Texas is considering a groundbreaking proposal to provide every newborn with $1,000 invested in the stock market.
Why It Matters
Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick revealed plans for this initiative as a way to mirror a new federal program signed into law under President Donald Trump, known as “Trump Accounts.”
If enacted, Texas’s “New Little Texan Savings Fund” would make it the first state to add such an automatic state-level investment to the national plan, potentially doubling the funds available to Texas children and sparking debate about the balance between government support and fiscal conservatism.
The move could signal a trend toward broader wealth-building measures for American children, especially at a time when access to stock market investments remains uneven across income groups.
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What To Know
On Wednesday, Patrick announced his plan to introduce legislation during the 2027 session to create investment accounts for every baby born in Texas.
Each account would receive a $1,000 deposit of public funds invested in the S&P 500.
Patrick suggested this new state-level program would be modeled after the federal “Trump Accounts” provision, created as part of Trump’s major tax and spending legislation earlier in 2025.
The cost for Texas would be about $400 million per year, less than 1 percent of the state’s current two-year budget, Patrick said.
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Patrick also proposed a constitutional amendment to make the program permanent, which would require support from two-thirds of the Texas Legislature and approval by Texas voters.
Trump’s federal program would provides $1,000 to every child born from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2028, whose parents claim the benefit. It requires a U.S. Social Security number and restricts withdrawals until age 18, except for specific uses such as education, home down payments, or starting a business.
In addition, Austin billionaires Michael and Susan Dell have pledged $6.25 billion to supplement the Trump accounts, offering an extra $250 to eligible children under age 11 who meet certain family income criteria and live in certain ZIP codes.
The Dell contribution primarily targets children who do not qualify for the federal $1,000 newborn benefit (those born before January 1, 2025).
What People Are Saying
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said: “I love President Trump’s idea to invest $1,000 for every American newborn child, that cannot be spent until age 18 and must be used for education or other qualifying expenses.
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“If I see a great idea from the President that helps Texans, my first question is always, ‘why not do it in Texas, too?’ A baby is born about every 90 seconds in Texas. That’s about 1,000 per day, or just under 400,000 per year for the last several years. One of my top priorities in the 2027 legislative session will be to pass the New Little Texan Savings Fund to give newborn Texans an additional $1,000 each, invested in the S&P 500 as aligned with the federal program
“Adding that to the President’s program, newborn Texans will receive a total of $2,000, plus any additional funds contributed by their family as allowed under the Trump plan.”
Republican Senator Ted Cruz, an early proponent of the federal plan, said: “I’m thrilled to see the Lone Star State and my good friend Dan Patrick taking this even further for Texas kids. Bravo!”
Texas Policy Research, a group emphasizing ‘liberty-based’ policies, said: “We are opposed to this idea before the bill is even filed. Creating state-run wealth accounts for every newborn violates key liberty principles: It expands government rather than limiting it, replaces personal responsibility with state dependency and undermines free enterprise by turning the state into an investor. Texans deserve lower taxes, not new programs that grow government indefinitely.”
What Happens Next
If both the Texas and federal programs move forward, every eligible newborn in Texas could have $2,000 seeded in stock market investments at birth.
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Nationally, the federal Trump Accounts and the Dells’ private gift are scheduled to roll out on July 4, 2026. Parents will be able to open the accounts once the IRS finalizes the enrollment form and the online system goes live.
The outcome in Texas may serve as a model for other states considering similar measures and could influence future discussions on government-backed child wealth-building initiatives.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump just can’t seem to choose among friends in the Texas Senate Republican primary.
So when he travels to the state on Friday for his first post- State of the Union trip, where he plans to promote his energy and economic policies, Trump will have all three candidates in the competitive race join him — just days before his party casts ballots in the primary race.
Sen. John Cornyn is battling for his fifth term and is being challenged by state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt in a primary fight that has become viciously personal. And all three men, missing the coveted endorsement from Trump, have been trying to highlight their ties to him as they ramp up their campaigning ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
For his part, Trump will be seeking to ride the message of his State of the Union address from Tuesday, where he declared a return to economic prosperity and a more secure America — two centerpiece arguments for Republicans as they campaign to keep their congressional majorities this fall.
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Trump’s hesitation to endorse in the Texas Senate primary speaks to the tricky dynamics of the race.
Cornyn is unpopular with a segment of Texas’ GOP base, in part for his early dismissiveness of Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign and for his role in authoring tougher restrictions on guns after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But Senate GOP leadership and allied groups see Cornyn as the stronger general election candidate, in light of a series of troubles that have shadowed Paxton.
Paxton beat impeachment on fraud charges in 2023, and has faced allegations of marital infidelity by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, right, is joined by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, left, during a campaign stop in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. Credit: AP/Eric Gay
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, have urged Trump to endorse Cornyn. They and allied campaign groups argue that the seat would cost the party hundreds of millions more to defend with Paxton as the candidate.
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“It is a strong possibility we cannot hold Texas if John Cornyn is not our nominee,” Scott told Fox News on Wednesday.
Hunt, a second-term Houston-area representative, was a later entry to the race, but claims a kinship with Trump, having endorsed him early in the 2024 race. Hunt campaigned regularly for Trump and earned a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
If no candidate reaches 50% in Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers will advance to a May 26 runoff.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, arrive before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Credit: AP/Allison Robbert
Cornyn’s campaign and a half-dozen allied groups have poured more than $63 million into the race since last fall, chiefly trying to slow Paxton but recently attacking Hunt in an effort to keep him from making it to the runoff.
Earlier this month, Trump feinted toward weighing in on the race when he said he was taking “a serious look” at endorsing in the Texas primary. He has since reaffirmed his neutrality.
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Still, you wouldn’t know it from watching TV in Texas. Cornyn has been airing ads since last year touting his support for Trump’s agenda, even though his relationship with the president has been cool at times. Paxton and Hunt both have ads airing now featuring them standing with Trump.
“I like all three of them, actually. Those are the toughest races. They’ve all supported me. They’re all good. You’re supposed to pick one, so we’ll see what happens. But I support all three,” Trump said earlier this month.
The GOP battle comes as Democrats have a contested primary of their own in Texas between state Rep. James Talarico, a self-described policy wonk who regularly quotes the Bible, and progressive favorite U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
Trump hasn’t been shy about wading into other contested Republican primaries in the state. Parts of Corpus Christi fall within Texas’ 34th congressional district, where former Rep. Mayra Flores is fighting to reclaim her seat against the Trump-endorsed Eric Flores. (The two are not related.) The winner of the primary will face off against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, long a target of the GOP, whose district was redrawn to make it easier for a Republican to win.
Eric Flores will be at the Trump event at the Port of Corpus Christi, which technically is located in a neighboring district.
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Elsewhere in the state, the president has also endorsed Rep. Tony Gonzales, who is fighting calls from his own party to resign from Congress after reports of an alleged affair with a former staffer who later died after she set herself on fire. Gonzales is refusing to step down and has said that there will be “opportunities for all of the details and facts to come out” and that the stories about the situation do not represent “all the facts.”
Gonzales is facing a primary challenge from Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun rights influencer who Gonzales defeated by fewer than 400 votes in their 2024 runoff. The White House did not return a request for comment on Thursday on whether Trump stands by his endorsement of Gonzales.
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting his reckless driving caused a head-on collision in rural West Texas that killed Laura Lynch, a founding member of the country music group now known as The Chicks, prosecutors said.
Domenick Chavez, 33, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Dec. 22, 2023, crash in Hudspeth County, according to a news release Tuesday from El Paso County District James Montoya, who also oversees nearby Hudspeth County.
The news release said Chavez was driving a truck westbound when he tried to pass four vehicles on a two-way undivided highway and collided head-on with Lynch’s eastbound truck. Lynch, 65, of Dell City, was trapped in her vehicle and died. Prosecutors said Chavez was traveling between 106 mph and 114 mph.
Prosecutors said alcohol wasn’t a factor in the crash but that Chavez was driving on a suspended license, which had been revoked due to his failure to comply with DWI-related surcharges and penalties from convictions in 2014 and 2017.
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Lynch, along with Robin Lynn Macy and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, formed The Dixie Chicks in the late 1980s. Lynch and Macy eventually left the band and Natalie Maines joined the sisters. The trio hit commercial fame with their breakthrough album “Wide Open Spaces” in 1998 and have won 13 Grammys. In 2020, the band changed its name to The Chicks.
In a social media post after Lynch’s death, The Chicks said Lynch had “infectious energy and humor” and was “instrumental” in the band’s early success.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Billy Richmond III scored 23 points and No. 20 Arkansas took advantage of Texas A&M’s miscues to beat the Aggies 99-84 on Wednesday night.
Richmond, who shot 8 of 13 from the floor and has scored 20 points or more in the last four games, had 15 points in the first half as the Razorbacks (21-7, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) took a 37-28 lead into halftime.
They carried the advantage in large part because Texas A&M (19-8, 9-6) couldn’t take care of the ball. Thirteen first-half turnovers led to 15 points for Arkansas.
Darius Acuff Jr. scored 22 points for Arkansas, Malique Ewin had 18, Trevon Brazile 14 and Meleek Thomas 13. Acuff, who entered leading the SEC in scoring with 22.2 points per game, had been held to just five points until the final nine minutes as he made his last six of his last seven shots from the floor after a 1-for-12 start.
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Texas A&M forward Rashaun Agee (12) is fouled as he tries to drive past Arkansas defenders D.J. Wagner (21) and Malique Ewin (12) during an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Fayetteville, Ark.
Michael Woods / AP
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Zach Clemence came off the bench to score a career-high 29 points for Texas A&M. Rashaun Agee added 17.
After the teams traded baskets to start the game, Texas A&M went on an 11-0 run as Arkansas went more than 4:30 without a field goal, missing seven straight. The Razorbacks followed with a run of their own, scoring 16 straight points over the next 3:28 to take the lead for good.
Texas A&M pulled within five points with 9:21 left on Agee’s layup. But Arkansas countered with a 9-2 run to stretch its lead back to double-digits.
For the game, the Aggies committed 16 turnovers and were outscored in transition 30-13.
Up next
Arkansas plays at No. 7 Florida on Saturday. The Razorbacks have won at Florida just twice in 18 games since joining the SEC ahead of the 1991-92 season.
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Texas A&M hosts Texas on Saturday.
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Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
