36. Senate Bill 16 (First Special Session)

Passage; July 25, 2017; Journal Page 219; 31 Yeas, 0 Nays

YCT Yea. Texas’ public education system is in desperate need of reform. SB 16 intended to create the Texas Commission on Public School Finance to recommend improvements to the public school finance system. By consisting of 4 governor, 4 lieutenant governor and 4 speaker of the house appointees, this commission would not have been filled with paid Texas Education Agency employees. The purpose of the commission was to study and the relationship between state and local funding in public schools, the appropriate levels of M&O and I&S tax effort necessary to properly finance. The commission would also recommend policy changes to the Texas public school system based on demographic and geographic adjustments. With so much wrong in the public school system, this was a good effort for finding a way to solve the problem without breaking the budget.