AUSTIN – Texas lawmakers made progress on several bills Wednesday, including one regarding public school funding.

More discussion remains before those bills are passed. As the end of the legislative session approaches, Texas lawmakers are working to get multiple key pieces of legislation passed. 

House Bill 2: Public School Funding

On Wednesday, it was announced that a tentative deal was struck regarding HB 2, known as the public school funding bill.

The compromise between the House and Senate includes the Senate’s proposed $55 per student increase to the basic allotment, compared to the House’s original allotment of $350.

The compromise also decreases the House’s original plan to increase teacher pay from $4.4 billion to $4.2 billion.

However, it adds $500,000 for fixed costs, bringing the total amount to $8.5 billion. 

Some of the issues were first raised during a hearing over the Senate’s plan last week, when some district leaders suggested a higher per-student allotment, giving schools more flexibility.

The bill is expected to be taken up on the Senate floor Thursday. 

What they’re saying:

West Hardin CISD Superintendent Donald Heseman spoke on the bill.

“If you picture every ISD as a boat, I think Barbers Hill might be a cruise ship and we are a johnboat. Paint Creek might be a kayak, but we all have leaks. We all have leaks. In doing the basic allotment, we can fill those holes as needed. 

Senate Bill 3: THC Ban

In reaching this compromise, it opened the door for discussion on the Senate’s tougher THC bill, SB 3, which equates to a total ban on THC products. 

This bill is a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who claims that CBD stores and vape shops are selling higher concentrations of THC than the legal consumable limit. 

After the chambers brokered a deal earlier in the day, the House took up the bill Wednesday night. At the time of reporting, the bill was still being actively discussed.

What they’re saying:

“I want people to have access to medications to help them when they have medical conditions, that those medications can be a benefit,” said Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) “What we’re doing here is correcting a problem that we created in 2019 where we essentially created a pathway by which people could sell drugs.” 

What’s next:

More is to come tomorrow, and the legislative session ends June 2. 

Kala Hunter did not hesitate to get her 2-year-old son, Brady, fully vaccinated in March as the number of measles cases grew in her West Texas community.

“Being in the hotbed of the measles outbreak,” said Hunter, 47, of Lubbock, “it was a no-brainer. If it was safe to get him vaccinated early, we were going to protect him.”

Harmony Montes, 21, also of Lubbock, said she felt the same way. As the outbreak escalated in April, Montes jumped at the chance to get her daughter, Melody Rocha, vaccinated at her six-month checkup. 

“We didn’t hesitate at all,” Montes said. “I wasn’t going to risk her health.”

The moms represent a recent surge in Texas parents opting to get their babies and toddlers the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination as soon as possible.

Hunter said that her child’s doctor assured her that the second vaccine dose was safe.

“I trust my pediatrician,” she said. Neither kid has had side effects like fever or rash from the shot, Hunter and Montes said.

New data from Truveta, a health care and analytics company, shows that the percentage of 6-month-old babies in Texas getting their measles vaccination in April increased by more than 30 times the prior year’s average.

“That means parents aren’t just getting the vaccine early, they’re getting it as early as they can,” Nina Masters, a senior scientist at Truveta and part of the research team, said in an interview with NBC News.

Typically, the MMR is given in two doses, around a child’s first birthday, and again around the time a child enters kindergarten, at age 4 or 5. One dose is 93% effective at preventing measles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A second dose increases protection to 97%.

During measles outbreaks, however, the first dose can be given as early as 6 months old. If a child has already received the first dose at 12 months, doctors can give the second dose about a month later, said Dr. Ronald Cook, chief health officer at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock and health authority for the city.

“Public health measures, which include vaccinations, stop the spread of the virus, even in areas with outbreaks of measles,” Cook said.

Most of the time, fewer than 2% of infants get vaccinated early for measles, according to the Truveta data. The company used its access to electronic health record information for tens of thousands of infants in Texas to assess early vaccination uptake in the state. That low percentage isn’t surprising as the shots aren’t generally given early unless there’s an outbreak.

The data shows that early vaccinations of Texan infants 6 to 11 months old ticked up in February as word of the outbreak spread. The number increased even more in March, and by April, it was exponentially higher than vaccination percentages before the outbreak began.

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State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, has filed paperwork to run for lieutenant governor in next year’s midterm election, giving up a safe seat in the Texas House to seek one of the state’s most powerful offices.

Goodwin has long been expected to run for the seat, currently held by Republican Dan Patrick, who has said he will seek reelection next year. The four-term Austin Democrat told the Tribune in 2023 she was mulling a run, and since then she has openly signaled her plans to allies.

She appointed a campaign treasurer for her lieutenant governor bid on Monday, the first formal step for a candidate to start raising money.

Unseating Patrick will be a daunting task for any Democrat. The lieutenant governor is sitting on a war chest of more than $33 million, and he has many deep-pocketed conservative allies ready to ride to the rescue if he finds himself endangered.

Texas Democrats have struggled to mount competitive statewide campaigns in recent years, including in 2022, when Patrick won reelection by 10 percentage points. But the party is hoping for more favorable conditions next year, driven by backlash to President Donald Trump and the prospect of Attorney General Ken Paxton — a Republican who has faced various legal scandals — leading the ballot if he is nominated for the U.S. Senate over incumbent John Cornyn.

In 2018, the first midterm under Trump, Democrat Beto O’Rourke came within 3 percentage points of defeating Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. Patrick won reelection by nearly 5 percentage points that year.

Democrats have not won a statewide election in Texas since 1994.

Goodwin will have to make up significant ground financially, with just over $150,000 in her campaign account as of Dec. 31, the last date covered by public campaign finance reports.

Goodwin, a 58-year-old real estate agent, has served in the Texas House since 2019, representing a district that covers parts of west and north Austin and the western side of Travis County, including parts of Bee Cave and Lakeway. She is seen as one of the more liberal members of the state House and currently serves on the chamber’s Appropriations and Insurance committees.

With Goodwin running for lieutenant governor, Travis County Democratic Party Chair Pooja Sethi is seeking to fill the open seat. Sethi announced she is stepping down as party chair in June, and she recently filed paperwork to run in Goodwin’s district.

First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!