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Legislative Update By GINA ERWIN, HAA Legislative Chair, with BRADLEY PEPPER, Vice President of Government Affairs
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM? The Texas Legislature is back in session.
ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, the Texas Legislature gaveled in for the third special session of the year. This follows a regular legislative session that ended on May 29 after 140 days and two special sessions over the summer (30 days each) that ultimately delivered the largest property tax cut in Texas history. This most recent special session has been anticipated for months as Governor Greg Abbott has made passing school choice legislation one of his top priorities of the legislative year. He has pushed for a bill that would allow parents to use taxpayer funds to help pay for private school tuition, home schooling expenses or private tutoring. He has specifically called for “education savings accounts for all Texas schoolchildren,” or taxpayer-funded accounts that parents could use to subsidize alternative education costs. Historically, Democrats and rural Republicans have joined together to oppose the adoption of any type of school voucher program, especially in the Texas House of Representatives. Their belief has been that using taxpayer money for private schools will take away much needed money from their local public-school districts. For some rural Republicans that cover larger geographic areas, they may have only a small number of private schools, if any, or the school districts could be the largest employers in
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these counties. Naturally, most of those Republicans have become the staunchest supporters and defenders of their public schools. For Democrats, especially those in urban areas that represent a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students, they have been ideologically opposed to the consideration of a private school voucher program because it is perceived to only exacerbate their already underfunded schools. Democratic leadership in both the Texas House and Senate have indicated that they are united in voting against any school choice legislation during this special session. Despite the seemingly uphill road to passing any form of a voucher program, Governor Abbott has remained resolute in his commitment to seeing school choice come to fruition. He has toured the state, visiting rural areas to promote the policy, and even hinted at helping support primary challengers to Republicans that do not ultimately back his initiatives. This will be a very contentious fight and the Governor has said he will continue to call the legislators back until they send him a bill to sign. In addition to school choice, the Governor included a few other items on the agenda for the third called special session. As we know, only the Governor has the authority to both call a special session and determine the topics that will be taken up during that session.
He has added items intended to increase border security and public safety, as well as ending COVID-19 restrictions by prohibiting vaccine mandates by private employers. He has called for the creation of a criminal offense for illegal entry into Texas from a foreign nation, as well as authorizing all licensed peace officers to remove illegal immigrants from Texas. “For the first time ever, Texas will subject people to arrest for illegal entry into our state from a foreign nation. All licensed law enforcement officers in Texas will be authorized to arrest or remove any person who illegally enters the state, with penalties up to 20 years in prison for refusing to comply with removal. To crack down on repeated attempts to enter Texas illegally, reentry will be penalized with up to 20 years in prison,” Governor Abbott said. With the acrimony between the House and the Senate, especially after the outcome of the impeachment trial for Attorney General Ken Paxton, this and subsequent special sessions are expected to be combative and it is not clear at this point how compromise can be reached. Attorney General Ken Paxton Acquitted of Bribery and Corruption On Saturday, September 16, the Texas Senate voted to acquit Attorney General Ken Paxton on the 16 articles of impeachment that / See Legislative, Page 68
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November 2023
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