the withdrawal of all but one of the Member
States.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.