Honorable Dan Huberty, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB61 by Hinojosa, Gina (Relating to a transportation allotment credit for school districts required to take action to reduce wealth per student.), As Introduced
The bill would provide districts subject to wealth equalization under Chapter 41, Education Code with a recapture discount equal to the district's transportation allotment. Under current law, the transportation allotment is codified as a Tier 1 allotment but stops short of functioning fully as an equalized Tier 1 allotment since its lack of inclusion in the calculation of weighted average daily attendance (WADA) prevents a reduction in recapture similar to that experienced for standard Tier 1 allotments, such as the regular program allotment. Application of the discount authorized under the bill to Tier 1 recapture would provide Chapter 41 districts with a benefit equal to the transportation allotment by allowing them to retain additional local revenue.
The bill does not limit application of discount to Tier 1 recapture. For districts that are subject to recapture only at the $319,500 equalized wealth level, reducing recapture by an amount equal to the district's transportation allotment would, in essence, provide the benefit of the transportation allotment more than once.