| 1 | 1 | | By: Gutierrez S.J.R. No. 80 |
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| 6 | 6 | | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION |
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| 7 | 7 | | proposing a constitutional amendment dedicating some of the |
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| 8 | 8 | | interest in the permanent school fund to universal pre-kindergarten |
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| 9 | 9 | | and the school safety allotment. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Article VII, Section 5(a), of the Texas |
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| 12 | 12 | | Constitution is amended to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | Sec. 5. Sec. 5. PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND AND AVAILABLE SCHOOL |
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| 14 | 14 | | FUND: COMPOSITION, MANAGEMENT, USE, AND DISTRIBUTION. (a) The |
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| 15 | 15 | | permanent school fund consists of all land appropriated for public |
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| 16 | 16 | | schools by this constitution or the other laws of this state, other |
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| 17 | 17 | | properties belonging to the permanent school fund, and all revenue |
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| 18 | 18 | | derived from the land or other properties. The available school |
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| 19 | 19 | | fund consists of the distributions made to it from the total return |
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| 20 | 20 | | on all investment assets of the permanent school fund, the taxes |
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| 21 | 21 | | authorized by this constitution or general law to be part of the |
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| 22 | 22 | | available school fund, and appropriations made to the available |
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| 23 | 23 | | school fund by the legislature. The total amount distributed from |
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| 24 | 24 | | the permanent school fund to the available school fund: |
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| 25 | 25 | | (1) in each year of a state fiscal biennium must be an |
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| 26 | 26 | | amount that is not more than six percent of the average of the |
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| 27 | 27 | | market value of the permanent school fund, excluding real property |
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| 28 | 28 | | belonging to the fund that is managed, sold, or acquired under |
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| 29 | 29 | | Section 4 of this article, but including discretionary real assets |
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| 30 | 30 | | investments and cash in the state treasury derived from property |
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| 31 | 31 | | belonging to the fund, on the last day of each of the 16 state fiscal |
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| 32 | 32 | | quarters preceding the regular session of the legislature that |
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| 33 | 33 | | begins before that state fiscal biennium, in accordance with the |
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| 34 | 34 | | rate adopted by: |
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| 35 | 35 | | (A) a vote of two-thirds of the total membership |
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| 36 | 36 | | of the State Board of Education, taken before the regular session of |
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| 37 | 37 | | the legislature convenes; or |
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| 38 | 38 | | (B) the legislature by general law or |
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| 39 | 39 | | appropriation, if the State Board of Education does not adopt a rate |
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| 40 | 40 | | as provided by Paragraph (A) of this subdivision; and |
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| 41 | 41 | | (2) over the 10-year period consisting of the current |
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| 42 | 42 | | state fiscal year and the nine preceding state fiscal years may not |
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| 43 | 43 | | exceed the total return on all investment assets of the permanent |
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| 44 | 44 | | school fund over the same 10-year period. |
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| 45 | 45 | | (3) Fifty percent of the total amount distributed |
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| 46 | 46 | | under this subsection shall be dedicated to funding the school |
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| 47 | 47 | | safety allotment as established by general law and universal |
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| 48 | 48 | | pre-kindergarten programs in the State of Texas. |
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| 49 | 49 | | This proposed constitutional amendment shall be submitted to |
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| 50 | 50 | | the voters at an election to be held November 4, 2025. The ballot |
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| 51 | 51 | | shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition: |
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| 52 | 52 | | "The constitutional amendment providing for the use of the |
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| 53 | 53 | | permanent school fund to be used for school safety and universal |
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| 54 | 54 | | pre-kindergarten program." |
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