HCR 64 (Curry/Parker) has been signed by the Governor! For the next 10 years, the first week of April will be recognized as Gifted & Talented Awareness Week. We are so grateful for Rep. Curry and Sen. Parker's support in making this happen. 

With 11 days remaining in the 89th Session, the House and Senate are negotiating HB 2 (Buckley), or the school finance bill. The Senate Committee on K-16 held a hearing on Thursday to lay out its plan. Reports indicate that the two chambers are still pretty far apart on the amount to increase the basic allotment, teacher pay increases, and incentives. If you would like to review the hearing, go to the Audio/Video tab on the Texas Senate Website. There is still time for the Legislature to pass a school funding bill, but they must have a deal in place and a vote on the final version by both chambers by June 1. 

Speaking of deadlines, today is the last day for the House to hear House bills. Local bills have another week, and Senate bills have until the 28th. In sessions past, the Speaker has stopped the clock at midnight to allow the chamber to finish a calendar. 

Now that the deadline has passed, HB 977 (Noble) is no longer eligible for a hearing and will not move forward in the legislature. Its companion, SB 1613 (Johnson), has not been scheduled for a hearing at this time.