By: Hinojosa H.B. No. 90

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a bonus payment for certain public school employees and to the public school finance system.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 21.4023 to read as follows:

Sec. 21.4023. BONUS PAYMENT FOR 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR. (a) For the 2023-2024 school year, a school district shall provide to each classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time school counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school nurse employed by the district a one-time bonus payment of $15,000 in addition to the employee's compensation for the 2023-2024 school year to be paid to the employee at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

(b) A bonus payment provided to a classroom teacher under this section is not considered in determining whether a school district is paying the teacher the minimum monthly salary under Section 21.402.

(c) This section expires September 1, 2024.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 22.008 to read as follows:

Sec. 22.008. BONUS PAYMENT FOR 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR FOR SUPPORT STAFF. (a) For the 2023-2024 school year, a school district shall provide to each employee, other than an administrator or an employee subject to the minimum salary schedule under Section 21.402, who is compensated less than $100,000 per year in salary or wages a one-time bonus payment of $5,500 in addition to the employee's compensation for the 2023-2024 school year to be paid to the employee at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

(b) This section expires September 1, 2024.

SECTION 3. Effective September 1, 2024, Section 48.051, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) to read as follows:

(a) Subject to adjustment under Subsection (a-1), for [For] each student in average daily attendance, not including the time students spend each day in special education programs in an instructional arrangement other than mainstream or career and technology education programs, for which an additional allotment is made under Subchapter C, a district is entitled to an allotment equal to the lesser of $8,947 [$6,160] or the amount that results from the following formula:

A = $8,947 [$6,160] X TR/MCR where:

"A" is the allotment to which a district is entitled;

"TR" is the district's tier one maintenance and operations tax rate, as provided by Section 45.0032; and

"MCR" is the district's maximum compressed tax rate, as determined under Section 48.2551.

(a-1) Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, the basic allotment provided to a district under Subsection (a) or (b) is adjusted annually to increase the allotment by the amount that results from applying the inflation rate, as determined by the comptroller on the basis of changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, to the allotment for the preceding school year.

(a-2) If the inflation rate for a school year is less than zero, the inflation rate to be used for purposes of Subsection (a-1) is zero.

(c) During any school year for which the maximum amount of the basic allotment provided under Subsection (a) or (b) is greater than the maximum amount provided for the preceding school year, a school district must use at least 40 [30] percent of the amount, if the amount is greater than zero, that equals the product of the average daily attendance of the district multiplied by the amount of the difference between the district's funding under this chapter per student in average daily attendance for the current school year and the preceding school year to provide compensation increases to full-time district employees other than administrators as follows:

(1) 75 percent must be used to increase the compensation paid to classroom teachers, full-time librarians, full-time school counselors certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses, prioritizing differentiated compensation for classroom teachers with more than five years of experience; and

(2) 25 percent may be used as determined by the district to increase compensation paid to full-time district employees.

SECTION 4. Section 48.102, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a-1) To address the extraordinary gap between the amount of the allotment under this section and school district expenses for special education, a school district that for the 2023-2024 school year spent a greater amount for students in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, than the amount the district received from the allotment under this section is entitled to additional funding for the 2024-2025 school year in an amount equal to twice the amount of the difference between the total of those amounts. This subsection expires September 1, 2025.

SECTION 5. Section 48.115, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (a-2) to read as follows:

(a-2) To address the extraordinary gap between the amount of the allotment under this section and school district expenses for school safety and security improvements, a school district that for the 2023-2024 school year spent a greater amount for school safety and security improvements than the amount the district received from the allotment under this section is entitled to additional funding for the 2024-2025 school year in an amount equal to the difference between the total of those amounts. This subsection expires September 1, 2025.

SECTION 6. Subchapter D, Chapter 48, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 48.157 to read as follows:

Sec. 48.157. SUPPLEMENTAL GRANT TO ADDRESS EDUCATIONAL NEEDS FOLLOWING COVID-19 PANDEMIC. (a) For the 2023-2024 school year, a school district is entitled to a grant of $800 for each student enrolled in the district to ensure that the school district has adequate funding to address the educational needs of the district's students following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

(b) This section expires September 1, 2024.

SECTION 7. Effective September 1, 2024, Section 48.202(a-1), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a), the dollar amount guaranteed level of state and local funds per weighted student per cent of tax effort ("GL") for a school district is:

(1) the greater of the amount of district tax revenue per weighted student per cent of tax effort available to a school district at the 96th percentile of wealth per weighted student or the amount that results from multiplying $8,947 [6,160], or the greater amount provided under Section 48.051(a-1) or (b) [48.051(b)], if applicable, by 0.016, for the first eight cents by which the district's maintenance and operations tax rate exceeds the district's tier one tax rate; and

(2) subject to Subsection (f), the amount that results from multiplying $8,947 [$6,160], or the greater amount provided under Section 48.051(a-1) or (b) [48.051(b)], if applicable, by 0.008, for the district's maintenance and operations tax effort that exceeds the amount of tax effort described by Subdivision (1).

SECTION 8. Subchapter F, Chapter 48, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 48.2521 to read as follows:

Sec. 48.2521. ADDITIONAL STATE AID FOR ONE-TIME BONUSES FOR CERTAIN PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. (a) For the 2023-2024 school year, a school district, including a school district that is otherwise ineligible for state aid under this chapter, is entitled to annual state aid in the sum of:

(1) the amount equal to the product of $15,000 multiplied by the number of classroom teachers, full-time librarians, full-time school counselors certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses employed by the district; and

(2) the amount equal to the product of $5,500 multiplied by the number of employees, other than an administrator or an employee subject to the minimum salary schedule under Section 21.402, employed by the district who are compensated less than $100,000 per year in salary or wages.

(b) A school district shall use the amount received under this section for purposes of providing the one-time bonus payments under Sections 21.4023 and 22.008.

(c) This section expires September 1, 2024.

SECTION 9. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the legislative session.