HISD’s Board and Superintendent have been in Austin on a regular basis since the session began in January, proposing solutions to state lawmakers that would provide financial relief to HISD and school districts statewide. The ultimate goal is for the Legislature to reform the state’s school finance system, but no progress is expected this session because of the cost and complexity of such reforms.

In the meantime, HISD’s Government Relations team will continue to push legislation that improves HISD’s Recapture situation for the next two years or until the Legislature meets again in 2019.

The district supports a number of bills that would help lower HISD’s Recapture obligation or return property that gets detached should Proposition 1 fail. The following bills have moved or had public hearings:

• HB 21 by Rep. Dan Huberty: reduces recapture payments for ISDs statewide, increases the basic allotment, contains the transportation allotment and creates a new weight for dyslexic students. HISD and other school groups supported the bill in committee and the bill is a priority of Speaker Straus. The bill passed the House on April 20.
• HB 1059 by Rep. Jim Murphy and SB 1247 by Sen. Joan Huffman: trigger a reattachment process for detached properties, which is currently missing from the statute.  HISD and Houston’s business community supported HB 1059 in committee and the bill was left pending. SB 1247 has not had a public hearing yet.
• HB 3795 by Rep. Harold Dutton: allows recapture-paying districts to count charter school students zoned to their district in recapture calculations, which lowers recapture payments also. HISD expressed appreciation to Representative Dutton for starting the conversation around the impact of charter schools on school districts. The bill was recently heard in committee and was left pending.

The remaining bills are supported by the District, but have not moved yet in the legislative process:

• HB 1037 (Capriglione) and SB 358 (Watson): allow recapture-paying school districts like HISD to receive their transportation allotment from the state. One could argue these bills are part of HB 21.
• HB 1324 (S. Thompson): recognizes half of the local homestead exemption in school finance formulas and removes a financial penalty for school districts. It lowers recapture, as well.
• HB 1326 (S. Thompson): counts students enrolled in full-day Pre-K in a school district’s recapture calculations only and thus lowers recapture payments.
• HB 1838 (Meyer): institutes a recapture limit tied to inflation.
• HB 3375 (S. Thompson): ties new local property value growth to the equalized wealth level, which is a good thing for schools. This bill was adopted as a floor amendment to HB 21, which is a win for HISD and other districts in recapture.

Educational Equity
The District believes one of the best ways to improve equity among students is to educate students in a 21^st Century learning environment, equipped with latest technology and broadband access.  All students need access to the most current digital resources and the Internet both at home and at school.  Such resources are essential for students to feel prepared for post-secondary opportunities and life-long careers.

A major area of alignment between the House, Senate and the Governor is the need to invest in digital learning opportunities for public school students.  As a result, the proposed state budget invests $25 the million in the E-Rate program, so that schools throughout the state will have stronger Internet access. This $25 million investment triggers a federal match of $250 million to the State of Texas.  HISD worked with the state during the months before the legislative session to make sure funds were set aside for digital learning and broadband access.

Local Control & Governance
Many bills have been filed this session related to local control and school board governance.  HISD’s goal this session is to make sure the District and the Board of Education have flexibility to innovate and make decisions that are best for the Houston community and its students.  Governance and student outcomes are priorities of school boards. Sometimes it is unintentional, but state proposed legislation should not jeopardize local control.   To date, specific bills related to bathroom usage (SB 6 and HB 2899), sanctuary cities (SB 4), taxation (SB 2 and HB 15), school board governance (HB 1150, HB 1152 and SB 1566), and school bond elections (SB 460 and SB 461) are some of the bills school groups are closely watching.