State budget headed to governor's desk

The only "must-have" bill of the session has now been finally passed by both the House and the Senate, and is headed to Gov. Abbott's desk.

SB 1 passed both chambers easily. It fully funds last session's school finance provisions, and includes an additional $3.1 billion to cover growth in student enrollment. It also funds the promised increases in state contributions to the Teacher Retirement System.

The bill includes a rider initiated by TCTA designed to ensure that HB 3 salary increases are protected, and that legislative intent is that school districts and charter schools maintain salary increases provided to employees in the 2020-21 school year. TCTA is working to include similar language in other legislation.