82R2832 JE-D     By: King of Parker H.B. No. 780       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the abolition of school district maintenance and   operations ad valorem taxes.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  (a) The legislature finds that:                (1)  ad valorem taxes are an inequitable source of   revenue to fund the maintenance and operations of school districts;                (2)  school district maintenance and operations ad   valorem taxes increase annually without regard to the property   owner's ability to pay;                (3)  school district maintenance and operations ad   valorem taxes are perpetual and detrimental to private property   rights as secured by the Texas Constitution;                (4)  the use of ad valorem taxes as a means to finance   the maintenance of public free schools has led directly to three   decades of school finance litigation in which the Texas Supreme   Court has repeatedly declared the system unconstitutional and has   urged the legislature to "choose a new path" of revenue for public   free schools; and                (5)  school district maintenance and operations ad   valorem taxes have created an inequitable and complicated means of   attempting to equalize funding by redistributing ad valorem tax   revenue under a system referred to as "Robin Hood."          (b)  It is the intent of the legislature to abolish school   district maintenance and operations ad valorem taxes and to create   a more equitable means of meeting the state's constitutional duty   to make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an   efficient system of public free schools.          SECTION 2.  Section 45.002, Education Code, is repealed.          SECTION 3.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this   section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.          (b)  Section 2 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2016, but   only if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 82nd   Legislature, Regular Session, 2011, to abolish school district   maintenance and operations ad valorem taxes beginning on January 1,   2016, in order that the legislature may enact a fairer system of   fully funding public education is approved by the voters. If that   amendment is not approved by the voters, Section 2 of this Act has   no effect.