BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3627

By: Tepper

Public Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) is composed of 15 elected members and sets policies and standards for Texas public schools as provided by law. Although certain employees of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) support the SBOE in fulfilling its duties, current law does not provide for the SBOE to have any of its own employees. C.S.H.B. 3627 seeks to authorize the chair of the SBOE to employ personnel as necessary to assist the board in performing its duties, including the authorization to determine any employment action regarding the personnel, and to require TEA to provide administrative support to the SBOE for such purposes.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3627 amends the Education Code to authorize the chair of the State Board of Education (SBOE) to do the following:

·employ personnel as necessary to assist the SBOE in performing its duties;

·prescribe the duties of personnel;

·compensate personnel through funds made available by the legislature; and

·determine whether to promote, terminate, or take any other employment action regarding personnel.

C.S.H.B. 3627 establishes the following with respect to an individual employed to assist the SBOE:

·the individual is eligible for membership in the employee class of the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) and eligible to participate in the group benefits program under the Texas Employees Group Benefits Act;

·the individual is entitled to reimbursement through funds made available by the legislature for actual and necessary expenses the individual incurs in carrying out the individual's official duties; and

·the individual is directly accountable to the chair of the SBOE.

The bill requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to provide administrative support, including human resources, budgetary, accounting, purchasing, payroll, information technology, and legal support services, to the SBOE as necessary to carry out the purposes of the bill's provisions.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3627 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute replaces the provision of the introduced establishing that a person employed under the bill's provisions is considered a TEA employee for the purpose of receiving state employment benefits, including health insurance and retirement benefits, with a provision making an individual employed under the bill's provisions eligible for membership in the employee class of ERS and for participation in the group benefits program under the Texas Employees Group Benefits Act.

The substitute clarifies that the provision of the introduced entitling a person employed under the bill's provisions to reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of official duties applies with respect to actual and necessary expenses.