Texas House bill by Rep. Thompson allows local boards to reimburse child-care providers at highest Texas Rising Star rates

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Senfronia Thompson seeks to adjust reimbursement rates for child-care providers in the Texas Rising Star Program, aiming to support local boards in offering payments aligned with provider rating levels while maintaining performance targets, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, 50 Democrats and 57 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 26 Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 11 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted in favor, while three Republicans voted against it.

Senfronia Thompson introduced the bill in the Texas House on Thursday, Jan. 30, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Thompson graduated from Texas Southern University with a BS and again from Thurgood Marshall School of Law with a JD.

Thompson, a Democrat, was elected to the Texas State House in 1983 to represent the state’s 141st House district, replacing previous state representative Gib Lewis.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to reimbursement rates for child-care providers participating in the Texas Rising Star Program’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Texas Government Code to allow local boards to reimburse child-care providers participating in the Texas Rising Star Program at the highest rate corresponding to their rating level, without considering the provider’s published rate. This reimbursement rate adjustment is permissible only if it does not compromise the commission’s target performance measure for the average number of children receiving subsidized child care in the given workforce development area. The effective date of this legislation is set for Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Rep. Keith Bell (Republican – District 4), Rep. Salman Bhojani (Democrat – District 92), and Rep. Mihaela Plesa (Democrat – District 70).

The bill received its final legislative approval on Monday, May 26, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.