Honorable Larry Taylor, Chair, Senate Committee on Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3987 by Farney (Relating to programs in public schools designed to facilitate planning and saving for higher education and facilitate personal financial literacy instruction.), As Engrossed
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would allow a school district or open-enrollment charter school to establish a school-based saving program to promote awareness of saving for higher education and to facilitate personal financial literacy instruction. A district or charter school would be allowed to offer the program in conjunction with a personal financial literacy course.
School-based accounts would be exempt from determining eligibility for the TEXAS grant program or other state-funded financial assistance; household income requirements for Department of Health and Human Services financial assistance programs; and family income and resource requirements for eligibility for the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP).
The Texas Education Agency, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and institutions of higher education report no fiscal implications resulting from the provisions of the bill.
The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has indicated that the provisions of the bill would require changes to the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System to exclude the school-based savings account resources and the related income from eligibility calculations for SNAP. This analysis assumes that the changes could be implemented within existing resources. HHSC has indicated that the impact to SNAP caseloads and costs regarding requisite policy, process, and training updates are immaterial and would be absorbed within existing resources. Because the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) program currently allows for the exclusion of similar savings plans, HHSC assumes that there will be no impact to the TANF caseload.
Local Government Impact
A school district or open-enrollment charter school would be able to establish a school-based saving program to promote awareness of saving for higher education and to facilitate personal financial literacy instruction. School districts could incur minor costs to establish and maintain partnerships with appropriate entities.
Source Agencies:
701 Central Education Agency, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 783 University of Houston System Administration