H.B. No. 1922

AN ACT

relating to eligibility of school districts for state assistance with payment of existing debt.

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

SECTION 1. Section 42.2516, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:

(b) Subject to Subsections (b-1), (g), and (h), but notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a school district is entitled to state revenue necessary to provide the district with the sum of:

(1) the amount of state revenue necessary to maintain state and local revenue per student in weighted average daily attendance in the amount equal to the greater of:

(A) the amount of state and local revenue per student in weighted average daily attendance for the maintenance and operations of the district available to the district for the 2005-2006 school year;

(B) the amount of state and local revenue per student in weighted average daily attendance for the maintenance and operations of the district to which the district would have been entitled for the 2006-2007 school year under this chapter, as it existed on January 1, 2006, or, if the district would have been subject to Chapter 41, as that chapter existed on January 1, 2006, the amount to which the district would have been entitled under that chapter, based on the funding elements in effect for the 2005-2006 school year, if the district imposed a maintenance and operations tax at the rate adopted by the district for the 2005 tax year; or

(C) the amount of state and local revenue per student in weighted average daily attendance for the maintenance and operations of the district to which the district would have been entitled for the 2006-2007 school year under this chapter, as it existed on January 1, 2006, or, if the district would have been subject to Chapter 41, as that chapter existed on January 1, 2006, the amount to which the district would have been entitled under that chapter, based on the funding elements in effect for the 2005-2006 school year, if the district imposed a maintenance and operations tax at the rate equal to the rate described by Section 26.08(i) or (k)(1), Tax Code, as applicable, for the 2006 tax year;

(2) an amount equal to the product of $2,500 multiplied by the number of classroom teachers, full-time librarians, full-time counselors certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses employed by the district and entitled to a minimum salary under Section 21.402; and

(3) an amount equal to the product of $275 multiplied by the number of students in average daily attendance in grades nine through 12 in the district.

(b-1) The amount determined for a school district under Subsection (b) is increased or reduced as follows:

(1) if for any school year the district is entitled to a greater allotment under Section 42.158 than the allotment to which the district was entitled under that section for the school year on which the district's entitlement under Subsection (b) is based, the district's entitlement under Subsection (b) is increased by an amount equal to the difference between the amount to which the district is entitled under Section 42.158 for that school year and the amount to which the district was entitled under that section for:

(A) the 2005-2006 school year, if the amount determined for the district under Subsection (b) is determined under Subsection (b)(1)(A); or

(B) the 2006-2007 school year, if the amount determined for the district under Subsection (b) is determined under Subsection (b)(1)(B) or (C); and

(2) if for any school year the district is not entitled to an allotment under Section 42.158 or is entitled to a lesser allotment under that section than the allotment to which the district was entitled under that section for the school year on which the district's entitlement under Subsection (b) is based, the district's entitlement under Subsection (b) is reduced by an amount equal to the difference between the amount to which the district was entitled under Section 42.158 for the 2005-2006 or 2006-2007 school year, as appropriate based on whether the district's entitlement under Subsection (b) is determined under Subsection (b)(1)(A), (B), or (C), and the amount to which the district is entitled under Section 42.158 for the current school year.

SECTION 2. Section 46.033, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 46.033. ELIGIBLE BONDS. Bonds, including bonds issued under Section 45.006, are eligible to be paid with state and local funds under this subchapter if:

(1) the district made payments on the bonds during the 2006-2007 [2004-2005] school year or taxes levied to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds were included in the district's audited debt service collections for that school year; and

(2) the district does not receive state assistance under Subchapter A for payment of the principal and interest on the bonds.

SECTION 3. Section 46.034(c), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) If the amount required to pay the principal of and interest on eligible bonds in a school year is less than the amount of payments made by the district on the bonds during the 2006-2007 [2004-2005] school year or the district's audited debt service collections for that school year, the district may not receive aid in excess of the amount that, when added to the district's local revenue for the school year, equals the amount required to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 1922 was passed by the House on April 17, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, 2 present, not voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. No. 1922 on May 14, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, 2 present, not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 1922 was passed by the Senate, with amendments, on May 8, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: __________________

Date

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Governor