By Hamric H.B. No. 2976 76R8612 CAS-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to cooperation between public and private entities and 1-3 public schools and to franchise tax refunds for providing certain 1-4 assistance in education. 1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-6 SECTION 1. Section 11.157, Education Code, is amended to 1-7 read as follows: 1-8 Sec. 11.157. CONTRACTS FOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES AND 1-9 FACILITIES. (a) The board of trustees of an independent school 1-10 district may contract with a public or private entity for that 1-11 entity to provide: 1-12 (1) educational services for the district; or 1-13 (2) a facility in which the district operates a 1-14 school. 1-15 (b) A school district may lease a facility under Subsection 1-16 (a)(2) or may accept use of the facility as a donation. 1-17 (c) The district may establish geographic attendance 1-18 boundaries for a school operated in a facility under Subsection 1-19 (a)(2) or may permit the school to serve only or primarily the 1-20 children of employees of the entity providing the facility. The 1-21 State Board of Education shall by rule adopt guidelines for a 1-22 contract under Subsection (a)(2). The guidelines must address: 1-23 (1) the responsibilities of: 1-24 (A) the entity concerning maintenance of the 2-1 facility to ensure the health and safety of students; and 2-2 (B) the district to provide an educational 2-3 program, personnel, and textbooks in accordance with Title 1 and 2-4 this title; 2-5 (2) the use and distribution of state funds in 2-6 accordance with this title; and 2-7 (3) admissions policies. 2-8 SECTION 2. Section 12.111, Education Code, is amended to 2-9 read as follows: 2-10 Sec. 12.111. CONTENT. (a) Each charter granted under this 2-11 subchapter must: 2-12 (1) describe the educational program to be offered, 2-13 which must include the required curriculum as provided by Section 2-14 28.002; 2-15 (2) specify the period for which the charter or any 2-16 charter renewal is valid; 2-17 (3) provide that continuation or renewal of the 2-18 charter is contingent on acceptable student performance on 2-19 assessment instruments adopted under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and 2-20 on compliance with any accountability provision specified by the 2-21 charter, by a deadline or at intervals specified by the charter; 2-22 (4) establish the level of student performance that is 2-23 considered acceptable for purposes of Subdivision (3); 2-24 (5) specify any basis, in addition to a basis 2-25 specified by this subchapter, on which the charter may be placed on 2-26 probation or revoked or on which renewal of the charter may be 2-27 denied; 3-1 (6) prohibit discrimination in admission policy on the 3-2 basis of sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability, 3-3 academic or athletic ability, or the district the child would 3-4 otherwise attend in accordance with this code, although the charter 3-5 may provide for the exclusion of a student who has a documented 3-6 history of a criminal offense, a juvenile court adjudication, or 3-7 discipline problems under Subchapter A, Chapter 37; 3-8 (7) specify the grade levels to be offered; 3-9 (8) describe the governing structure of the program; 3-10 (9) specify the qualifications to be met by 3-11 professional employees of the program; 3-12 (10) describe the process by which the person 3-13 providing the program will adopt an annual budget; 3-14 (11) describe the manner in which an annual audit of 3-15 the financial and programmatic operations of the program is to be 3-16 conducted, including the manner in which the person providing the 3-17 program will provide information necessary for the school district 3-18 in which the program is located to participate, as required by this 3-19 code or by State Board of Education rule, in the Public Education 3-20 Information Management System (PEIMS); 3-21 (12) describe the facilities to be used; 3-22 (13) describe the geographical area served by the 3-23 program, except as provided by Subsection (b); and 3-24 (14) specify any type of enrollment criteria to be 3-25 used. 3-26 (b) A charter for an open-enrollment charter school program 3-27 that serves only or primarily the children of employees of one or 4-1 more public or private entities is not required to describe the 4-2 geographical area served by the program under Subsection (a)(13). 4-3 The charter must specify the type of enrollment criteria to be used 4-4 in accordance with Subsection (a)(14), including the name of the 4-5 public or private entity whose employees' children are served by 4-6 the program. 4-7 SECTION 3. Subchapter F, Chapter 39, Education Code, is 4-8 amended by adding Section 39.113 to read as follows: 4-9 Sec. 39.113. AWARD FOR EMPLOYERS. (a) Each year the 4-10 governor shall present the Governor's Award of Excellence for 4-11 Employer Incentives to the public or private employer that makes 4-12 the most significant contribution to early childhood or public 4-13 primary or secondary education. 4-14 (b) The governor shall appoint five persons to serve as 4-15 members of the Governor's Award of Excellence for Employer 4-16 Incentives Committee. The committee shall evaluate the 4-17 contribution of employers in supporting or providing: 4-18 (1) early childhood education; 4-19 (2) education for students in kindergarten through 4-20 grade 12; 4-21 (3) training programs for students preparing for the 4-22 graduate equivalency examination; 4-23 (4) instruction for students learning English as a 4-24 second language; or 4-25 (5) school facilities. 4-26 (c) The committee shall recommend to the governor one or 4-27 more employers to receive the Governor's Award of Excellence for 5-1 Employer Incentives. 5-2 (d) To be considered for an award under this section, an 5-3 employer must apply to the committee on a form and within the 5-4 period prescribed by the committee. 5-5 SECTION 4. Chapter 171, Tax Code, is amended by adding 5-6 Subchapter O to read as follows: 5-7 SUBCHAPTER O. TAX REFUND FOR ASSISTANCE IN EDUCATION 5-8 Sec. 171.721. ENTITLEMENT. A corporation is entitled to a 5-9 refund in the amount and under the conditions and limitations 5-10 provided by this subchapter against the tax imposed under this 5-11 chapter. 5-12 Sec. 171.722. SPONSORING OR OPERATING EMPLOYEE EARLY 5-13 CHILDHOOD OR KINDERGARTEN-GRADE 12 PROGRAMS. Subject to 5-14 readjustment under Section 171.728, a corporation is entitled to a 5-15 refund of 50 percent of the amount spent for a privilege period in 5-16 sponsoring or operating early childhood or kindergarten through 5-17 grade 12 programs for the children of its employees. 5-18 Sec. 171.723. PROVISION OF FACILITIES FOR SCHOOLS. 5-19 (a) Subject to readjustment under Section 171.728, a corporation 5-20 that provides during a privilege period a free or low-cost facility 5-21 for the benefit of a nonprofit school or a public school, including 5-22 an open-enrollment charter school, in this state is entitled to a 5-23 refund for that privilege period of a portion of the value of 5-24 providing the facility. 5-25 (b) The amount of the refund is the lesser of: 5-26 (1) 30 percent of the value of providing the facility; 5-27 or 6-1 (2) an amount determined by guidelines established by 6-2 the Texas Education Agency and rules adopted by the comptroller. 6-3 Sec. 171.724. ADULT EDUCATION. (a) A corporation qualifies 6-4 for a refund for a privilege period if the corporation provides 6-5 during that privilege period educational training for an employee 6-6 in: 6-7 (1) a program to prepare for the high school graduate 6-8 equivalency examination; or 6-9 (2) an English as a second language program. 6-10 (b) The programs described in Subsection (a) must be 6-11 approved by the Texas Education Agency. 6-12 (c) The amount of the refund is the lesser of: 6-13 (1) 25 percent of the actual cost of the training per 6-14 full-time equivalent student; or 6-15 (2) $85 for each employee who successfully completes a 6-16 program described in Subsection (a). 6-17 Sec. 171.725. ACCOUNTING YEAR. If a corporation's 6-18 accounting year does not correspond to the privilege period, the 6-19 base amount and any other amount used to calculate the refund shall 6-20 be multiplied by a ratio the numerator of which is the number of 6-21 days in the corporation's accounting year that are also in the 6-22 privilege period and the denominator of which is the number of days 6-23 in the privilege period. 6-24 Sec. 171.726. APPLICATION. (a) A corporation must apply 6-25 for a refund under this subchapter on or with the tax report for 6-26 the period for which the refund is claimed. 6-27 (b) The comptroller shall promulgate a form for the 7-1 application for the refund. A corporation must use this form in 7-2 applying for the refund. 7-3 Sec. 171.727. DETERMINATION OF TOTAL AMOUNT OF REFUNDS. The 7-4 comptroller shall determine the total amount of refunds claimed 7-5 under Sections 171.722 and 171.723 for a tax year on all reports 7-6 that are filed on or before November 15. 7-7 Sec. 171.728. ADJUSTMENT AND PAYMENT OF REFUND. (a) On or 7-8 before December 31 of a tax year, the comptroller shall send to a 7-9 corporation entitled to a refund under this subchapter: 7-10 (1) the full amount of the refund determined under 7-11 Section 171.722 if the amount under Section 171.727 for Section 7-12 171.722 is less than or equal to $2 million; or 7-13 (2) a portion of the refund determined under Section 7-14 171.722 in accordance with Subsection (b) if the amount under 7-15 Section 171.727 for Section 171.722 is greater than $2 million. 7-16 (b) If the amount under Section 171.727 for Section 171.722 7-17 is greater than $2 million, the comptroller shall determine the 7-18 amount of a corporation's refund by multiplying the amount of the 7-19 corporation's refund determined under Section 171.722 by a 7-20 fraction: 7-21 (1) the numerator of which is $2 million; and 7-22 (2) the denominator of which is the amount under 7-23 Section 171.727 for Section 171.722. 7-24 (c) On or before December 31 of a tax year, the comptroller 7-25 shall send to a corporation entitled to a refund under this 7-26 subchapter: 7-27 (1) the full amount of the refund determined under 8-1 Section 171.723 if the amount under Section 171.727 for Section 8-2 171.723 is less than or equal to $4 million; or 8-3 (2) a portion of the refund determined under Section 8-4 171.723 in accordance with Subsection (d) if the amount under 8-5 Section 171.727 for Section 171.723 is greater than $4 million. 8-6 (d) If the amount under Section 171.727 for Section 171.723 8-7 is greater than $4 million, the comptroller shall determine the 8-8 amount of a corporation's refund by multiplying the amount of the 8-9 corporation's refund determined under Section 171.723 by a 8-10 fraction: 8-11 (1) the numerator of which is $4 million; and 8-12 (2) the denominator of which is the amount under 8-13 Section 171.727 for Section 171.723. 8-14 Sec. 171.729. NO CARRYOVER. A refund claim may not be 8-15 carried forward to a subsequent reporting period. 8-16 Sec. 171.730. RULES. (a) The Texas Education Agency shall 8-17 adopt rules relating to eligibility for refunds under this 8-18 subchapter. 8-19 (b) The comptroller shall adopt rules relating to the 8-20 submission of refund claims and payment of the claims under this 8-21 subchapter. 8-22 SECTION 5. The Governor's Award of Excellence for Employer 8-23 Incentives Committee shall adopt an application form for purposes 8-24 of Section 39.113, Education Code, as added by this Act, not later 8-25 than August 30, 2000. 8-26 SECTION 6. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this 8-27 section, this Act takes effect immediately. 9-1 (b) Section 3 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2001, and 9-2 applies only to: 9-3 (1) a report originally due on or after January 1, 9-4 2001; and 9-5 (2) an expense or payment made on or after January 1, 9-6 2001. 9-7 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the 9-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 9-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 9-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 9-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 9-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its 9-13 terms, and it is so enacted.