78(R) HB 5 - House Committee Report version


                                                                                
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.