85R20982 MM-D
 
  By: Howard H.B. No. 3526
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to renaming the instructional materials allotment as the
  technology and instructional materials allotment and making
  associated technical changes.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 31.001, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 31.001.  FREE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS.  Instructional
  materials selected for use in the public schools shall be furnished
  without cost to the students attending those schools.  Except as
  provided by Section 31.104(d), a school district may not charge a
  student for instructional material or technological equipment
  purchased by the district with the district's technology and
  instructional materials allotment.
         SECTION 2.  Section 31.005, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 31.005.  FUNDING FOR OPEN-ENROLLMENT CHARTER SCHOOLS.  
  An open-enrollment charter school is entitled to the technology and
  instructional materials allotment under this chapter and is subject
  to this chapter as if the school were a school district.
         SECTION 3.  Section 31.021, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 31.021.  STATE TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
  FUND.  (a)  The state technology and instructional materials fund
  consists of:
               (1)  an amount set aside by the State Board of Education
  from the available school fund, in accordance with Section
  43.001(d); and
               (2)  all amounts lawfully paid into the fund from any
  other source.
         (c)  Money in the state technology and instructional
  materials fund shall be used to:
               (1)  fund the technology and instructional materials
  allotment, as provided by Section 31.0211;
               (2)  purchase special instructional materials for the
  education of blind and visually impaired students in public
  schools;
               (3)  pay the expenses associated with the instructional
  materials adoption and review process under this chapter;
               (4)  pay the expenses associated with the purchase or
  licensing of open-source instructional material;
               (5)  pay the expenses associated with the purchase of
  instructional material, including intrastate freight and shipping
  and the insurance expenses associated with intrastate freight and
  shipping;
               (6)  fund the technology lending grant program
  established under Section 32.201; and
               (7)  provide funding to the Texas School for the Blind
  and Visually Impaired, the Texas School for the Deaf, and the Texas
  Juvenile Justice Department.
         (d)  Money transferred to the state technology and
  instructional materials fund remains in the fund until spent and
  does not lapse to the state at the end of the fiscal year.
         SECTION 4.  The heading to Section 31.0211, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 31.0211.  TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
  ALLOTMENT.
         SECTION 5.  Sections 31.0211(a) and (b), Education Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A school district is entitled to an allotment each
  biennium from the state technology and instructional materials fund
  for each student enrolled in the district on a date during the last
  year of the preceding biennium specified by the commissioner.  The
  commissioner shall determine the amount of the allotment per
  student each biennium on the basis of the amount of money available
  in the state technology and instructional materials fund to fund
  the allotment.  An allotment under this section shall be
  transferred from the state technology and instructional materials
  fund to the credit of the district's technology and instructional
  materials account as provided by Section 31.0212.
         (b)  A juvenile justice alternative education program under
  Section 37.011 is entitled to an allotment from the state
  technology and instructional materials fund in an amount determined
  by the commissioner.  The program shall use the allotment to
  purchase items listed in Subsection (c) for students enrolled in
  the program.  The commissioner's determination under this
  subsection is final and may not be appealed.
         SECTION 6.  The heading to Section 31.0212, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 31.0212.  TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
  ACCOUNT.
         SECTION 7.  Sections 31.0212(a), (b), (d), and (e),
  Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The commissioner shall maintain a technology and [an]
  instructional materials account for each school district. In the
  first year of each biennium, the commissioner shall deposit in the
  account for each district the amount of the district's technology
  and instructional materials allotment under Section 31.0211.
         (b)  The commissioner shall pay the cost of instructional
  materials requisitioned by a school district under Section 31.103
  using funds from the district's technology and instructional
  materials account.
         (d)  Money deposited in a school district's technology and
  instructional materials account during each state fiscal biennium
  remains in the account and available for use by the district for the
  entire biennium.  At the end of each biennium, a district with
  unused money in the district's account may carry forward any
  remaining balance to the next biennium.
         (e)  The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
  implement this section.  The rules must include a requirement that
  a school district provide the title and publication information for
  any instructional materials requisitioned or purchased by the
  district with the district's technology and instructional
  materials allotment.
         SECTION 8.  Section 31.0213, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 31.0213.  CERTIFICATION OF USE OF TECHNOLOGY AND 
  INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ALLOTMENT.  Each school district shall
  annually certify to the commissioner that the district's technology
  and instructional materials allotment has been used only for
  expenses allowed by Section 31.0211.
         SECTION 9.  Section 31.0214(a), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  Each year the commissioner shall adjust the technology
  and instructional materials allotment of school districts
  experiencing high enrollment growth.  The commissioner shall
  establish a procedure for determining high enrollment growth
  districts eligible to receive an adjustment under this section and
  the amount of the technology and instructional materials allotment
  those districts will receive.
         SECTION 10.  The heading to Section 31.0215, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 31.0215.  TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
  [MATERIAL] ALLOTMENT PURCHASES.
         SECTION 11.  Sections 31.0215(b) and (c), Education Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  The commissioner may allow a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school to place an order for instructional
  materials before the beginning of a fiscal biennium and to receive
  instructional materials before payment.  The commissioner shall
  limit the cost of an order placed under this section to 80 percent
  of the estimated amount to which a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school is estimated to be entitled as
  provided by Subsection (a) and shall first credit any balance in a
  district or charter school technology and instructional materials
  account to pay for an order placed under this section.
         (c)  The commissioner shall make payments for orders placed
  under this section as funds become available to the technology and
  instructional materials fund and shall prioritize payment of orders
  placed under this section over reimbursement of purchases made
  directly by a school district or open-enrollment charter school.
         SECTION 12.  Section 31.0231(b), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  A school district may select material on the list
  adopted under Subsection (a) to be funded by the district's
  technology and instructional materials allotment under Section
  31.0211.
         SECTION 13.  Section 31.029(a), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  A school district shall purchase with the district's
  technology and instructional materials allotment or otherwise
  acquire instructional materials for use in bilingual education
  classes.
         SECTION 14.  Section 31.031(a), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  A school district may purchase with the district's
  technology and instructional materials allotment or otherwise
  acquire instructional materials for use in college preparatory
  courses under Section 28.014.
         SECTION 15.  Section 31.071(e), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (e)  The costs of administering this subchapter and
  purchasing state-developed open-source instructional materials
  shall be paid from the state technology and instructional materials
  fund, as determined by the commissioner.
         SECTION 16.  Section 31.101(f), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (f)  The commissioner shall maintain an online requisition
  system for school districts to requisition instructional materials
  to be purchased with the district's technology and instructional
  materials allotment.
         SECTION 17.  Section 31.151(d), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (d)  A penalty collected under this section shall be
  deposited to the credit of the state technology and instructional
  materials fund.
         SECTION 18.  Section 41.124(c), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (c)  A school district that receives tuition for a student
  from a school district with a wealth per student that exceeds the
  equalized wealth level may not claim attendance for that student
  for purposes of Chapters 42 and 46 and the technology and
  instructional materials allotment under Section 31.0211.
         SECTION 19.  Section 43.001(d), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (d)  Each biennium the State Board of Education shall set
  aside an amount equal to 50 percent of the distribution for that
  biennium from the permanent school fund to the available school
  fund as provided by Section 5(a), Article VII, Texas Constitution,
  to be placed, subject to the General Appropriations Act, in the
  state technology and instructional materials fund established
  under Section 31.021.
         SECTION 20.  Section 403.093(d), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (d)  The comptroller shall transfer from the general revenue
  fund to the foundation school fund an amount of money necessary to
  fund the foundation school program as provided by Chapter 42,
  Education Code.  The comptroller shall make the transfers in
  installments as necessary to comply with Section 42.259, Education
  Code, and permit the Texas Education Agency, to the extent
  authorized by the General Appropriations Act, to make temporary
  transfers from the foundation school fund for payment of the
  technology and instructional materials allotment under Section
  31.0211, Education Code.  Unless an earlier date is necessary for
  purposes of temporary transfers for payment of the  technology and
  instructional materials allotment, an installment must be made not
  earlier than two days before the date an installment to school
  districts is required by Section 42.259, Education Code, and must
  not exceed the amount necessary for that payment and any temporary
  transfers for payment of the technology and instructional materials
  allotment.
         SECTION 21.  This Act takes effect immediately if it
  receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
  house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  
  If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
  effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017.