By: Hinojosa H.B. No. 90
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a bonus payment for certain public school employees and
  to the public school finance system.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 21.4023 to read as follows:
         Sec. 21.4023.  BONUS PAYMENT FOR 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR. (a)
  For the 2023-2024 school year, a school district shall provide to
  each classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time school
  counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school nurse
  employed by the district a one-time bonus payment of $15,000 in
  addition to the employee's compensation for the 2023-2024 school
  year to be paid to the employee at the end of the 2023-2024 school
  year.
         (b)  A bonus payment provided to a classroom teacher under
  this section is not considered in determining whether a school
  district is paying the teacher the minimum monthly salary under
  Section 21.402.
         (c)  This section expires September 1, 2024.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 22.008 to read as follows:
         Sec. 22.008.  BONUS PAYMENT FOR 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR FOR
  SUPPORT STAFF. (a) For the 2023-2024 school year, a school
  district shall provide to each employee, other than an
  administrator or an employee subject to the minimum salary schedule
  under Section 21.402, who is compensated less than $100,000 per
  year in salary or wages a one-time bonus payment of $5,500 in
  addition to the employee's compensation for the 2023-2024 school
  year to be paid to the employee at the end of the 2023-2024 school
  year.
         (b)  This section expires September 1, 2024. 
         SECTION 3.  Effective September 1, 2024, Section 48.051,
  Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and
  adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) to read as follows:
         (a)  Subject to adjustment under Subsection (a-1), for [For]
  each student in average daily attendance, not including the time
  students spend each day in special education programs in an
  instructional arrangement other than mainstream or career and
  technology education programs, for which an additional allotment is
  made under Subchapter C, a district is entitled to an allotment
  equal to the lesser of $8,947 [$6,160] or the amount that results
  from the following formula:
                           A = $8,947 [$6,160] X TR/MCR
  where:
         "A" is the allotment to which a district is entitled;
         "TR" is the district's tier one maintenance and operations
  tax rate, as provided by Section 45.0032; and
         "MCR" is the district's maximum compressed tax rate, as
  determined under Section 48.2551.
         (a-1)  Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, the basic
  allotment provided to a district under Subsection (a) or (b) is
  adjusted annually to increase the allotment by the amount that
  results from applying the inflation rate, as determined by the
  comptroller on the basis of changes in the Consumer Price Index for
  All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
  the United States Department of Labor, to the allotment for the
  preceding school year.
         (a-2)  If the inflation rate for a school year is less than
  zero, the inflation rate to be used for purposes of Subsection (a-1)
  is zero.
         (c)  During any school year for which the maximum amount of
  the basic allotment provided under Subsection (a) or (b) is greater
  than the maximum amount provided for the preceding school year, a
  school district must use at least 40 [30] percent of the amount, if
  the amount is greater than zero, that equals the product of the
  average daily attendance of the district multiplied by the amount
  of the difference between the district's funding under this chapter
  per student in average daily attendance for the current school year
  and the preceding school year to provide compensation increases to
  full-time district employees other than administrators as follows:
               (1)  75 percent must be used to increase the
  compensation paid to classroom teachers, full-time librarians,
  full-time school counselors certified under Subchapter B, Chapter
  21, and full-time school nurses, prioritizing differentiated
  compensation for classroom teachers with more than five years of
  experience; and
               (2)  25 percent may be used as determined by the
  district to increase compensation paid to full-time district
  employees.
         SECTION 4.  Section 48.102, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  To address the extraordinary gap between the amount of
  the allotment under this section and school district expenses for
  special education, a school district that for the 2023-2024 school
  year spent a greater amount for students in a special education
  program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, than the amount the
  district received from the allotment under this section is entitled
  to additional funding for the 2024-2025 school year in an amount
  equal to twice the amount of the difference between the total of
  those amounts. This subsection expires September 1, 2025. 
         SECTION 5.  Section 48.115, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (a-2) to read as follows:
         (a-2)  To address the extraordinary gap between the amount of
  the allotment under this section and school district expenses for
  school safety and security improvements, a school district that for
  the 2023-2024 school year spent a greater amount for school safety
  and security improvements than the amount the district received
  from the allotment under this section is entitled to additional
  funding for the 2024-2025 school year in an amount equal to the
  difference between the total of those amounts. This subsection
  expires September 1, 2025.
         SECTION 6.  Subchapter D, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 48.157 to read as follows:
         Sec. 48.157.  SUPPLEMENTAL GRANT TO ADDRESS EDUCATIONAL
  NEEDS FOLLOWING COVID-19 PANDEMIC. (a) For the 2023-2024 school
  year, a school district is entitled to a grant of $800 for each
  student enrolled in the district to ensure that the school district
  has adequate funding to address the educational needs of the
  district's students following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
  pandemic. 
         (b)  This section expires September 1, 2024.
         SECTION 7.  Effective September 1, 2024, Section
  48.202(a-1), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a-1)  For purposes of Subsection (a), the dollar amount
  guaranteed level of state and local funds per weighted student per
  cent of tax effort ("GL") for a school district is:
               (1)  the greater of the amount of district tax revenue
  per weighted student per cent of tax effort available to a school
  district at the 96th percentile of wealth per weighted student or
  the amount that results from multiplying $8,947 [6,160], or the
  greater amount provided under Section 48.051(a-1) or (b)
  [48.051(b)], if applicable, by 0.016, for the first eight cents by
  which the district's maintenance and operations tax rate exceeds
  the district's tier one tax rate; and
               (2)  subject to Subsection (f), the amount that results
  from multiplying $8,947 [$6,160], or the greater amount provided
  under Section 48.051(a-1) or (b) [48.051(b)], if applicable, by
  0.008, for the district's maintenance and operations tax effort
  that exceeds the amount of tax effort described by Subdivision (1).
         SECTION 8.  Subchapter F, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 48.2521 to read as follows:
         Sec. 48.2521.  ADDITIONAL STATE AID FOR ONE-TIME BONUSES FOR
  CERTAIN PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. (a) For the 2023-2024 school
  year, a school district, including a school district that is
  otherwise ineligible for state aid under this chapter, is entitled
  to annual state aid in the sum of:
               (1)  the amount equal to the product of $15,000
  multiplied by the number of classroom teachers, full-time
  librarians, full-time school counselors certified under Subchapter
  B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses employed by the
  district; and
               (2)  the amount equal to the product of $5,500
  multiplied by the number of employees, other than an administrator
  or an employee subject to the minimum salary schedule under Section
  21.402, employed by the district who are compensated less than
  $100,000 per year in salary or wages. 
         (b)  A school district shall use the amount received under
  this section for purposes of providing the one-time bonus payments
  under Sections 21.4023 and 22.008.
         (c)  This section expires September 1, 2024. 
         SECTION 9.  Except as otherwise provided by this Act, 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 on the
  91st day after the last day of the legislative session.