Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2817 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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1	1	By: Jetton H.B. No. 2817
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to establishing a program allowing certain students who
7	7	are educationally disadvantaged, have a disability, or failed
8	8	certain assessment instruments to use state money or money the
9	9	state receives for the purpose from gifts and non-federal grants to
10	10	pursue certain educational alternatives to public schools.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by adding
13	13	Subchapter J to read as follows:
14	14	SUBCHAPTER J. EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT PROGRAM
15	15	Sec. 29.351. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
16	16	(1) "Account" means an education savings account
17	17	established under the program.
18	18	(2) "Child with a disability" means a child who is:
19	19	(A) eligible to participate in a school
20	20	district's special education program under Section 29.003; or
21	21	(B) covered by Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of
22	22	1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794).
23	23	(3) "Financial institution" means a bank, credit
24	24	union, savings bank, or savings and loan association organized
25	25	under the laws of this state, the laws of another state, or federal
26	26	law that has its main office or a branch office in this state. The
27	27	term does not include any institution the deposits of which are not
28	28	insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the
29	29	National Credit Union Administration.
30	30	(4) "Parent" means a resident of this state who is a
31	31	natural or adoptive parent, managing or possessory conservator,
32	32	legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to
33	33	act on behalf of a child.
34	34	(5) "Program" means the education savings account
35	35	program established under this subchapter.
36	36	(6) "Program participant" means a child and a parent
37	37	of a child enrolled in the program.
38	38	Sec. 29.352. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. The comptroller
39	39	shall establish and administer an education savings account program
40	40	to provide funding for certain education-related expenses of
41	41	eligible children.
42	42	Sec. 29.353. ELIGIBLE CHILD. (a) A child is eligible to
43	43	participate in the program if the child:
44	44	(1) is eligible to attend a public school under
45	45	Section 25.001;
46	46	(2) either:
47	47	(A) attended a public school during the preceding
48	48	school year; or
49	49	(B) is entering kindergarten or first grade; and
50	50	(3) meets one or more of the following criteria:
51	51	(A) failed to perform satisfactorily on an
52	52	assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(a) or an
53	53	end-of-course assessment instrument administered under Section
54	54	39.023(c) during the preceding school year;
55	55	(B) is a child with a disability; or
56	56	(C) is educationally disadvantaged.
57	57	(b) A child who establishes eligibility under this section
58	58	may participate in the program until the earliest of the following
59	59	dates:
60	60	(1) the date on which the child no longer meets the
61	61	eligibility requirements under Subsection (a);
62	62	(2) the date on which the child graduates from high
63	63	school;
64	64	(3) the date on which the child enrolls in a public
65	65	school, including an open-enrollment charter school; or
66	66	(4) the date on which the child is declared ineligible
67	67	for the program by the comptroller under this subchapter.
68	68	Sec. 29.354. APPLICATION FOR PROGRAM. (a) A parent of an
69	69	eligible child may apply on behalf of the child for participation in
70	70	the program for the following school year.
71	71	(b) The comptroller shall by rule create an application form
72	72	for the program and make the form readily available to interested
73	73	parents through various sources, including the comptroller's
74	74	Internet website.
75	75	(c) The comptroller shall provide to each parent who submits
76	76	an application form a publication that describes the operation of
77	77	the program, including:
78	78	(1) expenses allowed under the program under Section
79	79	29.356;
80	80	(2) expense reporting requirements; and
81	81	(3) a description of the responsibilities of program
82	82	participants and the duties of the comptroller and the agency under
83	83	this subchapter.
84	84	(d) The agency shall:
85	85	(1) review each application to ensure that the child
86	86	is eligible to participate in the program; and
87	87	(2) approve or reject each application.
88	88	Sec. 29.355. PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM. (a) To receive
89	89	funding under the program, a parent of an eligible child must agree
90	90	to:
91	91	(1) spend funds received through the program only for
92	92	expenses allowed under Section 29.356;
93	93	(2) notify the comptroller if the child enrolls in a
94	94	public school, not later than the 30th day after the date of
95	95	enrollment; and
96	96	(3) inform the comptroller if the child graduates from
97	97	high school.
98	98	(b) The parent of a child participating in the program is
99	99	the trustee of the child's account.
100	100	(c) The comptroller shall provide annually to each program
101	101	participant the publication provided under Section 29.354(c).
102	102	Sec. 29.356. ELIGIBLE EDUCATION-RELATED EXPENSES. (a)
103	103	Funds received under the program may be used only for the following
104	104	expenses incurred by a program participant:
105	105	(1) tuition and fees at a private school accredited by
106	106	an organization that is recognized by the Texas Private School
107	107	Accreditation Commission or the Texas Education Agency;
108	108	(2) the purchase of textbooks or other instructional
109	109	materials or uniforms required by an educational course or program
110	110	in which the child is enrolled;
111	111	(3) costs related to academic assessments;
112	112	(4) costs related to activities that directly add
113	113	value to classroom instruction and curriculum, including an
114	114	academic field trip, performance, contest, demonstration, or
115	115	display, but not including an athletic or other nonacademic
116	116	activity;
117	117	(5) fees for transportation provided by a
118	118	fee-for-service transportation provider for the child to travel to
119	119	and from a provider of educational services or a vendor of
120	120	educational products; and
121	121	(6) fees for educational therapies or services, but
122	122	only for fees that are not covered by any federal, state, or local
123	123	government benefits such as Medicaid or the Children's Health
124	124	Insurance Program (CHIP) or by any private insurance that the child
125	125	is enrolled in at the time of receiving the therapies or services.
126	126	(b) Money received under the program may not be used to pay
127	127	any person who is a member of the program participant's household.
128	128	(c) A finding that a program participant used money
129	129	distributed under the program to pay for an expense not allowed
130	130	under Subsection (a) does not affect the validity of any payment
131	131	made by the participant for an expense that is allowed under that
132	132	subsection.
133	133	Sec. 29.357. AUTONOMY OF PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS, PRIVATE
134	134	SCHOOLS, AND VENDORS. (a) In this section, "education service
135	135	provider" means a private school or other provider of
136	136	education-related products or services described by Section
137	137	29.356(a) that receives money distributed under the program for
138	138	providing the product or service.
139	139	(b) An education service provider is not a recipient of
140	140	federal financial assistance because the provider received money
141	141	distributed under the program for providing an education-related
142	142	product or service.
143	143	(c) A rule adopted or action taken related to the program by
144	144	an individual, governmental entity, court of law, or program
145	145	administrator may not:
146	146	(1) limit the independence or autonomy of a program
147	147	participant or education service provider;
148	148	(2) consider the actions of a program participant or
149	149	education service provider to be the actions of an agent of state
150	150	government;
151	151	(3) limit:
152	152	(A) the ability of an education service provider
153	153	to determine the methods used to educate the provider's students or
154	154	to exercise the provider's religious or institutional values; or
155	155	(B) a program participant's ability to determine
156	156	the participant's educational content or to exercise the
157	157	participant's religious values;
158	158	(4) obligate a program participant or education
159	159	service provider to act contrary to the participant's or provider's
160	160	religious or institutional values, as applicable;
161	161	(5) impose any regulation on a program participant or
162	162	education service provider beyond those regulations necessary to
163	163	enforce the requirements of the program; or
164	164	(6) require as a condition of receiving money
165	165	distributed under the program that:
166	166	(A) an education service provider modify the
167	167	provider's creed, practices, admissions policies, curriculum,
168	168	performance standards, employment policies, or assessments; or
169	169	(B) a program participant modify the
170	170	participant's creed, practices, curriculum, performance standards,
171	171	or assessments.
172	172	(d) In a proceeding challenging a rule adopted by a state
173	173	agency or officer under this subchapter, the agency or officer has
174	174	the burden of proof to establish by clear and convincing evidence
175	175	that the rule:
176	176	(1) is necessary to implement or enforce the program
177	177	as provided by this subchapter;
178	178	(2) does not violate this section;
179	179	(3) does not impose an undue burden on a program
180	180	participant or education service provider; and
181	181	(4) is the least restrictive means of accomplishing
182	182	the purpose of the program while recognizing the independence of an
183	183	education service provider to meet the educational needs of
184	184	students in accordance with the provider's religious or
185	185	institutional values.
186	186	Sec. 29.358. AMOUNT OF PAYMENT; FINANCING. (a) A parent of
187	187	an eligible child shall receive each year that the child
188	188	participates in the program a payment to the child's account out of
189	189	the general revenue fund from undedicated state tax revenues and
190	190	gifts and grants received under Section 29.360. The amount of each
191	191	year's payment is equal to 90 percent of the amount to which the
192	192	school district in which the child resides would be entitled to
193	193	receive for the child under Chapter 48 if the child were enrolled in
194	194	the district.
195	195	(b) For each year a child participates in the program, the
196	196	school district in which the child resides is entitled to receive an
197	197	amount equal to 10 percent of the amount to which the district would
198	198	be entitled to receive for the child under Chapter 48 if the child
199	199	were enrolled in the district.
200	200	(c) Any funds remaining in a child's account at the end of a
201	201	fiscal year are carried forward to the next fiscal year unless
202	202	another provision of this subchapter mandates the closure of the
203	203	account.
204	204	(d) A payment under the program may not be financed using
205	205	federal funds or money appropriated from the available school fund.
206	206	Sec. 29.359. ADMINISTRATION OF ACCOUNTS. (a) The
207	207	comptroller may contract with one or more financial institutions to
208	208	establish and manage an account for each child participating in the
209	209	program.
210	210	(b) The comptroller shall make quarterly payments to each
211	211	program participant's account in equal amounts on or before the
212	212	15th day of August, November, February, and May.
213	213	(c) The comptroller may deduct an amount from each quarterly
214	214	payment to a program participant's account to cover the
215	215	comptroller's cost of administering the program. The amount
216	216	deducted may not exceed three percent of the payment.
217	217	(d) Within the first month following the end of each fiscal
218	218	year, the comptroller shall reconcile payments made to and from all
219	219	accounts under the program.
220	220	(e) On the date on which a child ceases to participate in the
221	221	program for any reason, the child's account is closed and any
222	222	remaining funds are returned to the state for deposit in the general
223	223	revenue fund.
224	224	Sec. 29.360. GIFTS AND GRANTS. The comptroller may accept
225	225	gifts and grants, but not federal grants, for the purpose of making
226	226	payments to program participants under the program and defraying
227	227	the administrative costs of operating the program.
228	228	Sec. 29.361. RULES. The comptroller shall adopt rules as
229	229	necessary to implement this subchapter.
230	230	SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2024-2025
231	231	school year.
232	232	SECTION 3. As soon as practicable after the effective date
233	233	of this Act, the comptroller of public accounts shall adopt rules
234	234	necessary to implement the education savings account program under
235	235	Subchapter J, Chapter 29, Education Code, as added by this Act.
236	236	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
237	237	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
238	238	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
239	239	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
240	240	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.