86R5963 MP-F
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 656
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the transition and employment guide for public school
students enrolled in a special education program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.0112(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The transition and employment guide must be written in
plain language and contain information specific to this state
regarding:
(1) transition services;
(2) employment and supported employment services;
(3) social security programs, including the Ticket to
Work Program authorized by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives
Improvement Act of 1999 (Pub. L. No. 106-170);
(4) community and long-term services and support,
including the option to place the student on a waiting list with a
governmental agency for public benefits available to the student,
such as a waiver program established under Section 1915(c), Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1396n(c));
(5) postsecondary educational programs and services,
including the inventory maintained by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board under Section 61.0663;
(6) information sharing with health and human services
agencies and providers;
(7) guardianship and alternatives to guardianship,
including a supported decision-making agreement under Chapter
1357, Estates Code;
(8) self-advocacy, person-directed planning, and
self-determination; [and]
(9) contact information for all relevant state
agencies;
(10) financial literacy, including information and
curricula on the effective long-term management of financial
resources; and
(11) financial independence, including:
(A) special needs trusts;
(B) the Texas Achieving a Better Life Experience
(ABLE) Program under Subchapter J, Chapter 54, authorized under
Section 529A, Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
(C) the Medicaid buy-in programs implemented
under Section 531.02444, Government Code; and
(D) other work incentive programs.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2020-2021
school year.
SECTION 3. 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.