Steps to Take During the Legislative Session
March 24, 2025
By Jim Schiele
As the legislature takes up school funding this session, I know districts are waiting in anticipation of how the new legislation will impact their budgets. With some districts facing a June year-end deadline, there are steps you can take now to prepare and project the impact of the new financing structure.
Current bills under consideration include provisions that will increase the basic student allotment between $200 and $1,000 per Weighted Average Daily Attendance (WADA). It should be noted that each $100 increase in the basic allotment would impact the state budget by $1.9 billion. Accordingly, an increase of $200 would have a $3.8 billion impact and an increase of $1,000 per WADA would total $19 billion.
Current Bills to Monitor
Senate Bill 2
SB 2 is a universal school choice bill, with a strong focus on special needs students and students in failing schools. SB 2 has passed out of the Texas Senate. It will now be sent to the House, where it has been referred to the House Public Education Committee.
Senate Bill 4
SB 4 would amend the Tax Code to increase the mandatory homestead exemption for school district property taxation from $100,000 to $140,000.
House Bill 2
HB 2 includes two hold harmless provisions that affect recapture districts. While there’s been no guidance provided on the application of this bill, it’s worth monitoring. Provisions of this bill include to combines current law hold harmless provisions and to create a permanent hold harmless for districts that get an adjustment to recapture under TEC. 48.257(b) and subsequently fall out of recapture status.
The bill is currently pending in the House Public Education Committee.
House Bill 3
HB 3 creates a $1 billion Education Savings Account (ESA) program to be administered and regulated by the Texas Comptroller’s Office beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
In addition, other pending bills being considered address teacher pay increases which require districts to increase annual salaries for staff and enhancements and other changes to facility safety and security
Steps to Take Now
I. Monitor the status of legislation that will impact funding.
Keep the Superintendent and your school board informed of key bills. That information is available from several sources and education organizations, or you can search for a bill at the Texas State Legislature website.
2. Continue to estimate possible impacts.
The Region 13 Education Service Center has published a template to estimating state aid under HB 2. They plan to continue to update the template as the bill changes. It’s important to read the notes section to understand how the calculations are made.
As the funding bill progresses, it’s a good idea to use the template to project your district’s budget numbers, but give proper context if you include them in your budget presentation as a possible impact. If the bill has not passed both legislative chambers and been signed by the Governor, the provision is not yet law.
3. Keep a journal or notebook with the potential impact of various bills.
While you will not know the exact impact of these on your district, it will help you speak knowledgably when addressing the superintendent or school board.
It is likely that we won’t know what the final school funding law will be until near the end of the legislature on June 2. I suggest working through budget workshops and budgeting exercises and, if more funding is allocated by the state, make those changes to the budget at that time.
As always, if I can help in any way, do not hesitate to contact me. My services are complimentary and I will do whatever I can to assist you.
Jim Schiele is Linebarger’s School Financial Consultant. He offers free assistance to Linebarger school district clients as they navigate budgets and meet financial deadlines. He can be reached at [email protected].
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