Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1034 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R1285 GCB-D
2	2	By: Bohac H.B. No. 1034
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the repeal of provisions requiring school districts to
8	8	reduce their wealth per student to the equalized wealth level.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 12.013(b), Education Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	(b) A home-rule school district is subject to:
13	13	(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal
14	14	offense;
15	15	(2) a provision of this title relating to limitations
16	16	on liability; and
17	17	(3) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as
18	18	applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this
19	19	title, relating to:
20	20	(A) the Public Education Information Management
21	21	System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with
22	22	this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;
23	23	(B) educator certification under Chapter 21 and
24	24	educator rights under Sections 21.407, 21.408, and 22.001;
25	25	(C) criminal history records under Subchapter C,
26	26	Chapter 22;
27	27	(D) student admissions under Section 25.001;
28	28	(E) school attendance under Sections 25.085,
29	29	25.086, and 25.087;
30	30	(F) inter-district or inter-county transfers of
31	31	students under Subchapter B, Chapter 25;
32	32	(G) elementary class size limits under Section
33	33	25.112, in the case of any campus in the district that fails to
34	34	satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e);
35	35	(H) high school graduation under Section 28.025;
36	36	(I) special education programs under Subchapter
37	37	A, Chapter 29;
38	38	(J) bilingual education under Subchapter B,
39	39	Chapter 29;
40	40	(K) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E,
41	41	Chapter 29;
42	42	(L) safety provisions relating to the
43	43	transportation of students under Sections 34.002, 34.003, 34.004,
44	44	and 34.008;
45	45	(M) computation and distribution of state aid
46	46	under Chapters 31, 42, and 43;
47	47	(N) extracurricular activities under Section
48	48	33.081;
49	49	(O) health and safety under Chapter 38;
50	50	(P) public school accountability under
51	51	Subchapters B, C, D, and J, Chapter 39, and Chapter 39A;
52	52	(Q) [equalized wealth under Chapter 41;
53	53	[(R)] a bond or other obligation or tax rate
54	54	under Chapters 42, 43, and 45; and
55	55	(R) [(S)] purchasing under Chapter 44.
56	56	SECTION 2. Section 12.029(b), Education Code, is amended to
57	57	read as follows:
58	58	(b) If [Except as provided by Subchapter H, Chapter 41, if]
59	59	two or more school districts having different status, one of which
60	60	is home-rule school district status, consolidate into a single
61	61	district, the petition under Section 13.003 initiating the
62	62	consolidation must state the status for the consolidated district.
63	63	The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
64	64	proposition: "Consolidation of (names of school districts) into a
65	65	single school district governed as (status of school district
66	66	specified in the petition)."
67	67	SECTION 3. Section 13.054(i), Education Code, is amended to
68	68	read as follows:
69	69	(i) The funding provided under Subsection (f), (g), or (h)
70	70	is in addition to other funding the district receives through other
71	71	provisions of this code, including funding the district receives
72	72	under Chapter [Chapters 41 and] 42.
73	73	SECTION 4. Section 21.410(h), Education Code, is amended to
74	74	read as follows:
75	75	(h) A grant a school district receives under this section is
76	76	in addition to any funding the district receives under Chapter 42.
77	77	The commissioner shall distribute funds under this section with the
78	78	Foundation School Program payment to which the district is entitled
79	79	as soon as practicable after the end of the school year as
80	80	determined by the commissioner. [A district to which Chapter 41
81	81	applies is entitled to the grants paid under this section.] The
82	82	commissioner shall determine the timing of the distribution of
83	83	grants to a district that does not receive Foundation School
84	84	Program payments.
85	85	SECTION 5. Section 21.411(h), Education Code, is amended to
86	86	read as follows:
87	87	(h) A grant a school district receives under this section is
88	88	in addition to any funding the district receives under Chapter 42.
89	89	The commissioner shall distribute funds under this section with the
90	90	Foundation School Program payment to which the district is entitled
91	91	as soon as practicable after the end of the school year as
92	92	determined by the commissioner. [A district to which Chapter 41
93	93	applies is entitled to the grants paid under this section.] The
94	94	commissioner shall determine the timing of the distribution of
95	95	grants to a district that does not receive Foundation School
96	96	Program payments.
97	97	SECTION 6. Section 21.412(h), Education Code, is amended to
98	98	read as follows:
99	99	(h) A grant a school district receives under this section is
100	100	in addition to any funding the district receives under Chapter 42.
101	101	The commissioner shall distribute funds under this section with the
102	102	Foundation School Program payment to which the district is entitled
103	103	as soon as practicable after the end of the school year as
104	104	determined by the commissioner. [A district to which Chapter 41
105	105	applies is entitled to the grants paid under this section.] The
106	106	commissioner shall determine the timing of the distribution of
107	107	grants to a district that does not receive Foundation School
108	108	Program payments.
109	109	SECTION 7. Section 21.413(h), Education Code, is amended to
110	110	read as follows:
111	111	(h) A grant a school district receives under this section is
112	112	in addition to any funding the district receives under Chapter 42.
113	113	The commissioner shall distribute funds under this section with the
114	114	Foundation School Program payment to which the district is entitled
115	115	as soon as practicable after the end of the school year as
116	116	determined by the commissioner. [A district to which Chapter 41
117	117	applies is entitled to the grants paid under this section.] The
118	118	commissioner shall determine the timing of the distribution of
119	119	grants to a district that does not receive Foundation School
120	120	Program payments.
121	121	SECTION 8. Section 25.081(f), Education Code, as added by
122	122	Chapter 851 (H.B. 2442), Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular
123	123	Session, 2017, is amended to read as follows:
124	124	(f) The commissioner may proportionally reduce the amount
125	125	of funding a district receives under Chapter [41,] 42[,] or 46 and
126	126	the average daily attendance calculation for the district if the
127	127	district operates on a calendar that provides fewer minutes of
128	128	operation than required under Subsection (a).
129	129	SECTION 9. Section 29.087(j), Education Code, is amended to
130	130	read as follows:
131	131	(j) For purposes of funding under Chapters [41,] 42[,] and
132	132	46, a student attending a program authorized by this section may be
133	133	counted in attendance only for the actual number of hours each
134	134	school day the student attends the program, in accordance with
135	135	Section 25.081.
136	136	SECTION 10. Section 29.203(b), Education Code, is amended
137	137	to read as follows:
138	138	(b) A school district is entitled to the allotment provided
139	139	by Section 42.157 for each eligible student using a public
140	140	education grant. [If the district has a wealth per student greater
141	141	than the guaranteed wealth level but less than the equalized wealth
142	142	level, a school district is entitled under rules adopted by the
143	143	commissioner to additional state aid in an amount equal to the
144	144	difference between the cost to the district of providing services
145	145	to a student using a public education grant and the sum of the state
146	146	aid received because of the allotment under Section 42.157 and
147	147	money from the available school fund attributable to the student.]
148	148	SECTION 11. Section 37.0061, Education Code, is amended to
149	149	read as follows:
150	150	Sec. 37.0061. FUNDING FOR ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION SERVICES IN
151	151	JUVENILE RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES. A school district that provides
152	152	education services to pre-adjudicated and post-adjudicated
153	153	students who are confined by court order in a juvenile residential
154	154	facility operated by a juvenile board is entitled to count such
155	155	students in the district's average daily attendance for purposes of
156	156	receipt of state funds under the Foundation School Program. [If the
157	157	district has a wealth per student greater than the guaranteed
158	158	wealth level but less than the equalized wealth level, the district
159	159	in which the student is enrolled on the date a court orders the
160	160	student to be confined to a juvenile residential facility shall
161	161	transfer to the district providing education services an amount
162	162	equal to the difference between the average Foundation School
163	163	Program costs per student of the district providing education
164	164	services and the sum of the state aid and the money from the
165	165	available school fund received by the district that is attributable
166	166	to the student for the portion of the school year for which the
167	167	district provides education services to the student.]
168	168	SECTION 12. Section 42.009(b), Education Code, is amended
169	169	to read as follows:
170	170	(b) In making the determinations regarding funding levels
171	171	required by Subsection (a), the commissioner shall:
172	172	(1) make adjustments as necessary to reflect changes
173	173	in a school district's maintenance and operations tax rate; and
174	174	(2) [for a district required to take action under
175	175	Chapter 41 to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth
176	176	level, base the determinations on the district's net funding levels
177	177	after deducting any amounts required to be expended by the district
178	178	to comply with Chapter 41; and
179	179	[(3)] determine a district's weighted average daily
180	180	attendance in accordance with this chapter as it existed on January
181	181	1, 2011.
182	182	SECTION 13. Section 42.158(e), Education Code, is amended
183	183	to read as follows:
184	184	(e) [A school district that is required to take action under
185	185	Chapter 41 to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth
186	186	level is entitled to a credit, in the amount of the allotments to
187	187	which the district is entitled under this section, against the
188	188	total amount required under Section 41.093 for the district to
189	189	purchase attendance credits.] A school district that is otherwise
190	190	ineligible for state aid under this chapter is entitled to receive
191	191	allotments under this section.
192	192	SECTION 14. Section 42.160(b), Education Code, is amended
193	193	to read as follows:
194	194	(b) [A school district that is required to take action under
195	195	Chapter 41 to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth
196	196	level is entitled to a credit, in the amount of the allotments to
197	197	which the district is entitled under this section, against the
198	198	total amount required under Section 41.093 for the district to
199	199	purchase attendance credits.] A school district that is otherwise
200	200	ineligible for state aid under this chapter is entitled to receive
201	201	allotments under this section.
202	202	SECTION 15. Section 42.2511(b), Education Code, is amended
203	203	to read as follows:
204	204	(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter [or
205	205	Chapter 41], a school district subject to this section is entitled
206	206	to receive for each student in average daily attendance at the
207	207	campus described by Subsection (a) an amount equivalent to the
208	208	difference, if the difference results in increased funding,
209	209	between:
210	210	(1) the amount described by Section 12.106; and
211	211	(2) the amount to which the district would be entitled
212	212	under this chapter.
213	213	SECTION 16. Section 42.2518(a), Education Code, is amended
214	214	to read as follows:
215	215	(a) Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, a school
216	216	district is entitled to additional state aid to the extent that
217	217	state and local revenue under this chapter [and Chapter 41] is less
218	218	than the state and local revenue that would have been available to
219	219	the district under [Chapter 41 and] this chapter as it [those
220	220	chapters] existed on September 1, 2015, excluding any state aid
221	221	that would have been provided under former Section 42.2516, if the
222	222	increase in the residence homestead exemption under Section 1-b(c),
223	223	Article VIII, Texas Constitution, and the additional limitation on
224	224	tax increases under Section 1-b(d) of that article as proposed by
225	225	S.J.R. 1, 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, had not
226	226	occurred.
227	227	SECTION 17. Section 42.2521(a), Education Code, is amended
228	228	to read as follows:
229	229	(a) For purposes of Chapter [Chapters 41 and] 46 and this
230	230	chapter, and to the extent money specifically authorized to be used
231	231	under this section is available, the commissioner shall adjust the
232	232	taxable value of property in a school district that, due to factors
233	233	beyond the control of the board of trustees, experiences a rapid
234	234	decline in the tax base used in calculating taxable values in excess
235	235	of four percent of the tax base used in the preceding year.
236	236	SECTION 18. Section 42.2523(a), Education Code, is amended
237	237	to read as follows:
238	238	(a) For purposes of Chapter [Chapters 41 and] 46 and this
239	239	chapter, the commissioner shall adjust the taxable value of
240	240	property of a school district all or part of which is located in an
241	241	area declared a disaster area by the governor under Chapter 418,
242	242	Government Code, as necessary to ensure that the district receives
243	243	funding based as soon as possible on property values as affected by
244	244	the disaster.
245	245	SECTION 19. Sections 42.2524(c) and (d), Education Code,
246	246	are amended to read as follows:
247	247	(c) The commissioner may provide reimbursement under this
248	248	section only if funds are available for that purpose [as follows:
249	249	[(1) reimbursement for a school district not required
250	250	to take action under Chapter 41 may be provided] from:
251	251	(1) [(A)] amounts appropriated for that purpose,
252	252	including amounts appropriated for those districts for that purpose
253	253	to the disaster contingency fund established under Section 418.073,
254	254	Government Code; or
255	255	(2) [(B)] Foundation School Program funds available
256	256	for that purpose, based on a determination by the commissioner that
257	257	the amount appropriated for the Foundation School Program,
258	258	including the facilities component as provided by Chapter 46,
259	259	exceeds the amount to which districts are entitled under this
260	260	chapter and Chapter 46[; and
261	261	[(2) reimbursement for a school district required to
262	262	take action under Chapter 41 may be provided from funds described by
263	263	Subdivision (1)(B) if funds remain available after fully
264	264	reimbursing each school district described by Subdivision (1) for
265	265	its disaster remediation costs].
266	266	(d) If the amount of money available for purposes of
267	267	reimbursing school districts [not required to take action under
268	268	Chapter 41] is not sufficient to fully reimburse each district's
269	269	disaster remediation costs, the commissioner shall reduce the
270	270	amount of assistance provided to each of those districts
271	271	proportionately. [If the amount of money available for purposes of
272	272	reimbursing school districts required to take action under Chapter
273	273	41 is not sufficient to fully reimburse each district's disaster
274	274	remediation costs, the commissioner shall reduce the amount of
275	275	assistance provided to each of those districts proportionately.]
276	276	SECTION 20. Section 42.253(h), Education Code, is amended
277	277	to read as follows:
278	278	(h) If the amount appropriated for the Foundation School
279	279	Program for the second year of a state fiscal biennium is less than
280	280	the amount to which school districts and open-enrollment charter
281	281	schools are entitled for that year, the commissioner shall certify
282	282	the amount of the difference to the Legislative Budget Board not
283	283	later than January 1 of the second year of the state fiscal
284	284	biennium. The Legislative Budget Board shall propose to the
285	285	legislature that the certified amount be transferred to the
286	286	foundation school fund from the economic stabilization fund and
287	287	appropriated for the purpose of increases in allocations under this
288	288	subsection. If the legislature fails during the regular session to
289	289	enact the proposed transfer and appropriation and there are not
290	290	funds available under Subsection (j), the commissioner shall adjust
291	291	the total amounts due to each school district and open-enrollment
292	292	charter school under this chapter [and the total amounts necessary
293	293	for each school district to comply with the requirements of Chapter
294	294	41] by an amount determined by applying to each district and school
295	295	the same percentage adjustment to the total amount of state and
296	296	local revenue due to the district or school under this chapter [and
297	297	Chapter 41] so that the total amount of the adjustment to all
298	298	districts and schools results in an amount equal to the total
299	299	adjustment necessary. The following fiscal year,[:
300	300	[(1)] a district's or school's entitlement under this
301	301	section is increased by an amount equal to the adjustment made
302	302	under this subsection[; and
303	303	[(2) the amount necessary for a district to comply
304	304	with the requirements of Chapter 41 is reduced by an amount
305	305	necessary to ensure a district's full recovery of the adjustment
306	306	made under this subsection].
307	307	SECTION 21. Sections 42.2531(a), (b), and (c), Education
308	308	Code, are amended to read as follows:
309	309	(a) The commissioner may make adjustments to amounts due to
310	310	a school district under this chapter or Chapter 46[, or to amounts
311	311	necessary for a district to comply with the requirements of Chapter
312	312	41,] as provided by this section.
313	313	(b) A school district that has a major taxpayer, as
314	314	determined by the commissioner, that because of a protest of the
315	315	valuation of the taxpayer's property fails to pay all or a portion
316	316	of the ad valorem taxes due to the district may apply to the
317	317	commissioner to have the district's taxable value of property or ad
318	318	valorem tax collections adjusted for purposes of this chapter or
319	319	Chapter [41 or] 46. The commissioner may make the adjustment only
320	320	to the extent the commissioner determines that making the
321	321	adjustment will not:
322	322	(1) in the fiscal year in which the adjustment is made,
323	323	cause the amount to which school districts are entitled under this
324	324	chapter to exceed the amount appropriated for purposes of the
325	325	Foundation School Program for that year; and
326	326	(2) if the adjustment is made in the first year of a
327	327	state fiscal biennium, cause the amount to which school districts
328	328	are entitled under this chapter for the second year of the biennium
329	329	to exceed the amount appropriated for purposes of the Foundation
330	330	School Program for that year.
331	331	(c) The commissioner shall recover the benefit of any
332	332	adjustment made under this section by making offsetting adjustments
333	333	in the school district's taxable value of property or ad valorem tax
334	334	collections for purposes of this chapter or Chapter [41 or] 46 on a
335	335	final determination of the taxable value of property that was the
336	336	basis of the original adjustment, or in the second school year
337	337	following the year in which the adjustment is made, whichever is
338	338	earlier.
339	339	SECTION 22. Section 42.258(a-1), Education Code, is amended
340	340	to read as follows:
341	341	(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the agency may
342	342	recover an overallocation of state funds over a period not to exceed
343	343	the subsequent five school years if the commissioner determines
344	344	that the overallocation was the result of exceptional circumstances
345	345	reasonably caused by statutory changes to former Chapter 41,
346	346	Chapter [or] 46, or this chapter and related reporting
347	347	requirements.
348	348	SECTION 23. Section 42.260(b), Education Code, is amended
349	349	to read as follows:
350	350	(b) The amount of additional funds to which each school
351	351	district or participating charter school is entitled due to the
352	352	increases in formula funding made by Chapter 1187 (H.B. No. 3343),
353	353	Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, and any
354	354	subsequent legislation amending the provisions amended by that Act
355	355	that increase formula funding under [Chapter 41 and] this chapter
356	356	to school districts and charter schools is available for purposes
357	357	of Subsection (c).
358	358	SECTION 24. Section 45.251(2), Education Code, is amended
359	359	to read as follows:
360	360	(2) "Foundation School Program" means the program
361	361	established under Chapters [41,] 42[,] and 46, or any successor
362	362	program of state appropriated funding for school districts in this
363	363	state.
364	364	SECTION 25. Section 45.261(a), Education Code, is amended
365	365	to read as follows:
366	366	(a) If the commissioner orders payment from the money
367	367	appropriated to the Foundation School Program on behalf of a school
368	368	district [that is not required to reduce its wealth per student
369	369	under Chapter 41], the commissioner shall direct the comptroller to
370	370	withhold the amount paid from the first state money payable to the
371	371	district. If the commissioner orders payment from the money
372	372	appropriated to the Foundation School Program on behalf of a school
373	373	district that is not entitled to state assistance under Chapter 42
374	374	[required to reduce its wealth per student under Chapter 41], the
375	375	commissioner shall order [increase amounts due from] the district
376	376	to remit to the commissioner an [under that chapter in a total]
377	377	amount equal to the amount of payments made on behalf of the
378	378	district under this subchapter. Amounts withheld or received
379	379	under this subsection shall be used for the Foundation School
380	380	Program.
381	381	SECTION 26. Section 403.302(a), Government Code, is amended
382	382	to read as follows:
383	383	(a) The comptroller shall conduct a study using comparable
384	384	sales and generally accepted auditing and sampling techniques to
385	385	determine the total taxable value of all property in each school
386	386	district. The study shall determine the taxable value of all
387	387	property and of each category of property in the district and the
388	388	productivity value of all land that qualifies for appraisal on the
389	389	basis of its productive capacity and for which the owner has applied
390	390	for and received a productivity appraisal. [The comptroller shall
391	391	make appropriate adjustments in the study to account for actions
392	392	taken under Chapter 41, Education Code.]
393	393	SECTION 27. Section 1579.251(a), Insurance Code, is amended
394	394	to read as follows:
395	395	(a) The state shall assist employees of participating
396	396	school districts and charter schools in the purchase of group
397	397	health coverage under this chapter by providing for each covered
398	398	employee the amount of $900 each state fiscal year or a greater
399	399	amount as provided by the General Appropriations Act. The state
400	400	contribution shall be distributed through the school finance
401	401	formulas under Chapter [Chapters 41 and] 42, Education Code, and
402	402	used by school districts and charter schools as provided by Section
403	403	42.260, Education Code.
404	404	SECTION 28. Section 21.01, Tax Code, is amended to read as
405	405	follows:
406	406	Sec. 21.01. REAL PROPERTY. Real property is taxable by a
407	407	taxing unit if located in the unit on January 1[, except as provided
408	408	by Chapter 41, Education Code].
409	409	SECTION 29. Section 21.02(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
410	410	as follows:
411	411	(a) Except as provided by Subsection [Subsections (b) and]
412	412	(e) and by Sections 21.021, 21.04, and 21.05, tangible personal
413	413	property is taxable by a taxing unit if:
414	414	(1) it is located in the unit on January 1 for more
415	415	than a temporary period;
416	416	(2) it normally is located in the unit, even though it
417	417	is outside the unit on January 1, if it is outside the unit only
418	418	temporarily;
419	419	(3) it normally is returned to the unit between uses
420	420	elsewhere and is not located in any one place for more than a
421	421	temporary period; or
422	422	(4) the owner resides (for property not used for
423	423	business purposes) or maintains the owner's principal place of
424	424	business in this state (for property used for business purposes) in
425	425	the unit and the property is taxable in this state but does not have
426	426	a taxable situs pursuant to Subdivisions (1) through (3) of this
427	427	subsection.
428	428	SECTION 30. Section 26.08(i), Tax Code, is amended to read
429	429	as follows:
430	430	(i) For purposes of this section, the effective maintenance
431	431	and operations tax rate of a school district is the tax rate that,
432	432	applied to the current total value for the district, would impose
433	433	taxes in an amount that, when added to state funds that would be
434	434	distributed to the district under Chapter 42, Education Code, for
435	435	the school year beginning in the current tax year using that tax
436	436	rate, would provide the same amount of state funds distributed
437	437	under Chapter 42, Education Code, and maintenance and operations
438	438	taxes of the district per student in weighted average daily
439	439	attendance for that school year that would have been available to
440	440	the district in the preceding year if the funding elements for
441	441	Chapter [Chapters 41 and] 42, Education Code, for the current year
442	442	had been in effect for the preceding year.
443	443	SECTION 31. Section 312.210(b), Tax Code, is amended to
444	444	read as follows:
445	445	(b) A tax abatement agreement with the owner of real
446	446	property or tangible personal property that is located in the
447	447	reinvestment zone described by Subsection (a) and in a school
448	448	district [that has a wealth per student that does not exceed the
449	449	equalized wealth level] must exempt from taxation:
450	450	(1) the portion of the value of the property in the
451	451	amount specified in the joint agreement among the municipality,
452	452	county, and junior college district; and
453	453	(2) an amount equal to 10 percent of the maximum
454	454	portion of the value of the property that may under Section
455	455	312.204(a) be otherwise exempted from taxation.
456	456	SECTION 32. The following laws are repealed:
457	457	(1) Chapter 41, Education Code;
458	458	(2) Sections 7.055(b)(34), 8.056, 29.203(g), and
459	459	42.2524(f), Education Code; and
460	460	(3) Sections 21.02(b) and (c), 25.25(k), and
461	461	312.210(c), Tax Code.
462	462	SECTION 33. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.