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 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 were being adjudicated. Paxton had been only the third Texas elected official in history to be impeached by the state, with the two others being removed from office.

Having been removed from his duties since the Texas House of Representatives voted 121-23 to impeach him in May, Paxton was reinstated and able to resume his duties as AG following the acquittal.

This episode, in Paxton’s history of scandals as an elected official, stemmed from a request he made to the Texas House in February asking for the state to pay for a $3.3 million settlement his office negotiated with four of the whistleblowers who alleged they were improperly fired for reporting him to the FBI. The agreement was rejected by the Legislature.

It did initiate an investigation by the House in March to determine whether the original whistleblower claims against Paxton of bribery and corruption had merit.

The findings of the House investigative committee, which were released in May, were that Paxton had likely broken numerous state laws, misspent office funds and misused his power to benefit Austin Developer Nate Paul, his friend and political donor.

The Texas House voted overwhelmingly in favor of 20 articles of impeachment related to these findings, as well as four associated with a securities fraud case that Paxton was previously indicted for and awaiting trial.

This action set up the trial to be held in the Texas Senate, with the Senators serving as the jurors and the Lt. Governor as the judge. The trial was scheduled for September and rules were determined by the Senate.

Both sides hired teams of high-profile attorneys to try the case. The prosecution published nearly 4,000 pages of evidence supporting the claims that Paxton had misused his office by helping Nate Paul investigate and harass his enemies, delay foreclosure sales of his properties and obtain confidential records on the police investigating him.

Ultimately, after two weeks of trial, the Senate voted to acquit Paxton. None of the 16 articles received more than 14 of the required 21 votes to convict, with only two Republicans voting in favor of any the articles.

The trial and impeachment proceedings have increased the rift between the House and the Senate, with both sides alleging bias and impropriety in how it was conducted. We will have to wait and see how this will impact the ability of our lawmakers to pass meaningful legislation in Austin.

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