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During Legislative sessions, TCTA provides up to the minute reports on Legislative action. The next Legislative session begins January 11, 2011.

Posted on: June 1, 2009

10:00 p.m.

The Senate adjourned around 9:00 p.m. on the last day of this legislative session, but did so without passing the resolution keeping some major state agencies - including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Insurance - alive for the next two years (see previous entry). Though this would appear to force a special session, the governor's office has not yet commented on that likelihood.

A special session could be called at any time prior to the next regular legislative session (which begins in January 2011), and would have a defined set of subjects to be addressed.

Posted on: Monday, June 1, 2009

8:00 p.m.

Non-education issues dominated the final day of the legislative session, as House members scrambled to find a way to avoid a near-certain special session. Crucial Sunset legislation for the Department of Insurance and the Texas Department of Transportation had crumbled, necessitating legislation that would move the Sunset dates to a future session in order to avoid abolition of the agencies. That key legislation was not passed before the Sunday midnight deadline for consideration and did not appear to have the 2/3 majority vote needed to suspend the rules on Monday.

Failure to pass the legislation postponing the Sunset dates would almost certainly force a special session, but House members were able to find a way to insert language into another proposal that took care of the problem, though several lawmakers objected to what was seen by some as a creative usage of House rules.

The Senate adopted the conference committee report on the school finance/teacher salary bill Monday afternoon, sending that legislation to the governor.

The House adjourned "sine die" around 6:00 p.m., and the Senate is expected to follow suit later this evening.

Upcoming postings and our Session in Review to be e-mailed to TCTA members later this week will wrap up the major issues of this session. Our thanks to readers who stayed on top of the activity in Austin - we wish all of TCTA's members a great summer!

Posted on: Sunday, May 31, 2009

10:20 p.m. The House has adopted the conference committee report on HB 3646, the school finance bill that includes a pay raise for teachers, counselors, nurses, librarians, and speech pathologists. The negotiated pay raise is lower than previous versions, though it does still include an $800 minimum increase. The actual amount each employee receives will be dependent on the amount of increased state funding the school district receives, but the average raise across the state is expected to be roughly $1000.

The raise is dependent on a determination that a teacher salary increase is an acceptable use of federal funds under the federal stimulus legislation.

Language that TCTA drafted and promoted to ensure that each eligible employee gets the raise was retained. Other details of the bill, which must still be approved by the Senate before heading to the Governor's desk, will be provided in a later posting.

Posted on: Sunday, May 31, 2009

9:30 p.m.

The language authorizing a 13th check for retirees of up to $500 was included in a TRS bill that has now passed the House and Senate and is moving on to the governor's office. According to provisions included in the state budget, before a payment can be made, the Attorney General must determine that the 13th check (which is being paid out of state general revenue rather than the TRS fund) is not in violation of state law. If the determination is favorable, the check must be paid by January 2010, to TRS members who retired by December 2008.

The conference committee report on HB 3, the accountability revamp, has passed the House and is awaiting Senate adoption. House and Senate conferees were apparently able to address concerns expressed by Governor Perry, who opposed the elimination of the current requirement that students in grades 3, 5, and 8 must pass the TAKS in order to be promoted. The compromise retains current law for grades 5 and 8, but provides additional flexibility at grade 3 by requiring districts to consider other factors such as class grades, teacher recommendations, etc. TCTA will provide additional details in a separate posting.

UPDATE 10:30 p.m. - the Senate has now also adopted the conference committee report on HB 3.

Posted on: Friday, May 29, 2009

6:00 p.m.

The House adopted the conference committee report for SB 1, the state budget, so the bill will now progress to Governor Perry. In laying out the report, Rep. Scott Hochberg, who negotiated the education provisions on behalf of the House, noted that the budget includes $1.9 billion in new funding for public education, $813 million for textbooks, an additional $25 million for pre-kindergarten grants, and enough new money to provide Texas Grant scholarships to an additional 35,000 Texas students.

 

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