Last edited Sat Jan 19, 2013, 01:49 PM - Edit history (1)
TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013
Pace of Bill Filing Picks Up Despite Legislative Recess
The Texas House and Senate may be taking a week off from formal proceedings on the floor of each chamber, but staffers are still marching bills down to the House clerk’s office to be filed. Here are some bills of interest filed thus far this week:
HB 478 by Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, Republican of Irving, would simply abolish the state’s cap on the number of charters (215) that can be granted to establish charter-school networks in Texas.
Harper-Brown also has filed HB 513 to repeal the state statutes mandating that bilingual-education programs and instruction in English as a second language be made available to students of limited English proficiency. HB 513 would promote programs of English-language immersion instead.
HB 482 by Rep. Carol Alvarado, Democrat of Houston, appears to require a disciplinary alternative education program to provide any course necessary for a student to meet the student’s graduation requirements. The bill also requires courses in English language arts, science, mathematics, history, and self-discipline to be equivalent in content and rigor to the comparable courses offered in the regular classroom setting.
HB 509 by Rep. Jim Murphy, Republican of Houston, would phase out and repeal the business franchise tax—thus eliminating the source of billions of dollars of revenue relied on to pay for the operation of our public schools under current law.
HB 526 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, a freshman Republican from Southlake near Fort Worth, would eliminate several statutory provisions that protect the confidentiality of information concerning members of public retirement systems.
HB 536 by Rep. Yvonne Davis, Democrat of Dallas, would require businesses that receive state tax breaks to report the amount of the reduction. HB 537 by the same author would subject many tax exemptions to periodic sunset review and repeal--unless renewed by the legislature. Her HB 538 would repeal outright more than 30 assorted tax exemptions in state law.
HB 554 by Rep. Mark Strama, Democrat of Austin, would require the release every year, instead of every third year, of the questions and answer keys for each achievement test administered under the state accountability system.
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