The Senate Education Committee met on pending business, voting out four bills including the school voucher bill SB 3 (Taylor).
SB 490 (Lucio) Relating to information regarding the number of school counselors in public schools.
- Voted out 8-1
SB 579 (Van Taylor) Relating to the use of epinephrine auto-injectors on private school campuses and at or in transit to or from off-campus school events
- Voted out 9—0 goes to local
SB 826 (Taylor) Relating to the sequencing of required English language arts courses and mathematics courses in schools
- Voted out 9-0 goes to local
CSSB 3 (Taylor) Relating to the establishment of an education savings account program and a tax credit scholarship and educational expense assistance program.
- West asked if there was a fiscal note on the substitute – would there be impact?
- Taylor – no they don’t have it and yes there will be some impact
- Taylor discusses last CS draft: changes on page 9 change wording from ADA to just per student and page 4 created a new dedicated fund which will be kept separate from comptroller, requires Commissioner adjust enrollment (don’t want to double count students) , limits tax payer scholarship to $100 million
- Van Taylor – financial impact of going from ADA to M&O?
- Legislative Budget Board – basing calculation on enrollment will lower amounts
- Van Taylor – lower on per student basis and lower fiscal note?
- Yes
- Seliger – Fiscal Note question
- LBB – first fiscal note did consider student leaving foundation school program to this one
- LBB – Assumed cost related to awards to students as well as savings from students leaving the system
- West – How much in GR would we lose?
- LBB – many changes have to do with timing aspect, under scenario 2 not significant changes between introduced and committee sub at least in first two years
- Over five years gives savings and costs to program
- VanTaylor – uptake of number of students is about 25k per year in this program, public education system will continue to grow & spending less money per child in this program and notes fast growth school districts are really struggling to keep up so slowing the rate of growth is operationally advantageous
- Lucio – important to address as a whole not as a district basis but would be nice to know where growth is taking place
- Leo Lopez, TEA – can have that put together and sent to the committee
- Huffines – any monies be lost go to education, is any of this money being diverted to highways
- LBB – lost revenue to state
- LBB – of tax credit program the funds go into GR not specifically education
- Bettencourt – notes last fiscal note on previous bill was positive on tax credit
- Taylor – many divergent opinions, interesting discussion and most unpredictable and preponderance of people who testified were in favor of the bill
- Lucio – said heard from former educators who supported the bill
- Seliger – people who testified were treated respectfully and views welcomed, his then listed his concerns with the bill
- The fiscal note on this bill and believes this will be the largest fiscal note in the bill not considered by the finance
- Accountability – there are none with this bill regarding what is taught, how it is taught and success parameters
- Concerned with hypothetical – gives example of school that teaches with philosophy that is anti-American and indoctrination and has a real concern about that
- Lucio – if you file a bill on accountability I will gladly join with you but trying to accomplish better education options and give parents a voice
- Seliger – if we hold some families accountable then how can we take another group of families and not ask them for accountability, it is difficult to justify getting taxpayer money and not holding them accountable
- Van Taylor -if we have a positive fiscal note and accountability would you support?
- Seliger – Would be real progress but need to also address his hypothetical
- Van Taylor – would you support
- Seliger – I did not say that but it would be progress
- Vote out favorably 7 ayes and 3 nays