Texas House Speaker pitched redirecting more than $100 million in state funding to quickly boost mental health and school safety programs before school starts again next fall.
His plan came in response to a $50 million request from Lt. Gov. , who oversees the Senate, to for school police departments. Phelan said he also supported that purchase.
鈥淚 believe our respective chambers have the obligation to take immediate, concrete action with the goal of making our schools as safe as possible before the start of the upcoming school year,鈥� Phelan said in a letter to Patrick on Monday. 鈥淵our recommendation to dedicate $50 million toward outfitting local school law enforcement with bulletproof shields is a worthwhile goal to that end, and you have my full support in that endeavor.鈥�
The legislative funding requests from the leaders of the Texas House and Senate come as the state is still reeling from the nation鈥檚 second deadliest in history 鈥� after an 18-year-old gunman killed 21 people at a Uvalde elementary school last month.
Patrick suggested the funding for bulletproof shields two weeks ago, saying they could have helped police officers more quickly confront the gunman in the Uvalde school shooting.
The Legislature, which sets the state鈥檚 two-year budget, is not scheduled to go back into session until January. That means moving funding will require a process called 鈥渂udget execution,鈥� which allows lawmakers to take money that鈥檚 already been appropriated and redirect it to another source. Republican state leaders have most recently used the process to send about to Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott鈥檚 costly border mission that was .
Phelan said lawmakers will have the option to use surplus money in the Foundation School Program to cover the costs of the new programs without impacting the finances of any school district in the process. The program is the primary source of funding for all Texas schools and ensures all schools receive roughly the same amount of funding per student.
Phelan鈥檚 request includes an estimated:
- $37.5 million in additional yearly funding for the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine program, which provides telemedicine services for schools to help identify and assess children with behavioral needs and gives them access to mental health services. The state鈥檚 current yearly $25 million funding for the program serves 40% of the state.
- $10.5 million per year to create 鈥減ediatric crisis stabilization and response鈥� teams across the state to give children and families access to crisis intervention. The teams can respond immediately to a mental health crisis and create a bridge to ongoing care, which can take pressure off the foster care system and hospital emergency rooms. Phelan wants to create six full teams and six half teams, which would have a startup cost of $3 million.
- $575,000 in yearly funding per team for 鈥渕ultisystemic therapy鈥� teams, which offer intervention aimed at reducing the risk of violence. There are currently seven teams in the state, and 140 teams are required to meet the statewide need. Each team would also require a $100,000 cost for first-year training.
- $950,000 in yearly funding for two additional 鈥渃oordinated specialty care鈥� teams, including one in the Uvalde area, that treat youth experiencing a first episode of psychosis, which is linked with an increased likelihood of committing suicide if untreated.
- $30 million per year to expand the number of pediatric mental health beds in hospitals across the state.
- $7 million to provide all law enforcement cadets and active law enforcement officers research-based active-shooter training developed by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University.
- $7 million to ensure that the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University can provide all school districts in the state training on active-shooter response and a review of their response plans for these attacks.
- $18.7 million for all of Texas鈥� public and charter schools to purchase panic alert technology, as legislatures in New Jersey and Florida have done.
The request would have to be approved by Phelan and Patrick, as well as the leaders of the budget-writing committees in each chamber: Rep. , R-Friendswood, and Sen. , R-Houston. Because the governor has declared a disaster in Uvalde to address the shooting, Phelan鈥檚 office said lawmakers would not need a letter from the affected agencies declaring that they would not be negatively impacted by the money transfer. That step is usually needed when lawmakers want to use the budget execution procedure.
鈥淭he coming year will bring many debates and policy discussions about how our state approaches the issue of school safety, mental health, police training, firearm safety, and more, and I look forward to working with you in this important mission to make Texas a safer place,鈥� Phelan said. 鈥淚t is my fervent hope that our chambers can come together earnestly to do what is right for the State of Texas and the community of Uvalde, beginning with the initiatives that you and I have now both proposed.鈥�
House Democrats have been critical of the Republican state leadership鈥檚 response to the Uvalde shooting, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed. They鈥檝e called for 鈥渃ommon-sense gun safety measures鈥� and have criticized last year to loosen gun laws, most notably allowing any Texan to legally carry a handgun without a license or training.
