© 2015 texas association of school boards, inc. all rights reserved. legislative update north texas...

© 2015 Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. All rights reserved.

Legislative Update

North Texas Area Association of School Boards

Bill R. Johnson CTE Center, Crowley ISDApril 15, 2015

This information is provided for educational purposes only to facilitate a general understanding of the law or other regulatory matter. This information is neither an exhaustive treatment on the subject nor is this intended to substitute for the advice of an

attorney or other professional advisor. Consult with your attorney or professional advisor to apply these principles to specific fact situations.


The 84th Texas LegislatureAgenda

• Who’s who and the legislative context• The issues

– MONEY: state budget/appropriations, school finance– “Choice” (vouchers, tax credits, etc.)– Local control– Accountability/assessment, other legislation

• Other things . . . .


It’ll be over soon . . .

. . . But not soon enough!


Who’s who?• State Senate

– 20 R’s, 11 D’s (+ 1 R)– New Lt. Governor (Dan Patrick)– New senators

• Wendy Davis (D) → Konni Burton (R)• John Carona (R) → Don Huffines (R)• Robert Duncan (R) → Charles Perry (R)• Bob Duell (R) → Bob Hall (R)


Who’s who?

• Senate Education Committee– 7 R’s, 4 D’s– New Committee chair (Larry Taylor)– 6 of 11 members are new to committee– 4 of 11 are freshmen senators

(Bettencourt, Huffines, Kolkhorst, Van Taylor)


Who’s who?

• House of Representatives– 51 D’s, 98 R’s, 1 vacancy (+ 3 R’s)– Speaker Joe Straus (4th session as speaker)– 26 freshmen


Who’s who?

• House Public Education Committee– 7 R’s, 4 D’s– Same chair: Jimmie Don Aycock (2nd session

as chair)– 4 of 11 members are new to committee– 2 of 11 are freshmen House members


Who’s who?

• The Lobby: Who we’re up against– Texans for Education Reform (TER)

• Lobbying for:– A-F School ratings, parent trigger, “opportunity school

district”

• 21 lobbyists (several former legislators)• Paid between $840,000 - $1,610,000


The Legislative Context

• The pace and flavor of the session– Slow.

• Senate passed fewer bills than the past six sessions

– Contentious.• “Three-party” system

– Neo-conservative Republicans (Tea Party)– Business/establishment Republicans– Democrats


The Issues

• State budget/appropriations– HB 1/SB 2: Appropriations Bill

• House adopted their version April 1, sent to Senate• Senate passed their bill yesterday, 30-1• Conference committee will be appointed to

reconciled the differences


The Issues• School finance

– Both houses fund enrollment growth (~$2.2 b)– Proposed funding levels:

• House = $3 billion above enrollment growth• Senate = $1.2 billion above enrollment growth

– Property value increases saved the state $4.5 billion


The Issues• School finance bill: HB 1759 (by Aycock)

– Could flow $3 billion above enrollment growth• $2.2 billion through funding formulas• $800 million contingent on school finance reform

– Deletes/modifies several adjustments• Deletes Cost of Education Index (CEI),

transportation allotment• Modifies mid-size school adjustment


The Issues

• Tax cuts: Senate– Senate Finance: $4.6 billion in property and

business franchise tax cuts• Approximately $206/yr average property tax cut• Business tax: either lower rate or reduce number of

small business affected


The Issues

• Tax cuts: House– Proposal cuts $4.9 billion, through sales and

business tax reduction• Reduce state sales tax rate by ~1/3 cent• 6.25% → 5.95% (+ local govt add-on rates)• Average household savings ~ $172/yr

– Business tax: reduces business tax by 25%


The Issues• Spending cap

– Limits spending growth from session to session– Based on growth in personal income– LBB chose smallest growth option– Senate idea: don’t count tax cut spending

against spending cap (frees up more $ to spend)


The Issues

• School “choice”– Vouchers, tax credits, parent trigger– Gloves have been taken off– Senate Ed Committee passed SB 4 (Taylor)

on 8-3 vote


The Issues

• Vouchers and tax credits– Rhetoric by the voucher proponents has

escalated


Voucher rhetoric . . .


The Issues

• School “choice” (con’t)– House is the battleground on vouchers– Appropriations bill anti-voucher rider

amendment withdrawn• Why withdrawn? Indication of lack of support?• Email to R’s from state Republican party chair


The Issues

• School “choice” (con’t)– SBOE to consider anti-voucher resolution next

week– Authored by SBOE member Ruben Cortez– Please call your SBOE member to seek

support


The Issues

• Local control debates– In the past, a “school” issue– Some state legislators want to dictate to cities

and counties• Denton fracking, plastic bag ban, texting & cell

phone bans, ride-sharing (Uber, etc.)

– “Who gets to decide?”


The Issues• Pre-Kindergarten

– Governor Abbott priority– HB 4 (Huberty) passed by House, 129-18,

yesterday– $130 million in pre-K funding– Attempts to restore some of the cuts made to

pre-K funding in previous sessions


The Issues

• Graduation committees: SB 149 (by Seliger)– For students who obtain course credits to

graduate, but fail one EOC exam– Committee would determine if diploma should be

conferred to these students– Passed Senate, passed House Public Ed

Committee


The Issues

• SB 149 -- Rep. Huberty’s response to Bill Hammond’s testimony:


The Issues

• Lobbying by school associations– Bills would prohibit school districts from joining

organizations that lobby (read: TASB)– Several bills filed; Rep. Shaheen bills heard in

committee today


Summary: 84th Texas Legislature

• More bad legislation introduced and is moving• Margin for killing bad legislation in House is

very thin• More important than ever to communicate

with your legislators


Other things• TASB’s Business Engagement Initiative

– Recognition for businesses supporting schools• 500 businesses submitted

– Business/Education Forum• April 28 in Austin• Come and bring a local business person

– Better information to Texas businesses


Other things

“Stand Up for Texas Public Schools” campaign– In conjunction with the National School Boards

Association (NSBA)– Encourage support for public schools– Ads, wristbands: Cause conversations to tell the

positive story of Texas schools


Legislative Update

Questions?

The information in this presentation may include the intellectual property of third parties

© 2015 texas association of school boards, inc. all rights reserved. legislative update north texas...

Documents

texas legislatureagendawhos

opportunity school district

school financechoice

f school ratings

freshmen house members

senate education committee7

state senate20 rs

legislative contextthe