86R13096 MEW-D
By: Turner of Tarrant H.B. No. 4560
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the salary, wages, and reimbursement paid to public
school employees and state assistance for school employees uniform
group health coverage; making an appropriation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.402, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c-2), (c-3), and (d) and amending Subsection
(g) to read as follows:
(c-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for the 2019-2020
school year, a classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time
school counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school
nurse is entitled to a monthly salary that is at least equal to the
sum of:
(1) the monthly salary the employee would have
received for the 2019-2020 school year under the district's salary
schedule for the 2018-2019 school year, if that schedule had been in
effect for the 2019-2020 school year, including any local
supplement and any money representing a career ladder supplement
the employee would have received in the 2019-2020 school year; and
(2) $300.
(c-3) Subsection (c-2) and this subsection expire September
1, 2020.
(d) A classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time
school counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school
nurse employed by a school district in the 2019-2020 school year is,
as long as the employee is employed by the same district, entitled
to a salary that is at least equal to the salary the employee
received for the 2019-2020 school year.
(g) The commissioner may adopt rules to govern the
application of this section, including rules that:
(1) require the payment of a minimum salary under this
section to a person employed in more than one capacity for which a
minimum salary is provided and whose combined employment in those
capacities constitutes full-time employment; and
(2) specify the credentials a person must hold to be
considered a [speech pathologist or] school nurse under this
section.
SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 21.416 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.416. CLASSROOM SUPPLY REIMBURSEMENT. (a) For the
2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, a school district shall
provide a reimbursement to each classroom teacher employed by the
district of up to $500 for the cost of classroom supplies purchased
by the teacher with the teacher's personal money for the benefit of
students.
(b) A classroom teacher may be reimbursed under the
classroom supply reimbursement program established under Section
21.414 for the cost of purchases eligible for reimbursement under
that section for which the teacher is not reimbursed under
Subsection (a).
(c) This section expires September 1, 2021.
SECTION 3. Section 22.107(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A school district shall pay each full-time district
employee, other than an administrator or an employee subject to the
minimum salary schedule under Section 21.402, an amount at least
equal to $3,500 [$500].
SECTION 4. Section 42.2513(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A school district, including a school district that is
otherwise ineligible for state aid under this chapter, is entitled
to state aid in an amount equal to the sum of:
(1) the product of $3,500 [$500] multiplied by the
number of full-time district employees, other than administrators
or employees subject to the minimum salary schedule under Section
21.402; [and]
(2) the product of $3,000 multiplied by the number of
classroom teachers, full-time librarians, full-time school
counselors certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time
school nurses employed by the district; and
(3) the product of $250 multiplied by the number of
part-time district employees, other than administrators.
SECTION 5. Section 42.260(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a
school district or participating charter school may use the sum of
the following amounts of funds only to pay contributions under a
group health coverage plan for district or school employees:
(1) the amount determined by multiplying the amount
of $2,100 [$900] or the amount specified in the General
Appropriations Act for that year for purposes of the state
contribution under Section 1579.251, Insurance Code, by the number
of district or school employees who participate in a group health
coverage plan provided by or through the district or school; and
(2) the difference between the amount necessary for
the district or school to comply with Section 1581.052, Insurance
Code, for the school year and the amount the district or school is
required to use to provide health coverage under Section 1581.051,
Insurance Code, for that year.
SECTION 6. Section 1579.251, Insurance Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 1579.251. STATE ASSISTANCE. (a) The state shall
assist employees of participating school districts and charter
schools in the purchase of group health coverage under this chapter
by providing for each covered employee the amount of $2,100 [$900]
each state fiscal year or a greater amount as provided by the
General Appropriations Act. The state contribution shall be
distributed through the school finance formulas under Chapters 41
and 42, Education Code, and used by school districts and charter
schools as provided by Section 42.260, Education Code.
(b) The state shall assist employees of participating
regional education service centers and educational districts
described by Section 1579.002(5)(B) in the purchase of group health
coverage under this chapter by providing to the employing service
center or educational district, for each covered employee, the
amount of $2,100 [$900] each state fiscal year or a greater amount
as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
SECTION 7. (a) In addition to other amounts appropriated to
the Teacher Retirement System of Texas for the state fiscal
biennium beginning September 1, 2019, the amount of $1.57 billion
is appropriated from the economic stabilization fund to the Teacher
Retirement System of Texas for the state fiscal biennium ending
August 31, 2021, and may be used by the retirement system during
that state fiscal biennium to increase school districts'
recruitment and retention of school teachers and provide support to
participants in the Texas Public School Employees Group Insurance
Program authorized by Chapter 1575, Insurance Code.
(b) The Teacher Retirement System of Texas may use the money
transferred under Subsection (a) of this section to:
(1) decrease the premiums and deductibles that would
otherwise be paid during the 2020 and 2021 plan years by
participants in the Texas Public School Employees Group Insurance
Program authorized by Chapter 1575, Insurance Code; and
(2) reduce costs for an enrolled adult child with a
mental disability or a physical incapacity during the 2020 and 2021
plan years.
(c) The Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall determine
the most efficient allocation of the money transferred under
Subsection (a) of this section to achieve the maximum benefit for
participants in the program.
(d) This section takes effect only if this Act is approved
by a vote of two-thirds of the members present in each house of the
legislature, as provided by Section 49-g(m), Article III, Texas
Constitution.
SECTION 8. Section 21.402(c-1), Education Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 9. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020
school year.
SECTION 10. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.