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78R8231 ESH-D
By: Grusendorf, Marchant, Wilson, Hill, H.B. No. 5
Heflin, et al.
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 5:
By: Griggs C.S.H.B. No. 5
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school finance.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.2516 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.2516. ADDITIONAL AID FOR 2003-2004 AND 2004-2005
SCHOOL YEARS. (a) For the 2003-2004 school year, in addition to
any other state aid to which a school district is entitled under
this chapter, a district is entitled to an amount equal to the
product of the number of students in average daily attendance in the
district multiplied by $100.
(b) For the 2004-2005 school year, in addition to any other
state aid to which a school district is entitled under this chapter,
a district is entitled to an amount equal to the product of the
number of students in average daily attendance in the district
multiplied by $200.
(c) A school district that is otherwise ineligible for state
aid under this chapter is entitled to state aid under this section.
A school district that is required to take action under Chapter 41
to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth level is
entitled to:
(1) a credit, in the amount of the state aid to which
the district is entitled under this section, against the total
amount required under Section 41.093 for the district to purchase
attendance credits; and
(2) if the amount of state aid to which the district is
entitled under this section exceeds the total amount required under
Section 41.093 for the district to purchase sufficient attendance
credits to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth
level, state aid in an amount equal to the difference between the
state aid to which the district is entitled under this section and
the credit applied under Subdivision (1).
SECTION 2. Section 42.253(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by this subsection, the commissioner
shall base the determinations under Subsection (a) on the estimates
provided to the legislature under Section 42.254, or, if the
General Appropriations Act provides estimates for that purpose, on
the estimates provided under that Act, for each school district for
each school year. The commissioner shall reduce the entitlement of
each district that has a final taxable value of property [for the
second year of a state fiscal biennium] that is higher than the
estimate under Section 42.254 or the General Appropriations Act, as
applicable. A reduction under this subsection may not reduce the
district's entitlement below the amount to which it is entitled at
its actual taxable value of property. [The sum of the reductions
under this subsection may not be greater than the amount necessary
to fully fund the entitlement of each district.]
SECTION 3. Section 42.259, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) Notwithstanding Subsections (c)(8) and (d)(3), the
payment from the foundation school fund for August 2005 shall be
made on September 1, 2005.
SECTION 4. Effective September 30, 2005, Chapter 4,
Education Code, is amended by adding Section 4.003 to read as
follows:
Sec. 4.003. STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROVISION OF PUBLIC
EDUCATION. It is the policy of this state that the provision of
public education is a state responsibility and that a thorough and
efficient system be provided and substantially financed through
state revenue sources so that each student enrolled in the public
school system shall have access to programs and services that are
appropriate to the student's educational needs and that are
substantially equal to those available to any similar student,
notwithstanding varying local economic factors.
SECTION 5. Effective September 30, 2005, the following
provisions of the Education Code are repealed:
(1) Chapters 41, 42, and 46; and
(2) Section 45.002.
SECTION 6. (a) The repeal by Section 5 of this Act of
Section 45.002, Education Code, does not impair any obligation
created by the issuance or execution of any lawful agreement or
evidence of indebtedness before September 30, 2005, that matures
after that date and that is payable from the levy and collection of
a maintenance tax under that section or another law, and an
independent school district may, on and after September 30, 2005,
levy, assess, and collect a maintenance tax, at a rate not greater
than the rate required to pay such obligations but only for so long
as those obligations remain outstanding and unpaid.
(b) Notwithstanding the repeal by Section 5 of this Act of
Chapters 41, 42, and 46, Education Code, and Section 45.002,
Education Code, a school district that, before September 30, 2005,
issues bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness under
Chapter 45, Education Code, or other applicable law or enters into a
lease-purchase agreement under Subchapter A, Chapter 271, Local
Government Code, may continue, before, on, and after September 30,
2005, to receive state assistance with respect to such payments to
the same extent the district would have been entitled to receive the
assistance under Chapter 42 or 46, Education Code, as those
chapters existed before repeal by this Act, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose. The commissioner of
education may adopt rules to implement this subsection.
(c) The repeal by Section 5 of this Act of Chapters 41, 42,
and 46, Education Code, and Section 45.002, Education Code, does
not limit, modify, or eliminate the authority of a school district
to:
(1) issue or execute bonds, public securities, or
other obligations under Chapter 45, Education Code, or other law,
either before, on, or after September 30, 2005; or
(2) levy, assess, and collect, before, on, or after
September 30, 2005, ad valorem taxes at the full rate and in the
full amount authorized by Section 45.002, Education Code, and
necessary to pay the bonds, public securities, or other obligations
when due and payable.
(d) Before September 30, 2005, the commissioner of
education may not refuse to grant assistance to a school district
under Chapter 42 or 46, Education Code, in connection with public
securities, lease-purchase agreements, credit agreements, or other
obligations, including those described by Subchapter A, Chapter
271, Local Government Code, on the basis that the district's
authority to levy a maintenance tax is repealed effective September
30, 2005.
SECTION 7. Except as provided by Section 4 or 5 of this Act,
this Act takes effect September 1, 2003.