Voucher bills filed and a summary of SB2

}  Voucher Bills Filed

•       HB212: AN ACT relating to the establishment of a parental empowerment program administered by the comptroller of public accounts.

•       HB612: Relating to the establishment of an education savings account program, an insurance premium tax credit for contributions made for purposes of that program, and the award of attorney's fees in actions challenging certain educational choice laws.

•        HB1657: Relating to the establishment of an education savings account program for certain children.

•       HB984: AN ACT relating to the establishment of an empowerment scholarship account program.

•       HB1278: Relating to creation and funding of professional charter academies which are owned and operated by highly qualified teaching professionals in Texas and authorizing the commissioner of education to adopt rules to administer and fund the professional charter academy program.

•       SB2  Sets up an education savings account program to be implemented and administered by the state Comptroller. Provides education savings accounts of $10,000, or $11,500 for students with a disability, for education-related expenses for students enrolled in a private school accredited by an organization recognized by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission or the Texas Education Agency. Provides education savings accounts of $2,000, or $2,500 for students with a disability, for education-related expenses for students not enrolled in an accredited private school or a public school. All students who are eligible to attend public schools in Texas are eligible for an education savings account. To the extent that insufficient funding is appropriated to provide an account to all eligible applicants, the bill requires that up to the first 80% of slots be reserved for students who were enrolled in public school for 90% of the prior year and have a disability or are members of a household with total annual income at or below 500% of the federal poverty level (for 2025, 500% of the federal poverty level for a single parent with one child is $105,750 and 500% of the federal poverty level for a family of 6 is $215,750). The remaining slots are filled by lottery. Requires any recipient of an account to ensure the student takes either the state-required assessment or a nationally norm-referenced exam and for those results to be reported. Requires the creation of a payment system in which a parent submits a request for payment to an education service provider or vendor of educational products from the student’s account and payments are disbursed upon verification of the expense as an allowable expense. Requires the Comptroller to post a notice, and provide the notice to applicants to the program, stating that private schools are not required to comply with federal special education laws. Funds from an education savings account may not be used to pay for online or virtual education services. Allows funds in an account to rollover each year, but caps this at $20,000. Provides the Comptroller the authority to issue rules to administer the program