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Trustees review legislative priorities and bill-tracking; HB 1178 moved to committee
Summary
District legislative staff presented a bill-monitoring list aligned to board priorities, reported that House Bill 1178 was referred to the House Public Education Committee with staff arranging testimony, and offered training on the legislature’s tracking tools for trustees.
District legislative staff presented trustees with an initial bill-monitoring list tied to the board’s priorities, emphasizing bills that the district’s senators and representatives authored. The packet grouped bills under the district priorities (for example, ‘‘fully funding public education’’) and identified related legislation across multiple categories.
Staff reported that House Bill 1178 had been referred to the House Public Education Committee and was scheduled for a hearing; a district staff member will testify in Austin on the district’s behalf. The board also discussed a bill identified as House Bill 568 (related to special education funding coding in the Texas Education Code) and asked staff to circulate the bill language for review. One trustee noted concerns that current coding practices can penalize districts that provide pull-out special education services by reducing the basic allotment while also seeking additional special education funding.
Legislative staff offered to provide trustees a short how-to video showing how to add bills to a tracking list and set alerts on the Texas Legislature’s website; this would enable trustees to receive timely notices when a monitored bill advances. Trustees also discussed ongoing outreach to state representatives and senators on the board’s legislative asks.
Ending: Staff will circulate the bill-monitoring list and the language for the special-education funding item (HB 568) and provide a brief video tutorial on the legislature’s tracking tools; staff confirmed a district witness will testify on HB 1178 at the committee hearing.
