Amend CSHB 23 (house committee printing) as follows:
(1) On page 1, line 6, strike "Section 29.026" and substitute "Sections 29.026 and 29.0261".
(2) On page 4, line 4, strike "$20" and substitute "$16".
(3) On page 4, line 6, strike "$10" and substitute "$8".
(4) On page 5, between lines 4 and 5, insert the following:
Sec. 29.0261. GRANT PROGRAM TO PARENTS AND INSTITUTIONS PROVIDING SERVICES TO STUDENTS WITH AUTISM. (a) The commissioner shall establish a program to award grants to parents of students with autism for educational institutions and therapy providers that provide innovative services to the parent's student.
(b) A parent of a student with autism is eligible to apply for a grant under this section if the student resides in a school district in which 50 percent or more of the students enrolled in the district reside in Collin County, Denton County, or Tarrant County.
(c) A parent of a student with autism may only apply for a grant under this section for the purpose of using the grant to pay for a student's expenses for services provided to the student at an educational institution or a therapy provider.
(d) The amount of a grant award under this section shall be in an amount equal to 90 percent of the state and local maintenance and operations revenue to which the school district in which the parent's student would otherwise attend school would be entitled for the student, if the student enrolled in the district at a full rate of attendance, excluding any revenue that the district would be entitled to under Subchapter C, Chapter 42, other than a special allotment under Sections 42.151, 42.152, and 42.160.
(e) The parent may request that any grant funds provided to the parent under this section be awarded directly to the educational institution or the therapy provider that provides services to the parent's student.
(f) The commissioner shall establish rules creating an application and selection process for grants awarded under this section.
(g) The commissioner shall set aside an amount not to exceed $4 million from the total amount of funds appropriated to the Foundation School Program for the 2018-2019 fiscal biennium to fund grants under this section. The commissioner shall use $2 million for the purposes of this section for each school year in the state fiscal biennium. The commissioner shall reduce each district's and charter school's allotment proportionally to account for funds allocated under this section.
(h) Not later than December 31, 2021, the commissioner shall publish a report on the grant program established under this section. The report must include:
(1) recommendations for statutory or funding changes necessary to implement successful innovations in the education of students with autism; and
(2) data on the academic and functional achievements of students of parents who received a grant under this section.
(i) This section expires September 1, 2024.