Excerpts from The Texas Tribune’s The Brief on Texas Politics and Policy
Education savings accounts and illegal immigration will be part of third special legislative session’s focus
STORY BY PATRICK SVITEK AND BRIAN LOPEZ
Gov. Greg Abbott released his agenda for the state’s third legislative session this year, with him prioritizing legislation related to “school choice” and border security. Lawmakers will return to Austin Monday, with the session starting at 1 p.m. You can watch live proceedings here.
Here’s a rundown of Abbott’s special session agenda:
School choice: Concerning school choice, Abbott has long championed education savings accounts, which would allow parents to use taxpayer funds to pay for alternatives to public schooling like private or charter schools. The Texas Senate has long been a supporter of voucher-like legislation, but the same cannot be said for the Texas House, particularly as it pertains to rural Republicans. Proponents argue ESAs could give parents more choices in their kids’ schooling after some have expressed disappointment with how schools have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and teachings of race, history and sex. Opponents, however, argue vouchers could take money away from underfunded public schools.
Public education funding: During the regular legislative session, lawmakers failed to pass legislation on teacher pay raises and an increase in per-student funding. Although Abbott did not explicitly add these two things on his special session agenda, lawmakers can still file legislation related to this, but Abbott’s agenda could be too specific to pursue any new public school funding. In a House committee report released in August, House lawmakers recommended the Legislature raise the amount of money school districts receive per student, or basic allotment.
Border security: Abbott’s agenda revives proposals from the regular session like increasing human-smuggling penalties and creating a state criminal offense for illegal entry from a foreign country. Within his agenda, Abbott highlighted a development outside of Houston called Colony Ridge, which conservative media has portrayed as a “magnet for illegal immigrants.” It’s not clear exactly what legislation Abbott wants legislators to craft in response to the development, however.
COVID-19: The governor is also seeking to prohibit vaccine mandates from private employers. Earlier this year, Abbott signed in a law that would ban the mandates from local governments, but some in the GOP said the law didn’t go far enough.
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