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