By: Jetton H.B. No. 2817
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to establishing a program allowing certain students who
are educationally disadvantaged, have a disability, or failed
certain assessment instruments to use state money or money the
state receives for the purpose from gifts and non-federal grants to
pursue certain educational alternatives to public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter J to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER J. EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT PROGRAM
Sec. 29.351. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Account" means an education savings account
established under the program.
(2) "Child with a disability" means a child who is:
(A) eligible to participate in a school
district's special education program under Section 29.003; or
(B) covered by Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of
1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794).
(3) "Financial institution" means a bank, credit
union, savings bank, or savings and loan association organized
under the laws of this state, the laws of another state, or federal
law that has its main office or a branch office in this state. The
term does not include any institution the deposits of which are not
insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the
National Credit Union Administration.
(4) "Parent" means a resident of this state who is a
natural or adoptive parent, managing or possessory conservator,
legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to
act on behalf of a child.
(5) "Program" means the education savings account
program established under this subchapter.
(6) "Program participant" means a child and a parent
of a child enrolled in the program.
Sec. 29.352. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. The comptroller
shall establish and administer an education savings account program
to provide funding for certain education-related expenses of
eligible children.
Sec. 29.353. ELIGIBLE CHILD. (a) A child is eligible to
participate in the program if the child:
(1) is eligible to attend a public school under
Section 25.001;
(2) either:
(A) attended a public school during the preceding
school year; or
(B) is entering kindergarten or first grade; and
(3) meets one or more of the following criteria:
(A) failed to perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(a) or an
end-of-course assessment instrument administered under Section
39.023(c) during the preceding school year;
(B) is a child with a disability; or
(C) is educationally disadvantaged.
(b) A child who establishes eligibility under this section
may participate in the program until the earliest of the following
dates:
(1) the date on which the child no longer meets the
eligibility requirements under Subsection (a);
(2) the date on which the child graduates from high
school;
(3) the date on which the child enrolls in a public
school, including an open-enrollment charter school; or
(4) the date on which the child is declared ineligible
for the program by the comptroller under this subchapter.
Sec. 29.354. APPLICATION FOR PROGRAM. (a) A parent of an
eligible child may apply on behalf of the child for participation in
the program for the following school year.
(b) The comptroller shall by rule create an application form
for the program and make the form readily available to interested
parents through various sources, including the comptroller's
Internet website.
(c) The comptroller shall provide to each parent who submits
an application form a publication that describes the operation of
the program, including:
(1) expenses allowed under the program under Section
29.356;
(2) expense reporting requirements; and
(3) a description of the responsibilities of program
participants and the duties of the comptroller and the agency under
this subchapter.
(d) The agency shall:
(1) review each application to ensure that the child
is eligible to participate in the program; and
(2) approve or reject each application.
Sec. 29.355. PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM. (a) To receive
funding under the program, a parent of an eligible child must agree
to:
(1) spend funds received through the program only for
expenses allowed under Section 29.356;
(2) notify the comptroller if the child enrolls in a
public school, not later than the 30th day after the date of
enrollment; and
(3) inform the comptroller if the child graduates from
high school.
(b) The parent of a child participating in the program is
the trustee of the child's account.
(c) The comptroller shall provide annually to each program
participant the publication provided under Section 29.354(c).
Sec. 29.356. ELIGIBLE EDUCATION-RELATED EXPENSES. (a)
Funds received under the program may be used only for the following
expenses incurred by a program participant:
(1) tuition and fees at a private school accredited by
an organization that is recognized by the Texas Private School
Accreditation Commission or the Texas Education Agency;
(2) the purchase of textbooks or other instructional
materials or uniforms required by an educational course or program
in which the child is enrolled;
(3) costs related to academic assessments;
(4) costs related to activities that directly add
value to classroom instruction and curriculum, including an
academic field trip, performance, contest, demonstration, or
display, but not including an athletic or other nonacademic
activity;
(5) fees for transportation provided by a
fee-for-service transportation provider for the child to travel to
and from a provider of educational services or a vendor of
educational products; and
(6) fees for educational therapies or services, but
only for fees that are not covered by any federal, state, or local
government benefits such as Medicaid or the Children's Health
Insurance Program (CHIP) or by any private insurance that the child
is enrolled in at the time of receiving the therapies or services.
(b) Money received under the program may not be used to pay
any person who is a member of the program participant's household.
(c) A finding that a program participant used money
distributed under the program to pay for an expense not allowed
under Subsection (a) does not affect the validity of any payment
made by the participant for an expense that is allowed under that
subsection.
Sec. 29.357. AUTONOMY OF PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS, PRIVATE
SCHOOLS, AND VENDORS. (a) In this section, "education service
provider" means a private school or other provider of
education-related products or services described by Section
29.356(a) that receives money distributed under the program for
providing the product or service.
(b) An education service provider is not a recipient of
federal financial assistance because the provider received money
distributed under the program for providing an education-related
product or service.
(c) A rule adopted or action taken related to the program by
an individual, governmental entity, court of law, or program
administrator may not:
(1) limit the independence or autonomy of a program
participant or education service provider;
(2) consider the actions of a program participant or
education service provider to be the actions of an agent of state
government;
(3) limit:
(A) the ability of an education service provider
to determine the methods used to educate the provider's students or
to exercise the provider's religious or institutional values; or
(B) a program participant's ability to determine
the participant's educational content or to exercise the
participant's religious values;
(4) obligate a program participant or education
service provider to act contrary to the participant's or provider's
religious or institutional values, as applicable;
(5) impose any regulation on a program participant or
education service provider beyond those regulations necessary to
enforce the requirements of the program; or
(6) require as a condition of receiving money
distributed under the program that:
(A) an education service provider modify the
provider's creed, practices, admissions policies, curriculum,
performance standards, employment policies, or assessments; or
(B) a program participant modify the
participant's creed, practices, curriculum, performance standards,
or assessments.
(d) In a proceeding challenging a rule adopted by a state
agency or officer under this subchapter, the agency or officer has
the burden of proof to establish by clear and convincing evidence
that the rule:
(1) is necessary to implement or enforce the program
as provided by this subchapter;
(2) does not violate this section;
(3) does not impose an undue burden on a program
participant or education service provider; and
(4) is the least restrictive means of accomplishing
the purpose of the program while recognizing the independence of an
education service provider to meet the educational needs of
students in accordance with the provider's religious or
institutional values.
Sec. 29.358. AMOUNT OF PAYMENT; FINANCING. (a) A parent of
an eligible child shall receive each year that the child
participates in the program a payment to the child's account out of
the general revenue fund from undedicated state tax revenues and
gifts and grants received under Section 29.360. The amount of each
year's payment is equal to 90 percent of the amount to which the
school district in which the child resides would be entitled to
receive for the child under Chapter 48 if the child were enrolled in
the district.
(b) For each year a child participates in the program, the
school district in which the child resides is entitled to receive an
amount equal to 10 percent of the amount to which the district would
be entitled to receive for the child under Chapter 48 if the child
were enrolled in the district.
(c) Any funds remaining in a child's account at the end of a
fiscal year are carried forward to the next fiscal year unless
another provision of this subchapter mandates the closure of the
account.
(d) A payment under the program may not be financed using
federal funds or money appropriated from the available school fund.
Sec. 29.359. ADMINISTRATION OF ACCOUNTS. (a) The
comptroller may contract with one or more financial institutions to
establish and manage an account for each child participating in the
program.
(b) The comptroller shall make quarterly payments to each
program participant's account in equal amounts on or before the
15th day of August, November, February, and May.
(c) The comptroller may deduct an amount from each quarterly
payment to a program participant's account to cover the
comptroller's cost of administering the program. The amount
deducted may not exceed three percent of the payment.
(d) Within the first month following the end of each fiscal
year, the comptroller shall reconcile payments made to and from all
accounts under the program.
(e) On the date on which a child ceases to participate in the
program for any reason, the child's account is closed and any
remaining funds are returned to the state for deposit in the general
revenue fund.
Sec. 29.360. GIFTS AND GRANTS. The comptroller may accept
gifts and grants, but not federal grants, for the purpose of making
payments to program participants under the program and defraying
the administrative costs of operating the program.
Sec. 29.361. RULES. The comptroller shall adopt rules as
necessary to implement this subchapter.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2024-2025
school year.
SECTION 3. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the comptroller of public accounts shall adopt rules
necessary to implement the education savings account program under
Subchapter J, Chapter 29, Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. 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, 2023.