Senate takes up House Bill 2, adopts major amendment creating new allotments and billions in school funding

Senators laid out and adopted a negotiated amendment to the committee substitute for House Bill 2, a sweeping public education and school‑finance package that sponsors described as the most transformative education funding plan in state history. The amendment creates a new allotment for basic fixed costs and a support‑staff retention allotment and adjusts multiple funding streams for teacher compensation, special education, early literacy, school safety and facilities.

Senator Brandon Creighton, sponsor on the floor, said HB 2 delivers a “conservative, student‑centered approach built on targeted investments, not bureaucracy” and tied the funding package to a set of specific allotments and program changes negotiated with House counterparts.

Why it matters: The amendment adopted on the Senate floor directs billions in recurring state funds to teacher pay raises, support staff retention and district fixed costs such as transportation and insurance, and includes dedicated amounts for special education evaluations, early literacy and campus safety. Sponsors said the structure both increases per‑student funding and creates targeted streams to address persistent cost drivers for districts.

Major provisions and floor debate

Floor amendment No. 1 — described by Creighton as the result of inter‑chamber negotiations — creates two new allotments:

- Allotment for Basic Costs (ABC): $1.2 billion in new state dollars targeted to fixed district costs (transportation, property/casualty insurance, TRS impacts for increased compensation, utilities, and retired‑teacher rehiring), translating to roughly $106 per enrolled student. Creighton said the ABC allotment is “for those fixed costs that districts are struggling with.” - Support Staff Retention Allotment: $500 million to provide pay raises for full‑ and part‑time support employees such as bus drivers, custodians and food service staff; sponsor described the allotment as restricted specifically to non‑executive/administrative staff and tied to district personnel reporting. The amendment text ties that allotment to roughly $45 per student.

Creighton and other senators repeatedly framed the package as a long‑term investment that includes a permanent teacher compensation allotment; Creighton said the bill includes “a permanent teacher retention allotment for the first time in Texas history” and cited $4.2 billion for teacher pay increases within the larger package. He told the floor the total new money in the bill is about $8.5 billion.

Other adopted changes and points raised

- The amendment reduces K–8 math academy requirements to K–3 in negotiated language reported on the floor. - The amendment removes accountability changes from this bill so those topics can be handled in separate legislation (House Bill 4), per the sponsor. - The amendment adds funding and explicit guidance for early literacy and math interventions (sponsor cited $433 million) and a special‑education investment that included an $800 million lift and $1,000 per evaluation reimbursement for families and districts. - Safety and insurance: sponsors added roughly $400 million for school safety and a new allotment that includes $33,500 per campus plus a $20 ADA component in the safety allotment, and Creighton said the ABC allotment will include property and casualty insurance (amendment to amendment No. 2 added that coverage explicitly).

Floor discussion included detailed, collegial questions about how allotments flow (enrollment vs. ADA), audit and compliance expectations, effects on small and mid‑sized districts, charter school parity on certification goals and the potential for unintended consequences that might require TEA or comptroller action between sessions. Senator Menendez and others pressed for clarity on items such as pre‑K tuition rules, treatment of charters, and implementation for students with disabilities; Creighton and sponsors said they would continue work in third reading and the interim with TEA and stakeholders.

Formal action and procedural steps

- Sponsor moved to suspend the regular order of business and take up committee substitute for House Bill 2; Senate suspended rules and laid bill on second reading. - Floor amendment No. 1 (Creighton) adopting the negotiated deal was moved and adopted after floor discussion; the amendment created the ABC and support‑staff retention allotments and included additional technical fixes. - Creighton moved passage to third reading; the Senate recorded that third reading will occur the following day (transcript notes third reading to be held later).

Discussion versus decision

Discussion: Senators debated funding mechanics (enrollment‑based vs. ADA‑based allotment flows), impacts on charter schools and facilities, and whether the package adequately protects small and rural districts from property‑valuation swings.

Direction/assignment: Sponsor agreed to continue intersession work with TEA and individual senators on implementation questions, and to correct/clarify drafting omissions (for example, adding property and casualty insurance expressly to the ABC allotment).

Decisions: The Senate adopted floor amendment No. 1 as amended and moved the committee substitute for third reading; additional third‑reading amendments and final votes were scheduled for the next day in the transcript.

Key quotes

- “House Bill 2 may be the more most transformative education plan that Texas has ever seen,” — Senator Brandon Creighton, sponsor. - “With 8,500,000,000.0 in new funding members... House Bill 2 is the most transformative education package in Texas history,” — Senator Creighton, on the floor.

Ending and next steps

The Senate adopted the negotiated amendment that creates the ABC and support‑staff allotments and moved the bill to third reading; sponsors and senators signaled continued work during third reading and the interim to refine implementation details, and the transcript shows third reading scheduled for the following day.