TEXAS PTA
END OF SESSION LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES UPDATE
June 22, 2009

• BOOSTER SEAT BILL - SB 61, by Representative Allen Vaught and Senator Judith Zaffirini, the booster seat law. Texas becomes the 46th state to enact legislation that updates Texas passenger safety statutes. 
• SALES TAX HOLIDAY EXPANSION - HB 1801, by Representative Dwayne Bohac and Senator Florence Shapiro, the sales tax holiday expansion to include basic school supplies. 
• CELL PHONE PROHIBITION FOR DRIVING TEENS - HB 339, by Representative Larry Phillips and Senator John Carona, the driver education bill that contains PTA's cell phone ban for driving teens. 
• VOUCHERS - This session no voucher bill was voted favorably from any committee. Texas PTA hopes to work with the staff of Senator Shapiro to identify solutions to the challenge of successfully meeting the needs of students who require institutional placement for autism.  At issue is the method of funding for the program.
• HEALTHY LIFESTYLES - As a member of the Partnership for a Healthy Texas, Texas PTA worked to pass several key pieces of legislation:
  • SB 891, by Senator Jane Nelson and Representative Rob Eissler, creates a standard definition of physical education that applies to all public school physical education curriculum and addresses student-to-teacher ratios in physical education classes.
  • SB 892, by Senator Jane Nelson and Representative Mark Shelton, requires the inclusion in public school campus improvement plans of an evaluation of the campus coordinated health program.
  • SB 7, by Senator Jane Nelson and Representative Lois Kolkhorst, (amended onto SB 870) creates an Obesity Prevention Pilot Program.
  • SB 395, by Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. and Representative Eddie Lucio III, creates an eight-member Early Childhood Health and Nutrition Interagency Council to develop an early childhood nutrition and physical activity plan with a recommended timeline for implementation over a six-year period. 
  • SB 343, by Senator Jane Nelson and Representative Jim McReynolds, creates an advisory committee to study and provide recommendations to the legislature regarding the areas of Texas that are underserved in the retail availability of healthy foods and the impact of the limited availability on nutrition, obesity, and chronic illnesses. 
  • SB 283, by Senator Jane Nelson and Representative Mark Shelton, requires school districts to appoint at least 5 parents who are not also employees of the school district to local school health advisory councils and requires SHACs to meet 4 times a year. The bill also requires districts to notify parents in writing if human sexuality instruction will be provided.
  • SB 870, by Senator Lucio Jr. and Representative Castro, creates the Interagency Obesity Council whose task is to create an evidence-based public health awareness plan.
  • HB 1622, by Representative Helen Giddings and Senator Judith Zaffirini, creates a grant program to provide children at risk of hunger or obesity with increased access to nutritious foods.
  • SB 1027, by Senator Kirk Watson and Representative Tim Kleinschmidt, establishes an interagency farm-to-school task force to promote a healthy diet for school children by facilitating the use of locally grown food products in public schools.
  • SB 282, by Senator Jane Nelson and Representative Rob Eissler, creates a grant program to provide nutrition education to children.
  • SB 1344, by Senator Kirk Watson and Representative Rob Eissler, requires State Board of Education to adopt essential knowledge and skills that address binge drinking and alcohol poisoning for inclusion in Health Curriculum.
  • SB 161 by Senator Rodney Ellis and Representative Linda Harper Brown, creates a new specialty license plate to support Safe Routes to School Program. After deduction of the department's administrative costs, the remainder of the purchase cost of the specialty plate will go to the Safe Routes to School Program to promote bicyclist safety, education and access through education and training.
• SCHOOL FINANCE:
  • HB 3646, by Representative Scott Hochberg and Senator Florence Shapiro, seeks to return to the extent possible to a formula driven public school finance system that improves equity and reduces recapture. 
  • SB 300, by Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Mark Shelton, in its original form this bill removed the 22-1 elementary class size requirement. As finally passed the bill seeks to reduce unfunded mandates on schools by:
    • Allowing a school district to choose between two methods for posting job vacancies rather than requiring a district to use both methods
    • Extending the expiration date of a district-level class size exception from the end of the semester for which it is granted to the end of the school year for which it is granted and removes a prohibition against the commissioner of education's granting an exception for more than one semester at a time 
    • Authorizing, rather than requiring, a school district to conduct school bus evacuation training once a year 
    • Requiring a school district to establish a long-range energy plan to reduce the consumption of electric energy
    • Repealing a requirement begun in 2007 that a school district board of trustees establish a goal to reduce the annual electric consumption by five percent each year for six years.
• SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY - HB 3, by Representative Rob Eissler and Senator Florence Shapiro, the school accountability system remake bill passed with several components sought by Texas PTA:
  • A requirement for high school students to take 1 credit of PE and 1 credit of Fine Arts
  • Areas of Distinction for Campuses that include fine arts, physical education, 21st Century Workforce Development, in addition to academic achievement
  • The addition of a broader array of applied courses and career and technology courses to be eligible for the 3rd and 4th year of math and science 
  • Allowing student growth to count toward passing and college-readiness standards 
  • Allowing a waiver so that performance of one sub-population will no longer "fail" a district 
  • Requiring multiple measures to be used for awards of distinction 
  • Ending the 65% rule
• STATEWIDE SMOKE-FREE LAW FAILS - One major piece of legislation that Texas PTA supported and that failed this session is SB 544 by Senator Rodney Ellis/HB 5 by Representative Myra Crownover, the statewide smoke-free legislation. While there was strong support among members of the House, the chairman of the House committee to which the bill was sent, Representative Burt Solomons of Carrollton was unwilling to allow it to be placed on the House calendar for debate until the Senate voted the bill out. The chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Jane Nelson of Lewisville, delayed a vote on the bill in committee and support eroded in the Senate.
• HB 130, by Representative Diane Patrick and Senator Judith Zaffirini, was vetoed by Govornor Perry. Click here to read the veto statement. 

For more complete information about legislation tracked by Texas PTA this session visit our website at www.txpta.org.
 
IF YOU CALLED OR EMAILED YOUR LEGISLATOR DURING THIS LEGISLATIVE SESSION, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO CALL OR EMAIL HIM OR HER TODAY TO SAY THANK YOU FOR HELPING TEXAS PTA TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL SESSION.
 
Our successes this session would not have been possible without your calls to your legislators and their actions to support PTA's legislative priorities. A quick call or email to say "thank you" reinforces the relationship you are developing with your legislators and reminds them that you are invested in the process and aware of their actions to support PTA priorities.