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Legislative
A Possible Deal on Testing, Charter School Bills
Must Read! Leaders in the House and Senate appear to have reached a deal on two high-priority education bills after two days of deliberations that culminated Thursday evening with a closed-door meeting with Capitol lobbyists and staff from the governor's office. "We reached good policy. There is a high probability of it passing. It's not everything we wanted, but it is a lot of it. And we are hopeful that the governor will sign it," House Public Education Chairman Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, said as he left the conference room behind the Senate chambers. He said more details would be announced Friday.
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May 24, 2013, 08:38
Provision linking school dollars to rebates from fund that helps poor Texans could kill budget bill passed by Senate
House Appropriations Vice Chairman Sylvester Turner is as mad as I’ve seen him all session, calling “disingenuous” a move by Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Williams to tie $200 million in education funding to a measure that drains a fund for poor people.
HB 1025, one of the carefully negotiated pieces of legislation designed to help pass the budget, got some smooth sailing in the Texas Senate last night – with all but three senators (all GOP) voting for it.
This morning, that ship hit the rocks when Democrats realized that the version passed by the Senate was not the agreed upon bill – in that it ties $200 million in Foundation School Program money to the passage of a tax relief bill that rebates the bulk of the state’s System Benefit Fund, which helps financially strapped people with their electricity bills.
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May 24, 2013, 08:38
TRTA Evening Update - SB 1458
The Senate and House are now negotiating over the different versions of SB 1458. As you remember, the House added several amendments to the original version of SB 1458. One of those amendments added an expanded cost of living increase for TRS retirees. Other amendments provided language for a 13th check and various grandfather provisions for all TRS active employees.
May 24, 2013, 08:37
Legislators Devote New Funding to Mental Health
SAN ANTONIO — Ray Gutierrez’s green eyes twinkle and his cheeks dimple with a shy smile when he looks across the table at Evita Morin, the former intake worker at Haven for Hope, who he said helped save his life. “I probably would have been dead now,” said Gutierrez, 61, a recovering alcoholic. “I was helpless.”
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May 24, 2013, 08:33
Calendars for Today
May 23, 2013, 08:48
Equity Center: Calendar Rules for End of 83rd Legislative Session
We wanted to take a moment to remind everyone of the House and Senate deadlines (set by rules) for the 83rd Regular Legislative Session which will come to a close on May 27, 2013. It is important to note each chamber may suspend their own rules and the dates listed below could change.
May 23, 2013, 08:48
TASBO Bill Status Report
Updated! The Texas Association of School Business Officials Bill Tracking
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May 23, 2013, 08:47
House-Senate deal clears Texas budget logjam
Read! AUSTIN — A logjam on the budget broke swiftly late Wednesday as the House and Senate advanced water and school fund measures each was demanding of the other. The Senate approved and returned to the House an emergency spending bill that would tap about one-third of the rainy day fund. The $3.9 billion of state savings would go toward water infrastructure, repairing destruction caused by the 2011 wildfires and reversing a budget trick that eased last session’s historic cuts to public schools and social services. The trick was delay of the state’s school aid payment this August.
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May 23, 2013, 08:38
'School marshals' bill passes Texas Senate
The Texas Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation on Wednesday that would allow volunteer “school marshals” to become licensed law enforcement officers who would have access to firearms if armed attackers strike their campuses. House Bill 1009 will now move to Gov. Rick Perry, who has the option of signing it into law.
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May 23, 2013, 08:37
Charter school, testing bills will pass or die together
The fates of two major education bills that would reduce standardized testing and allow more charter schools have become inextricably linked, and it appears they will either cross the legislative finish line together or not at all.
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May 23, 2013, 08:37
Texas Senate OKs expanding virtual course network
The Senate has approved a proposal to expand the state's network of virtual school courses online and allow it to include more private courses. The measure cleared the House earlier this month. It passed the Senate 26-5 late Wednesday night, but with modifications that will send it back to the House.
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May 23, 2013, 08:37
TRS Bill - SB 1458 Continues to Progress
Senate Bill 1458, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) “actuarial soundness” bill, continues to move through the legislative process. As we mentioned in our previous update, several amendments that were added to SB 1458 as it was debated in the House of Representatives must be discussed and negotiated before the bill is finalized.
One such amendment expands the cost-of-living increase to TRS members who retired in 2004 or before. Other amendments that were adopted grandfather all non-vested active TRS employees from early-retirement penalties and provide retirees with a 13th check.
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May 23, 2013, 08:37
Tensions run high between the House and the Senate
Sen. Estes spoke with Rep. Thompson by phone from the Senate floor to clarify what he called a miscommunication. “I told her in no uncertain terms that I’m not blocking anything,” Estes said. Thompson was concerned that Estes was blocking her “Lilly Ledbetter” bill relating to pay discrimination. However, Estes said that while he votes no on the bill, he believes she has the votes to pass it through and would not attempt to block it.
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May 23, 2013, 08:33
House sidesteps deadline, delays major budget vote
Friction over a Texas budget deal revealed signs of distrust and frustration Tuesday night when the House blew off a midnight deadline and again postponed a major vote on a new state water plan that is crucial to a spending compromise. The 140-day legislative session ends Monday. So high are the stakes surrounding the water bill that a roughly $100 billion state budget deal hangs in the balance, and a Wednesday showdown is now set.
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May 23, 2013, 07:48
House Derails Achievement School District Bill
Sen. Royce West's proposal for a special statewide school district to manage underperforming campuses will have to find another lifeboat. After it died in the House Tuesday, the Dallas Democrat had amended it to House Bill 2836, a bill reducing high-stakes testing for some students in lower grades. But Wednesday night, Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, moved to reconsider the vote on the testing measure, saying West had agreed to take down his amendment because it violated House rules.
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May 23, 2013, 07:45
Education Service Center Region 2's board of directors eyes future without CSCOPE lesson plans
CORPUS CHRISTI — Education Service Center Region 2’s board of directors questioned Tuesday night how to proceed under a revamped CSCOPE curriculum and how their client school districts would be affected if the center participates in a statewide agreement to continue managing that curriculum.
“What is our commitment?” asked Kevin Thomas O’Hanlon, the board’s attorney. “ ... Our school districts want to know.”
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May 22, 2013, 08:40
House Democrats kill welfare drug testing bill, and about 50 others
House Democrats killed a bill Tuesday night that would have required welfare recipients to undergo drug screenings and potential drug tests to receive benefits.
By raising five points of order, filing amendments and drawing out debate, Democrats chewed up more than two hours of precious time on a night when all Senate-approved bills would die without an initial vote before midnight.
“We believe, simply, that this bill is wrong,” said Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie. “This bill singles out some of the least fortunate in our state for what essentially is a stigmatizing test.”
Senate Bill 11 died when midnight struck, as did about 50 Senate bills behind it.
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May 22, 2013, 08:40
State House Set For Major Budget Vote
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst says he is taking House leaders at their word, and that delicate pieces of a complicated Texas budget deal will be passed. A big test comes today. That is when the House is expected to finally take up a new state water plan that is crucial to a spending compromise.
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May 22, 2013, 08:39
Lawmakers to Negotiate Key Details of Education Bills
For all the lengthy hearings, heated floor debates and tense behind-the-scenes deliberation that have already occurred, the next four days will probably be the most important for the fate of the 83rd legislative session's two major education bills.
Over that period, House and Senate lawmakers will meet privately to work out their significant differences on House Bill 5 and Senate Bill 2 in conference committee.
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May 22, 2013, 08:38
Senate continues school tax breaks for companies
Capital-intensive businesses relocating to Texas or expanding here would face greater scrutiny to qualify for school property tax breaks under the Senate’s version of House Bill 3390 that passed Tuesday night.
The Texas Economic Development Act reduces school property taxes up to 90 percent for companies such as Samsung Electronics in Austin and Toyota Motor Works in San Antonio _ as well as wind farms _ to help recruit them. The tax breaks last 10 years.
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May 22, 2013, 08:38
Senate Ties Franchise Tax Relief to Budget Measures
The Senate raised the bar Tuesday night in its standoff with the lower chamber by tying the provisions in a major franchise tax relief bill to key legislation being held up in the House.
Before unanimously approving House Bill 500, the Senate adopted a handful of amendments, including one by Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, tying the legislation to the overall budget deal for the upcoming biennium by making the bill’s provisions contingent on the passage of Senate Joint Resolution 1 and House Bill 7.
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May 22, 2013, 08:38
Texas lawmakers pushing for review of UIL
1 of the chief critics of the University Interscholastic League is pushing lawmakers to conduct a thorough review of the governing body for public Texas high school sports.
The Texas Senate on Tuesday followed the lead of Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston to place the agency under the sunset review process in 2015. That's where lawmakers review an agency and its policies to determine if changes need to be made.
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May 22, 2013, 08:37
Bill Reducing Testing for Lower Grades Clears Senate
Elementary and middle school students will take fewer standardized exams under legislation approved by the state Senate on Tuesday — if Texas can get a waiver from the federal government. Under House Bill 866 by state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble, which passed the Senate on Tuesday night, students who do well on state exams in third and fifth grades could skip exams in fourth, sixth and seventh grades. All students would be tested in math in the third and fifth grades, on reading in third, fifth and eighth grade, on writing and science in fifth and eighth grades, and on social studies in eighth grade.
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May 22, 2013, 08:34
Lyle Larson: In name of conservatism, Texas lawmakers refuse to think for themselves
With just days left in the session, this Legislature is poised to walk away leaving much undone. Though we had an opportunity to solve our state’s water crisis and enact term limits on statewide elected officials, dark money won the day and courage was nowhere to be found.
Let’s hope that in the next few days these legislators find the courage to stand up to the special interests and do what is right for Texas.
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May 22, 2013, 08:33
Inside Intelligence: About the End Games..
With a little more than a week left in the session, we went to the insiders with questions about the end games — about what will be left at the end of the session, how the controversial things might come out, and who’ll be standing after the election season that starts when the session ends.
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May 22, 2013, 08:31
Drug testing for unemployment benefits closer to becoming law
The legislature passed a bill late Tuesday night that would require new applicants looking for unemployment benefits to take a drug test, but only those suspected of using drugs.
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May 22, 2013, 08:05
Legislators making some progress in restoring school spending
The state’s two-year budget still hasn’t been approved. But it appears likely that around $4 billion will be added back to public education at the end of this legislative session. That will be a significant achievement. Legislators were going to have to cut some from public education in the cash-poor 2011 session. But they did not have to cut $5.4 billion from schools. They could have used the rainy day fund to offset some of the reductions.
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May 22, 2013, 07:54
Texas Company Scraps Controversial Lesson Plan System
CSCOPE - NPR perspective: After uproar over some lesson plans some conservatives deemed un-American, a Texas company has decided scrap a curriculum system used by 877 school districts that were too small or too poor to produce their own. "The CSCOPE era is over," Texas state Sen. Dan Patrick, who was leading the charge against the program, said in a statement. Patrick and others had introduced legislation that would have added more scrutiny to the lesson plans produced by the program. The legislation was scheduled to be debated, but CSCOPE pulled the plug before that.
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May 21, 2013, 08:39
AFT says:TRS Bill Protects All Current School Employees From Benefit Cuts, Grants Benefit Boost to Nearly All Retirees
As passed by the Texas House today, the session’s major bill on Teacher Retirement System benefits, SB 1458, includes four key elements of a fair deal:
–it exempts all current school employees from adverse benefit changes;
–it provides cost-of-living relief to nearly all current retirees;
–it raises state contribution rates and provides that state and district contributions combined will exceed employee contributions; and
–it phases in higher employee contributions gradually over four years. Now the Senate needs to be persuaded to accept the House amendments that put the first two of those four elements in place. Please be ready to act on an alert tomorrow to send your legislators a message of support for the bill as amended by the House.
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May 21, 2013, 08:38
Equity Center Legislative Alert:
SB 1 Conferees Come to Agreement on Public Education Funding Late last Friday, Senate Bill 1 conferees came to an agreement on Article III of the state budget. As of this report, we know they have agreed to an estimated $3.9 billion for public education, but we cannot confirm at this time how the money will be distributed. We will send an update as soon as we have more information. If you would like to know how it will affect your district please give us a call. - Equity Center
May 21, 2013, 08:37
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