Bill

HB 3

86(R) - 2019
House Public Education
Senate Education
House Public Education
Senate Education

Vote Recommendation

Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral

Author(s)

Dan Huberty
Alma A. Allen
Diego Bernal
Ken King
John Zerwas

Co-Author(s)

Steve Allison
Rafael Anchia
Charles Anderson
Trent Ashby
Ernest Bailes
Cecil Bell Jr.
Keith Bell
Dwayne Bohac
Greg Bonnen
Rhetta Andrews Bowers
Brad Buckley
DeWayne Burns
Dustin Burrows
Angie Chen Button
Gina Calanni
Terry Canales
Giovanni Capriglione
Travis Clardy
Garnet F. Coleman
Nicole Collier
Tom Craddick
John Cyrier
Drew Darby
Sarah Davis
Jay Dean
Alex Dominguez
Harold Dutton Jr.
Jessica Farrar
Art Fierro
Dan Flynn
James Frank
John Frullo
Charlie Geren
Barbara Gervin-Hawkins
Craig Goldman
Vikki Goodwin
Bobby Guerra
Sam Harless
Cody Harris
Cole Hefner
Justin Holland
Todd Hunter
Julie Johnson
Kyle Kacal
Phil King
Stephanie Klick
Matt Krause
John Kuempel
Stan Lambert
Brooks Landgraf
Lyle Larson
Jeff Leach
Oscar Longoria
J.M. Lozano
Eddie Lucio III
Will Metcalf
Morgan Meyer
Rick Miller
Geanie Morrison
Jim Murphy
Andrew Murr
Poncho Nevarez
Tom Oliverson
Leo Pacheco
Chris Paddie
Tan Parker
Jarred Patterson
Dennis Paul
Mary Ann Perez
Dade Phelan
Four Price
John Raney
Scott Sanford
Matt Shaheen
J.D. Sheffield
Carl Sherman
Reggie Smith
Drew Springer
Phil Stephenson
Lynn Stucky
Valoree Swanson
James Talarico
Shawn Thierry
Ed Thompson
Steve Toth
Gary VanDeaver
James White
Terry Wilson
John Wray
Bill Zedler

Sponsor(s)

Larry Taylor

Bill Caption

Relating to public school finance and public education; authorizing the imposition of a fee.

Fiscal Notes

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB3, Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($15,509,719,780) through the biennium ending August 31, 2021.

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

Bill Analysis

In summary, CSHB would increase funding per student, increase teacher pay, provide money for full-day pre-K for low-income students, and allow for long-term property tax relief. It includes a $5,000 across-the-board raise for full-time classroom teachers and librarians, funding for districts that want to pay higher-rated teachers more, money for districts with better student academic outcomes, and a few different long-term property tax relief proposals.

CSHB 3 is an attempt to better balance the shared costs of the Foundation School Program between the State and School Districts while fulfilling several of the goals of the Commission on Public School Finance. The bill would increase several existing allotments, such as bilingual education and free full-day pre-k, while creating entirely new allotments, such as for dyslexia and for effective teachers. CSHB 3 also increases the basic allotment and adjusts funding formulas to increase the state share in costs.

Additionally, HB 3 would remove Austin ISD as the standard for wealth per student. The bill would also modify the state maximum compressed tax rate. Recapture would be reduced by $3.3 billion in the biennium. 

The bill would require school districts to perform an efficiency audit prior to asking voters to approve a tax rate for the maintenance and operation fund. 

The bill would create an Teacher Incentive Allotment to incentivize quality educators to teach in rural schools, at campuses identified as high needs campuses, and in areas suffering a critical shortage of teachers. 

The bill would provide approximately $2.7 billion in property tax relief over the upcoming biennium.

Finally, CSHB 3 would make a number of administrative and reporting changes. Some of the decision-making powers for implementing the Foundation School Program would be transferred to the Commissioner of the TEA from the State Board of Education. Additionally, each school district would be required to create an early childhood literacy and mathematics proficiency plan in an effort to get every student to an on-grade reading level by the third grade.

The Senate added the following changes: a classroom and librarian pay raise of $5,000; A teacher designation of recognized, exemplary, and master that also includes a salary bonus; the commissioner would be able to collect a fee on school districts when authorized to make these designations; a requirement for high school seniors to apply for financial aid through FAFSA or TAFSA in order to graduate; a bonus for schools that have certain students reach third grade reading goals and career, college, and military readiness levels; an allotment for fast growing schools; and codifying 60x30TX goals.

The bill also provides that long-term property tax relief would be contingent on a long-term funding source.

Note that this is a summary of a lengthy (116 page) and complex bill. Our purpose here is to highlight in broad strokes major provisions of the bill. We encourage readers who wish to gain a more in-depth understanding of the particulars of this legislation to read the full fiscal note prepared by the Legislative Budget Board.

Vote Recommendation Notes

As it relates to our liberty principles, this bill is a mixed bag.

We do not support expanding public pre-k and across-the-board raises for teachers and librarians that do not incentivize or reward merit.

On the other hand, there are some things we support about this bill. We support using pay incentives to encourage quality educators to teach in districts and on campuses which they may otherwise not be attracted to. We do support funding for districts that want to pay higher-rated teachers more money, as well as funding for districts with better student academic outcomes. We support meaningful, long-term property relief.

We recognize that this bill represents one part of an ongoing discussion within the legislature and that the other chamber has a significantly different approach to some of these issues. It is likely that regardless of what happens on the Senate floor on May 2nd, the bill that eventually makes it to the governor's desk will likely be quite different. We will offer our recommendation on school finance reform when the final bill is ready to be voted on and sent to the governor. 

Organizations Supporting

Center for Public Policy Priorities
Christian Life Commission
County Judges & Commissioners of Texas
Republican Party of Texas
Texans Care for Children
Texas Association of Business
Texas Association of Manufacturers
Texas Business Leadership Council
Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops
Texas Conference of Urban Counties
Texas Impact
Texas Taxpayers & Research Association
 National Association of Social Workers/Texas