PSF has $5.4 Billion Left to Guarantee School Bonds

The TEA reported (April 5) that action taken by the State Board of Education (SBOE) in February (article) resulted in the Permanent School Fund (PSF) Bond Guarantee Program (BGP) being able to approve all February 2023 applications from ISDs and charters seeking bond guarantees.

The program’s remaining capacity (as of March 17) stands at $5.37 billion.

• Note: The Texas Bond Review Board reports (in this database) that Texas ISDs have $24.7 billion in school bonds on their May 6 ballots.

From November 2022 to January 2023, when available BGP capacity shrank as the program approached the $117.3 billion arbitrary capacity limit set by the IRS, the TEA was forced to turn down $8.4 billion in school bond applications because the program did not have sufficient capacity.

Texas U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, have jointly authored federal legislation to free the BGP from the outdated IRS limit.

The bill has not advanced since it was introduced in the U.S. House on Jan. 9 (updates here).

The TEA posts its latest BGP stats here.