LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 85TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
April 24, 2017

TO:
Honorable Larry Taylor, Chair, Senate Committee on Education
 
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
SB1484 by Taylor, Larry (Relating to the creation of an instructional materials web portal by the commissioner of education.), As Introduced



Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB1484, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($2,300,000) through the biennium ending August 31, 2019.

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.



Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2018 ($1,850,000)
2019 ($450,000)
2020 ($450,000)
2021 ($450,000)
2022 ($450,000)




Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from
General Revenue Fund
1
2018 ($1,850,000)
2019 ($450,000)
2020 ($450,000)
2021 ($450,000)
2022 ($450,000)

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would amend the Education Code to require the Commissioner to develop a web portal with information about all state-adopted instructional materials and other materials submitted for review by September 1, 2018 and to maintain the portal once developed. The bill would require the web portal to contain certain information for each instructional material included in the portal. The bill would require the Commissioner to use a competitive process to contract for the development of the web portal. The bill would require the Commissioner to contract with a private entity to conduct an independent analysis of each instructional material submitted by a publisher for inclusion in the portal and would require the analysis to include certain elements.

The bill would require the Commissioner to include a repository of open education resources and other electronic instructional materials that school districts and open-enrollment charter schools may access at no cost in the web portal. The bill would allow a school district or open-enrollment charter school to consider open educational resources and other electronic instructional materials included in the repository in determining whether each student has instructional materials that cover all elements of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills as required by 31.004(a), Education Code.

The bill would take effect immediately if passed with necessary voting margins, or September 1, 2017.

Methodology

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) estimates that the bill would result in total costs of $1.85 million in fiscal year 2018 with continuing costs of $450,000 in subsequent years.

TEA estimates the cost to contract for the development of the web portal would total $1.5 million in fiscal year 2018, with continuing costs of $100,000 in subsequent years related to maintenance of the portal. Additionally, according to the agency, the annual review would total an estimated $350,000 in each fiscal year given that new materials would be added every year. This analysis assumes the agency could use existing full-time equivalent positions to manage the annual review of instructional materials to be included in the web portal and repository

Local Government Impact

School districts and open-enrollment charter schools would not incur costs associated with the provisions of the bill; however, TEA estimates districts and schools may experience savings as a result of selecting open education resources from the web portal in lieu of other instructional materials.


Source Agencies:
701 Texas Education Agency
LBB Staff:
UP, THo, AM, AW