Bill Text: TX HB3639 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to state fiscal matters related to public and higher education.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-12 - Postponed [HB3639 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB3639-Comm_Sub.html

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82R22338 KKA-D
By: Pitts, Aycock H.B. No. 3639
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3639:
By: Pitts C.S.H.B. No. 3639

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state fiscal matters related to public and higher
education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
ARTICLE 1. REDUCTION OF EXPENDITURES
AND IMPOSITION OF CHARGES GENERALLY
SECTION 1.01. This article applies to any state agency,
school, institution of higher education, or other entity that
receives an appropriation under Article III of the General
Appropriations Act.
SECTION 1.02. Notwithstanding any other statute of this
state, each entity to which this article applies is authorized to
reduce or recover expenditures by:
(1) consolidating any reports or publications the
entity is required to make and filing or delivering any of those
reports or publications exclusively by electronic means;
(2) extending the effective period of any license,
permit, or registration the entity grants or administers;
(3) entering into a contract with another governmental
entity or with a private vendor to carry out any of the entity's
duties;
(4) adopting additional eligibility requirements for
persons who receive benefits under any law the entity administers
to ensure that those benefits are received by the most deserving
persons consistent with the purposes for which the benefits are
provided;
(5) providing that any communication between the
entity and another person and any document required to be delivered
to or by the entity, including any application, notice, billing
statement, receipt, or certificate, may be made or delivered by
e-mail or through the Internet; and
(6) adopting and collecting fees or charges to cover
any costs the entity incurs in performing its lawful functions.
ARTICLE 2. FISCAL MATTERS CONCERNING RETIRED TEACHERS
SECTION 2.01. Section 825.404(a), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) During each fiscal year, the state shall contribute to
the retirement system an amount equal to at least six and not more
than 10 percent of the aggregate annual compensation of all members
of the retirement system during that fiscal year. [The amount of
the state contribution made under this section may not be less than
the amount contributed by members during that fiscal year in
accordance with Section 825.402.]
SECTION 2.02. Section 1575.202(a), Insurance Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Each state fiscal year, the state shall contribute to
the fund an amount equal to 0.5 [one] percent of the salary of each
active employee.
SECTION 2.03. The changes in law made by this article apply
beginning with the state fiscal year that begins September 1, 2011.
ARTICLE 3. FISCAL MATTERS CONCERNING
FOUNDATION SCHOOL PROGRAM PAYMENTS
SECTION 3.01. Sections 42.259(c), (d), and (f), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) Payments from the foundation school fund to each
category 2 school district shall be made as follows:
(1) 22 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of September of a fiscal year;
(2) 18 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of October;
(3) 9.5 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of November;
(4) 7.5 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of April;
(5) five percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of May;
(6) 10 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of June;
(7) 13 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of July; and
(8) 15 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made after the 5th
day of September and not later than the 10th day of September of the
calendar year following the calendar year of the payment made under
Subdivision (1) [on or before the 25th day of August].
(d) Payments from the foundation school fund to each
category 3 school district shall be made as follows:
(1) 45 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of September of a fiscal year;
(2) 35 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made on or before the
25th day of October; and
(3) 20 percent of the yearly entitlement of the
district shall be paid in an installment to be made after the 5th
day of September and not later than the 10th day of September of the
calendar year following the calendar year of the payment made under
Subdivision (1) [on or before the 25th day of August].
(f) Except as provided by Subsection (c)(8) or (d)(3), any
[Any] previously unpaid additional funds from prior fiscal years
owed to a district shall be paid to the district together with the
September payment of the current fiscal year entitlement.
SECTION 3.02. Section 466.355(c), Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 3.03. The changes made by this article to Section
42.259, Education Code, apply only to a payment from the foundation
school fund that is made on or after the effective date of this Act.
A payment to a school district from the foundation school fund that
is made before that date is governed by Section 42.259, Education
Code, as it existed before amendment by this article, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
ARTICLE 4. FISCAL MATTERS CONCERNING ADVANCED PLACEMENT
SECTION 4.01. Section 28.053(h), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(h) The commissioner may enter into agreements with the
college board and the International Baccalaureate Organization to
pay for all examinations taken by eligible public school students.
An eligible student is a student [one] who:
(1) takes a college advanced placement or
international baccalaureate course at a public school or who is
recommended by the student's principal or teacher to take the test;
and
(2) demonstrates financial need as determined in
accordance with guidelines adopted by the board that are consistent
with the definition of financial need adopted by the college board
or the International Baccalaureate Organization.
ARTICLE 5. FISCAL MATTERS
CONCERNING EARLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
SECTION 5.01. Subchapter K, Chapter 56, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 56.2012 to read as follows:
Sec. 56.2012. EXPIRATION OF SUBCHAPTER; ELIGIBILITY
CLOSED. (a) This subchapter expires September 1, 2017.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 56.203, a person may not
receive an award under this subchapter if the person graduates from
high school on or after September 1, 2011.
SECTION 5.02. Section 54.213(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) [Savings to the foundation school fund that occur as a
result of the Early High School Graduation Scholarship program
created in Subchapter K, Chapter 56, and that are not required for
the funding of state credits for tuition and mandatory fees under
Section 56.204 or school district credits under Section 56.2075
shall be used first to provide tuition exemptions under Section
54.212. Any of those savings remaining after providing tuition
exemptions under Section 54.212 shall be used to provide tuition
exemptions under Section 54.214.] The Texas Education Agency shall
[also] accept and make available to provide tuition exemptions
under Section 54.214 gifts, grants, and donations made to the
agency for that purpose. The commissioner of education shall
transfer those funds to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board to distribute to institutions of higher education that
provide exemptions under that section. [Payment of funds under
this subsection shall be made in the manner provided by Section
56.207 for state credits under Subchapter K, Chapter 56.]
SECTION 5.03. Section 56.210, Education Code, is repealed.
ARTICLE 6. FISCAL MATTERS CONCERNING TUITION EXEMPTIONS
SECTION 6.01. Section 54.214(c), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) To be eligible for an exemption under this section, a
person must:
(1) be a resident of this state;
(2) be a school employee serving in any capacity;
(3) for the initial term or semester for which the
person receives an exemption under this section, have worked as an
educational aide for at least one school year during the five years
preceding that term or semester;
(4) establish financial need as determined by
coordinating board rule;
(5) be enrolled at the institution of higher education
granting the exemption in courses required for teacher
certification in one or more subject areas determined by the Texas
Education Agency to be experiencing a critical shortage of teachers
at the public schools in this state [at the institution of higher
education granting the exemption];
(6) maintain an acceptable grade point average as
determined by coordinating board rule; and
(7) comply with any other requirements adopted by the
coordinating board under this section.
SECTION 6.02. The change in law made by this article applies
beginning with tuition and fees charged for the 2011 fall semester.
Tuition and fees charged for a term or semester before the 2011 fall
semester are covered by the law in effect during the term or
semester for which the tuition and fees are charged, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
ARTICLE 7. FISCAL MATTERS CONCERNING DUAL
HIGH SCHOOL AND JUNIOR COLLEGE CREDIT
SECTION 7.01. Section 130.008(c), Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The contact hours attributable to the enrollment of a
high school student in a course offered for joint high school and
junior college credit under this section, excluding a course for
which the student attending high school may receive course credit
toward the physical education curriculum requirement under Section
28.002(a)(2)(C), shall be included in the contact hours used to
determine the junior college's proportionate share of the state
money appropriated and distributed to public junior colleges under
Sections 130.003 and 130.0031, even if the junior college waives
all or part of the tuition or fees for the student under Subsection
(b).
SECTION 7.02. This article applies beginning with funding
for the 2011 fall semester.
ARTICLE 8. EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 8.01. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.