AUSTIN, Texas (KWTX) – Texas lawmakers approved a controversial bill in Austin early Thursday morning.

The school choice bill was passed in an 85-62 vote – two were absent. The measure will provide taxpayer-funded education savings accounts, allowing students in public schools to attend private schools if accepted into the state’s program.    

Under the bill, students will receive $10,000 each year if they attend a private school. Disabled students would receive up to $30,000 a year and home-schooled students would get $2,000. 

“This is an extraordinary victory for the thousands of parents who have advocated for more choices when it comes to the education of their children…I applaud the legislators who took a stand with the overwhelming majority of Texans who support school choice,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.  

Abbott said that President Trump supports school choice as well.

“[Trump] called this morning to share his support for the Texas House passing SB 2 today,” Abbott said on social media.

Abbott and Speaker Dustin Burrows have said for months that they have more than the 76 votes required to pass the bill. 

“Today marks a historic chapter for education in our state, with the Texas House passing its landmark ‘Texas Two Step’ proposals to deliver more education opportunities for students alongside the largest-ever increase in public school funding,” Burrows said.   

The vote took place just after 2 a.m. Thursday, after the House heard 43 amendment proposals to the bill. All proposed amendments were tabled. 

The vote was divided between Democrats and Republicans. Out of all the votes, two Republicans joined all Democrats to vote against the bill.

Democrats expressed disappointment about the outcome, calling it welfare for the rich. Democrats also expressed concern that this program will hurt school districts by taking money away from them.

Most Republicans say that’s not true and they supported the legislation.

“Working families are going to be the ones who will foot the bill for this voucher scam,” said Texas Democrats Chair Kendall Scudder. “We’re deeply disappointed in the lawmakers who chose to fall in line instead of standing up for their communities.”  

The House will take a final vote later on Thursday. The bill will then go to the Texas Senate, where lawmakers will decide whether to go along with the House’s changes or make their own changes. 

HB 2: Public school funding bill

On Wednesday, the House passed HB 2, the public school funding bill. It passed 144-4, with two absent. Republican leaders said it represents the largest increase in funding for public schools.

“Texas public schools are the backbone of our communities, and today the House delivered a historic investment to bolster public education for the next generation,” Burrows said Wednesday. “House Bill 2 lays the foundation for a modernized, responsive school finance system that will grow with the needs of Texas students while targeting taxpayer dollars where they’ll make the greatest impact for students and teachers.  

Under this bill’s proposals and others, the House will inject $9 billion in new money. That includes raising the basic allotment to school districts by $395. Forty percent of the new funding will go toward teacher pay raises and salary increases for other staff. The basic allotment would increase every two years.

Democrats have said the state doesn’t spend enough money on public education when compared to other states. Republicans, though, said they have continued to spend more money on schools. 

As lawmakers debate the bills, various local school districts across North Texas have passed deficit budgets because of record inflation and after Republican lawmakers left $4.5 billion for schools on the sidelines. The districts have also faced declining student enrollment, which has cost them funding as well.  

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AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) — Lawmakers in the Texas House are debating the priority of public school funding bills, which include school vouchers.

After years of stalling in the state House, the controversial school voucher bill now has its best shot on Wednesday.

Gov. Greg Abbott said he has the numbers to pass the bill, but passage is not guaranteed.

Democrats are threatening to kill all proposed constitutional amendments for the rest of the legislative session unless the House puts the school voucher issue on the November election ballot for voters to decide on.

The voucher bill would give Texas families more than $10,000 yearly to send their children to private school.

Democrats and some Republicans oppose the bill, saying it will strip funding from public schools.

Protesters filled the halls of the Texas Capitol Wednesday morning, saying they want funding for public schools, not vouchers.

The legislative battle comes after years of failed attempts to pass similar bills.

Wednesday’s debate is expected to last several hours.

Voucher bills want to prioritize low-income families and be open to all, but goals might be at odds

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas lawmakers have started the process of finalizing the budget, but it wasn’t easy getting there. 

Members of the Texas House got bogged down in several debates that included: tracking undocumented immigrants, defunding the lottery, and giving AG Ken Paxton backpay.

Texas AG Ken Paxton discussion

The backstory:

Texas House members took an unexpected U-turn on what’s typically a procedural vote. The political pivot involved the process needed to finalize the state budget. 

Passing SB 1 to the Governor involves addressing differences in the House and Senate Budget Bills by drafting instructions to the budget negotiators, known as conferees. Supporters of Attorney General Ken Paxton used that process to get him backpay as payback for his impeachment acquittal in 2023.

“And if we believe that not only politicians but regular citizens are entitled to the presumption of innocence, we should truly believe that he should have been entitled to his salary during the course of his suspension. And now that he’s been acquitted, if you broke it, you bought it,” said Lewisville republican Mitch Little.

Rep. Little was on Paxton’s defense team during the impeachment trial and argued that House budget negotiators should get Paxton almost $64,000 into the final budget. 

Rep. Wes Virdell, a Republican from Brady, while discussing Little’s motion, noted the House impeachment was rejected by the Senate in 2023. But it was pointed out that state law requires the suspension of pay for a state office holder who is impeached. And no one during the discussion spoke about how Paxton, earlier this year, did not contest accusations in a whistle-blower civil lawsuit. The claims by former staff members are similar to at least three Articles of Impeachment and have resulted in a $6 million award for the plaintiffs. The Paxton payback request passed by an 88 to 56 vote.

Texas border discussion

The backstory:

Another budget rabbit hole involved a border issue. 

Last year, Gov. Abbott ordered Texas hospitals to document how much is being spent on medical treatment for undocumented immigrants. Aledo Republican Mike Olcott made a motion to put Abbott’s Order into the Budget Bill.

“A lot of these small hospitals are suffering because of overwhelming costs. And I’ll give you an example. When I spent some time at the border near Falfurious back in 2006, an emergency room, and the only emergency room in the area, had actually shut down. And the reason I was told was because they were overrun by undocumented migrants, and they went out of business. And so little children in that area in Falfurious now had to drive two and a half hours to Corpus Christi to get emergency care. That’s not right,” said Rep Olcott.

A request to include prison costs in the instructions was added to the political theater.

The undocumented immigrant count instruction was approved. 

Texas Lottery discussion

The backstory:

The fate of the Texas Lottery was also discussed.

The House budget defunds the Texas Lottery. For that cut to stick, Senate budget negotiators will have to agree with the House team. 

The instruction debate went past 1 p.m. despite the fact that the instructions were not binding. That means budget negotiators can ignore them all. 

The House Budget Negotiators are: Appropriations Chair Greg Bonnen (R) Friendswood; Appropriations Vice Chair Mary Gonzales (D) San Elizario; Rep. Armando Walle (D) Houston; Rep. Stan Kitzman (R) Pattison; and Rep. Angelia Orr (R) Itasca.

Big picture view:

House members eventually debated several notable Bills. Among them was Governor Abbott’s emergency item dealing with expanding vocational-technical programs, which passed. 

The House also approved a bill to create a new cybersecurity force.

HB 6, a Teacher’s Bill of Rights, also advanced. The legislation was drafted to address disruptive students and provide teachers with protection when disciplinary measures are taken.