Bill Text: TX SJR48 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Proposing a constitutional amendment requiring the state to pay at least 50 percent of the cost of maintaining and operating the public school system and prohibiting the comptroller from certifying legislation containing an appropriation for public education unless the requirement is met.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-07 - Referred to Education [SJR48 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-SJR48-Introduced.html
  86R1580 MEW-D
 
  By: Watson S.J.R. No. 48
 
 
 
A JOINT RESOLUTION
  proposing a constitutional amendment requiring the state to pay at
  least 50 percent of the cost of maintaining and operating the public
  school system and prohibiting the comptroller from certifying
  legislation containing an appropriation for public education
  unless the requirement is met.
         BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 1.  A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to
  the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall
  be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make
  suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient
  system of public free schools by providing State funding in an
  amount that constitutes, as determined by the Legislature, at least
  50 percent of the cost of maintaining and operating that system. In
  calculating the amount of State funding required under this
  section, the Legislature may not consider money that is
  attributable to an ad valorem tax imposed by a school district on
  property located in the school district, including any revenue the
  school district is required to transfer to the State to reduce the
  school district's wealth per student to the equalized wealth level.
         SECTION 2.  Section 49a, Article III, Texas Constitution, is
  amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to
  read as follows:
         (b)  Except in the case of emergency and imperative public
  necessity and with a four-fifths vote of the total membership of
  each House, no appropriation in excess of the cash and anticipated
  revenue of the funds from which such appropriation is to be made
  shall be valid. No bill containing an appropriation shall be
  considered as passed or be sent to the Governor for consideration
  until and unless:
               (1)  the Comptroller of Public Accounts endorses the
  Comptroller's [his] certificate thereon showing that the amount
  appropriated is within the amount estimated to be available in the
  affected funds; and
               (2)  if the bill makes an appropriation for the general
  maintenance and operation of the system of public free schools, the
  Comptroller additionally certifies that the appropriation,
  together with all other appropriations made for the general
  maintenance and operation of that system for the same period,
  complies with the requirement of Section 1, Article VII, of this
  constitution.
         (c)  When the Comptroller finds an appropriation bill
  exceeds the estimated revenue or, if applicable, fails to comply
  with Section 1, Article VII, of this constitution, the Comptroller
  [he] shall endorse such finding thereon and return to the House in
  which same originated. Such information shall be immediately made
  known to both the House of Representatives and the Senate and the
  necessary steps shall be taken to, as applicable:
               (1)  bring such appropriation to within the revenue,
  either by providing additional revenue or reducing the
  appropriation; or
               (2)  comply with Section 1, Article VII, of this
  constitution.
         SECTION 3.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
  submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 5, 2019.
  The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
  proposition: "The constitutional amendment requiring the state to
  pay at least 50 percent of the cost of maintaining and operating the
  public school system and prohibiting the comptroller from
  certifying legislation containing an appropriation for public
  education unless the requirement is met."
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