A participating parent may request program money only for listed education-related expenses, and the money cannot be used to pay a related person within the third degree.
Sec. 29.359. APPROVED EDUCATION-RELATED EXPENSES. (a) Subject to Subsection (b), a participating parent may request that program money be spent only for the following education-related expenses incurred by a participating child at a preapproved education service provider or vendor of educational products: (1) tuition and fees for: (A) a private school; (B) a higher education provider; (C) an online educational course or program; or (D) a program that provides training for an industry-based credential approved by the agency; (2) the purchase of textbooks or other instructional materials or uniforms required by a private school, higher education provider, or course in which the child is enrolled, including purchases made through a third-party vendor of educational products; (3) fees for classes or other educational services provided by a school district or open-enrollment charter school if the classes or services do not qualify the child to be included in the school's average daily attendance; (4) costs related to academic assessments; (5) fees for services provided by a private tutor or teaching service; (6) fees for transportation provided by a fee-for-service transportation provider for the child to travel to and from a preapproved education service provider or vendor of educational products; (7) fees for educational therapies or services provided by a practitioner or provider, only for fees that are not covered by any federal, state, or local government benefits such as Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or by any private insurance that the child is enrolled in at the time of receiving the therapies or services; (8) costs of computer hardware or software and other technological devices required by an education service provider or vendor of educational products or prescribed by a physician to facilitate a child's education, not to exceed in any year 10 percent of the total amount transferred to the participating child's account that year; and (9) costs of breakfast or lunch provided to a child during the school day by a private school. (b) Money transferred under the program to a participating child's account may not be used to pay any person who is related to the program participant within the third degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code. (c) A finding that a program participant requested that program money be spent to pay for an expense not allowed under Subsection (a) does not affect the validity of any payment requested by the participant for an approved education-related expense that is allowed under that subsection. Added by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 2 (S.B. 2), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2025.