Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: Statement on the Passage of Senate Bill 19



 

Teacher Bonus & TRS Care Boost – First Bill to Pass After Sunset

 

AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued this statement following the passage of Senate Bill 19 on second reading with a strong bipartisan 28 to 3 vote. Final passage of the bill will be later this evening:

“Just before Special Session began, I announced it was my priority to direct more of our education funding to teachers. I also made a commitment to shore up the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) Care for retired teachers. Tonight, I am proud to announce that the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 19, by Senator Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, which will achieve both those goals. This is the first bill the Senate passed after the requisite Sunset Bill.

“Currently, over half the state budget goes to K-12 and higher education but only 32% of all revenue received by schools goes to teachers. Senate Bill 19 will provide a career bonus in 2018 of $600 to teachers who have been teaching 6 to 10 years and $1,000 to teachers who have been teaching 11 or more years. Senate Bill 19 also directs $212 million to TRS Care to reduce out-of-pocket health-care costs for retired teachers. Teachers are the most valuable educational resource in the classroom and it is essential that we move deliberately to get more educational funding directly to our teachers. I congratulate Sen. Nelson for her hard work on this bill. We continue to work on the teacher pay increase called for by Gov. Abbott and supported by all of us in the Senate.”