Goodwin Inflation Bill Also Adds A Flat $1,000 Per Student

The text as introduced · 536 words

By: Goodwin
H.B. No. 351

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to an annual adjustment to the basic allotment under the

Foundation School Program to reflect inflation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 48.051, Education Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), and

(a-3) to read as follows:

(a) Subject to adjustment under Subsection (a-1), for [ For ]

each student in average daily attendance, not including the time

students spend each day in special education programs in an

instructional arrangement other than mainstream or career and

technology education programs, for which an additional allotment is

made under Subchapter C, a district is entitled to an allotment

equal to the lesser of $7,160 [ $6,160 ] or the amount that results

from the following formula:

A = $7,160 [ $6,160 ] X TR/MCR

where:

"A" is the allotment to which a district is entitled;

"TR" is the district's tier one maintenance and operations

tax rate, as provided by Section 45.0032; and

"MCR" is the district's maximum compressed tax rate, as

determined under Section 48.2551.

(a-1) Subject to Subsection (a-3), beginning with the

2026-2027 school year, the basic allotment provided to a district

under Subsection (a) or (b) is adjusted annually to increase the

allotment by the lesser of:

(1) three percent of the amount of the allotment for

the preceding school year; or

(2) the amount that results from applying the

inflation rate, as determined by the comptroller on the basis of

changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers

published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States

Department of Labor, to the allotment for the preceding school

year.

(a-2) If the inflation rate for a school year is less than

zero, the inflation rate to be used for purposes of Subsection (a-1)

is zero.

(a-3) The legislature in the General Appropriations Act may

provide for a lesser amount than the amount determined under

Subsection (a-1), provided that the amount is equal to or greater

than the amount provided under Subsection (a).

SECTION 2. Section 48.202(a-1), Education Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a), the dollar amount

guaranteed level of state and local funds per weighted student per

cent of tax effort ("GL") for a school district is:

(1) the greater of the amount of district tax revenue

per weighted student per cent of tax effort available to a school

district at the 96th percentile of wealth per weighted student or

the amount that results from multiplying $7,160 [ 6,160 ], or the

greater amount provided under Section 48.051(a-1) or (b)

[ 48.051(b) ], if applicable, by 0.016, for the first eight cents by

which the district's maintenance and operations tax rate exceeds

the district's tier one tax rate; and

(2) subject to Subsection (f), the amount that results

from multiplying $7,160 [ $6,160 ], or the greater amount provided

under Section 48.051(a-1) or (b) [ 48.051(b) ], if applicable, by

0.008, for the district's maintenance and operations tax effort

that exceeds the amount of tax effort described by Subdivision (1).

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.