Bill: HB 1305, 84(R) - 2015

Committee

House Public Education

Vote Recommendation

Vote Recommendation Economic Freedom Property Rights Personal Responsibility Limited Government Individual Liberty
Yes Neutral Neutral Neutral Positive Neutral

Author(s)

Greg Bonnen

Bill Caption

Relating to a program to provide a free or reduced-price breakfast to eligible students attending a public school and the method of determining the number of educationally disadvantaged students.

Fiscal Notes

State Impact

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB1305, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($30,477,778) through the biennium ending August 31, 2017.

Local Government

School districts who chose not to offer the National School Breakfast Program, and instead choose to develop and implement a locally funded program, could incur some administrative costs and experience a loss of federal revenue, but such action would be voluntary and amounts would vary by district. Some districts would receive additional funding under the modified calculation of the compensatory education allotment under the provisions of this bill.


Bill Analysis

05/21/2015 update:

HB 1305 was amended to include free or reduced-price lunches along with breakfast.

First chamber analysis:

HB 1305 would authorize a school district which would otherwise be required to participate in the National School Breakfast Program to instead develop and implement a locally funded program to provide a free or reduced-price breakfast to all students in the school or schools eligible for the national program.

The bill would change the calculation of the number of educationally disadvantaged students for purposes of calculating the compensatory education allotment within the Foundation School Program. The calculation would be changed from averaging the best six months' enrollment in the National School Lunch Program for the preceding school year to averaging the best six months' number of students eligible for enrollment in the National School Lunch Program.

Students enrolled in a virtual school network would not be eligible.

Vote Recommendation Notes

05/21/2015 update:

Minor changes were made to HB 1305 that do not affect our original vote recommendation. The second chamber sponsor is Senator Larry Taylor.

First chamber recommendation:

This bill affirms the principle of limited government. Removing the mandate that a school district must participate in a federal program and allowing the district to develop a locally funded program is more beneficial and desirable, since it removes obligations that often accompanies federal funding. This is a desirable outcome despite a potential negative fiscal impact. For this reason, we  support HB 1305.


Source URL (retrieved on 03/28/2024 07:03 AM): http://reports.texasaction.com/bill/84r/hb1305?print_view=true