[CSPS] leg alert from Marc Chaloupka

[Cecelia Hawkins]

TASB LEGISLATIVE ALERT
Monday, July 25, 2005

Immediate Action Needed

CALL YOUR SENATOR NOW

The second special session is underway, and HB 2 is moving fast------
the battle may be over by the end of the week.

Both the House and Senate have passed out of committee their versions of
a school finance bill.

HOUSE VERSION: The House bill reflects most of the language contained in
the conference committee report to HB 2 that was defeated last week
during the first called special session.
SENATE VERSION:  The Senate bill (SB 2) reflects language that passed
the Senate during the last special session and the recent regular
session.
The Senate is scheduled to take up and consider their school finance
bill, SB 2, today at 1:30 p.m. They are expected to pass SB 2 out of the
Senate today.

It is also anticipated that when SB 2 arrives in the House, the House
Public Education Committee will substitute the language contained in the
Conference Committee Report for HB 2 into SB 2. If SB 2 passes the House
with the House version (i.e. the conference committee report from last
week and the last special session version of HB 2) then the Senate
Author, Senator Shapiro only has to concur with the House changes. If
Senator Shapiro concurs, there will be no debate again in the Senate,
and THERE WILL BE NO MAJORITY VOTE REQUIRED. Thus, process ends in the
legislature and the bill is sent to the Governor.

In summary, if the House substitutes the conference committee report on
HB 2 from last week into SB 2, the Senate will not debate or vote on the
language added by the House, which we predict will be the conference
committee language that failed last week. If that happens, we expect the
following provisions to be included in the bill as substituted:



The requirement that districts spend at least 50 percent, phased up to
65 percent, of revenue on direct instructional costs *** see note at end
of this document; November board elections;

The language requiring elections for incremental tax rate increases for
every penny of local enrichment;

The provision that requires school districts to spend 1 percent of total
professional salaries to fund incentives. (The amount spent on
incentives should be determined at the local level.); Language in the
bill that requires school districts to begin instruction on the first
Tuesday following Labor Day and end instruction by June 7.

ACTION NEEDED: At this point, the only way to slow down the process and
allow meaningful debate and dialogue is to urge Senators NOT to suspend
the rules to take up and consider SB 2 today at 1:30 p.m. Please call
your Senator and ask him or her to VOTE NO TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO HEAR
SB 2 today.

Additionally, please urge your other board members, your superintendents
and administrators, your local educators and your district parents to
contact their Senators today before 1:30 p.m. and urge them to vote NO
on suspending the rules in the Senate to take up and consider SB 2.

You may use TASB's toll free number at 800-580-4885 and ask to be
transferred to your Senator.

If you don't know your Senator, look it up in the online Texas
Legislative Directory .

If you know who represents you in the Senate, you may find their office
phone numbers by clicking on to your State Senator's name in the Senate
Members 79th Legislature homepage .

The Capitol office number is the correct number to call.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact TASB
Governmental Relations at the 800 580 4885.


***Note:  The 65 % clause alone is a big concern. New language in SB 2
appears to return to the earlier language that only allowed
consideration of instructional expenditures directly related to those
courses that are assessed under Chapter 39 of the TEC, i.e. reading,
writing, math, social studies and science. Please forward this alert
onto parents and supporters of music and fine arts so they may be aware
of our concerns.

The language also still appears to calculate the 65% as a percentage of
REVENUE VS EXPENDITURES. This means all the debt service will be
included. The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES)
publishes its data as a calculation based on expenditures, not revenue.
Therefore, please let your Senator know that the NCES definition does
not take care of this issue, even if SB 2 incorporates the NCES
definition in whole or part.