86R5330 JES-D
By: Lang H.B. No. 3851
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to unfunded state educational mandates imposed on school
districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 11, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 11.006 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.006. EXEMPTION FROM COMPLIANCE WITH UNFUNDED STATE
EDUCATIONAL MANDATES. (a) In this section, "state educational
mandate" means a statutory provision or agency rule the
implementation of which requires an expenditure by a school
district that would not have been required in the absence of the
statutory provision or the rule adopted under that provision.
(b) The comptroller shall publish a list of state
educational mandates for which the legislature has not provided
payment or reimbursement under Subsection (d) and that were enacted
by the legislature or were adopted by rule by the agency. The
comptroller shall publish the list:
(1) on or before the August 15 following the regular
session of the legislature, in the case of a state educational
mandate enacted by the legislature at a regular session;
(2) on or before the 90th day after the last day of the
special session of the legislature, in the case of a state
educational mandate enacted by the legislature at a special
session; or
(3) on or before the 90th day after the effective date
of the agency rule adopting the state educational mandate, in the
case of a mandate adopted by rule by the agency.
(c) By the same date specified by Subsection (b), the
comptroller shall:
(1) remove from the list of unfunded state educational
mandates those mandates for which the legislature has provided
payment or reimbursement under Subsection (d), those that are no
longer subject to payment or reimbursement, and those that are no
longer in effect; and
(2) add to the list any state educational mandate from
a previous period for which payment or reimbursement was provided
under Subsection (d) but for which payment or reimbursement was not
provided in the most recent regular session or in any subsequent
special sessions.
(d) A state educational mandate is considered to be a state
educational mandate for which the legislature has provided payment
or reimbursement if the legislature appropriates or otherwise
provides for the full payment or reimbursement, from a source other
than revenue of the district, for all expenditures that would be
accrued in the calendar year by the district in complying with the
state educational mandate.
(e) A school district is not required to comply with a state
educational mandate that appears on the list published by the
comptroller under Subsection (b) for as long as the mandate remains
on the list.
(f) Before September 1 of the even-numbered year before the
third anniversary of the date of enactment or adoption of a state
educational mandate identified by the comptroller under Subsection
(b), the comptroller shall:
(1) review any legislative history of the state
educational mandate;
(2) conduct an evaluation, in coordination with the
agency, on the benefits of the state educational mandate and the
costs of the mandate on affected districts; and
(3) present a written report to the legislature and
the governor on the comptroller's findings.
(g) This section does not apply to a state educational
mandate that:
(1) creates a criminal offense or changes an element
of a criminal offense;
(2) is imposed by the legislature or a state agency to
comply with a requirement of the Texas Constitution, federal law,
or a court order; or
(3) is approved by the voters of this state at a
general election.
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, 2019.