Special Session and the Federal Funding Freeze Update
Special Session
There was notable movement in the Texas House this week with the filing of several low-numbered bills addressing items on the Governor’s special session agenda. For example, House Bill 2 focuses on disaster preparedness and flooding, House Bill 4 addresses congressional redistricting, and House Bill 5 concerns THC regulation.
However, as of this writing, no major low-numbered bill has been filed in either chamber to eliminate the STAAR assessment, nor has one been introduced to significantly alter school district property taxes. With only 18 days remaining in the first special session, the limited timeframe raises questions about whether there will be sufficient opportunity to pass substantive legislation related to STAAR.
Also this week, the full Senate passed SB 12 regarding taxpayer funded lobbying. The bill will now go to the House for further action.
UPDATE: Federal Funding Freeze
The release of nearly $5 billion in federal Title funds happened last Friday afternoon (July 25) to the great relief of school districts across the country, including RISD.
Legislative Corner is published periodically throughout the 89th Texas legislative session. For more information about RISD’s legislative involvement and priorities, please visit the legislative page here. Other resources include Texas Legislature Online (TLO) – find legislation (bills), committee hearings, legislative member info, and more; The Quorum Report – sign-up for “Daily Buzz” or a listing of political news articles; Texas Tribune – online daily news, also a data dashboard for education.
