• How a bill becomes a law in Texas

SCHOOL FINANCE

• Maintain funding levels set in HB 3
• Protect HB 3 funding that helps address the needs of at-risk students and dyslexic students
• Eliminate penalties on school districts that provide property tax relief to homeowners
• In determining recapture thresholds, continue HB 3’s focus on student needs and consider extra costs not currently covered by school finance formula for special need students

STUDENT EQUITY

• Provide additional funding to address the digital divide and to ensure connectivity for all students who need remote instruction
• Reestablish the telecom discount program to support distance learning
• Provide school districts the ability to quickly shift to remote instruction (both full-time or as needed, as determined by the district) when a disaster has occurred
• Assist school districts in supporting families with remote instruction and needed technology, such as hot spots, to ensure that parents have the necessities for continued education of students

COVID CONSIDERATIONS

• Help school districts with resources and flexibility in addressing staff shortages, attendance variations, health and safety issues, mental health issues, and truancy issues arising from COVID-19
• Address recapture problems that could arise from potential tax collection issues due to COVID-19
• Help school districts with funding to protect students with cybersecurity software and/or hardware appliances for internet filtering and other protective technologies
• Help school districts with funding to help with the systems management of devices such as computing devices and hotspots that include asset management, software application deployment, and engagement tracking