Texas families could use tax dollars to fund their children’s private school tuition under a Republican-backed bill that sailed through the Senate late Wednesday.  Under Senate Bill 2, families could receive $10,000 a year per student in public taxpayer dollars to fund their children’s tuition at an accredited private school and other expenses like textbooks, transportation and therapy. The legislation would provide $11,500 per student for children with disabilities. It also would provide at least $2,000 a year per student for home-schooling families who participate in the program. Home-schooling students with disabilities could receive $2,500 a year for therapy, a provision lawmakers added into the bill Wednesday. Families would receive the money through state-managed education savings accounts. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott is ready to allow online sports betting in Texas. view article

At a heated and highly politicized higher education hearing in November, just two months before the new Texas legislative session got started, one interim charge seemed to garner rare resounding agreement: K-12 student pathways to higher education must be improved. view article

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott insisted Monday that he would accept nothing less than a robust, universal school choice voucher program, and he resisted calls to join the plan with blanket increases in public school funding. view article

ouse Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) apparently participated in a longstanding Democratic tradition Friday, threatening violence to achieve a political aim. view article

This past week, it was a pleasure to welcome a number of constituents from House District 9 in your Texas State Capitol. Among those who made the long drive from Deep East Texas were elected officials from Tyler County and several residents from Angelina and Polk counties. It always brings such joy to my heart to see folks from back home, and these visits constantly remind me of why I am here in Austin.

Border security doesn’t make top five.  The top three priority bills include SB 1, the Senate’s proposed budget, which is nearly identical to the one proposed in the Texas House; SB 2, which would create a $1 billion Education Savings Account program for 100,000 students; and SB 3, which bans THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis. view article

State Rep. Steve Toth’s proposed legislation also adds liability to those who medically or surgically mutilate children.   view article

The executive order is directed toward international students who participated in pro-Hamas protests.   view article

School vouchers, often referred to as “school choice” programs, use public funds to help families pay for their children’s private education. Supporters say families should receive state support to send their child to a different school if public schools aren't adequately serving them. Opponents worry a voucher program would strip vital funds away from already cash-strapped public schools. view article

AUSTIN, Texas — Texans are getting their first look at a bill lawmakers hope to pass this legislative session to create a school choice program. view article

The Senate could vote on the proposal as soon as next week. Democrats on Tuesday criticized the bill saying it fails to prioritize the state’s neediest children.   view article

Ending birthright citizenship, increasing oil drilling, and leaving WHO are just a few bills the state’s Republicans pushed in Congress this month.  w view article

Speaker Dustin Burrows said the chamber would not vote on a housekeeping resolution as has been customary.   view article

Conservative activists in the GOP caucus called any power sharing with the minority party a betrayal of Republican voters.  view article

Speculation swirled on social media about where immigration raids would happen and whether they’d lead to family separations. view article

Texas senator Phil King wants the Christian tenets to be displayed in public schools. view article

Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, won bipartisan support Tuesday as his nomination cleared a Senate committee. view article

Representative Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos opted to vote for ultra-conservative-backed GOP candidate David Cook instead of majority Democratic-supported Speaker-elect Dustin Burrows.   view article

A bipartisan coalition elected Dustin Burrows as House Speaker. The Lubbock Republican defeated Mansfield Rep. David Cook.  The Republican arm wrestling over the Texas House gavel was settled Tuesday — thanks in large part to a coalition of Democrats that backed Rep. Dustin Burrows, the Republican from Lubbock, over his opponent, Republican Rep. David Cook of Mansfield.  view article

After he was elected speaker of the Texas House on Tuesday, Rep. Dustin Burrows promised that his door would be open to everyone in the chamber — even those who supported his rival, Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield. view article

The last time the rules were voted on this late was in 2009, the first session of former Speaker Joe Straus.   view article

Of the $194.6 billion available for general-purpose spending, $176.4 billion comes from general revenue-related funds, and $23.76 billion is in surplus.  view article

The Texas Senate unanimously elected Republican State Sen. Brandon Creighton of Conroe as president pro tempore during the first day of the legislative session. view article

"Speaker Burrows was handed the speakership by Democrats, as has happened behind closed doors session after session since 2009," said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate. "Each of these bills will be passed again by the Texas Senate. The voters will hold our new speaker accountable to keep his promise of being the most conservative speaker in Texas history."       view article

Burrows defeated Rep. David Cook with a coalition of Republican and Democratic votes.   view article

On Tuesday, Welsh released a statement that the university “will continue to honor both the letter and intent of the law.” view article

More Democrats than Republicans voted for Burrows’ speakership. -  view article

AUSTIN — Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson will today open proceedings in the Texas House of Representatives for the 89th Legislative Session at noon.  

More property tax relief considered.  Comptroller Glenn Hegar will release the Biennial Revenue Estimate to the legislature. That estimate will reveal how much lawmakers can spend on the fiscal year 2026-27 state budget. Hegar will also confirm the state's surplus, which is projected at $20 billion, and how much will be in the economic stabilization fund also known as the "rainy day" fund. Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink spoke with five state lawmakers from across North Texas to see what they think the state should do with the expected surplus and if that includes more relief for Texas homeowners. During the 2023 session lawmakers passed, and voters approved, $18 billion worth of reductions from the school portion of the property tax bill.   view article

With recent GOP election wins in the Texas House and Texas Senate, all eyes are on school choice, border security and election integrity. view article

The 2025 Texas legislative session begins at noon Tuesday and runs through June 2. Lawmakers have 140 days to pass a two-year state budget and hundreds of bills that will impact Texans' lives. On the first day, lawmakers will be sworn in, Gov. Greg Abbott will speak — and the House will elect a new speaker. view article

The new speaker will have a dramatic impact on the direction of this year’s lawmaking — and potentially the future of the Legislature.   view article

From debating school vouchers and improving the state’s water supply to reining in property taxes, the GOP-led body will look to pass its conservative priorities amid fighting within the party.   view article

With the legislative session just days away, Club for Growth says it is going to push hard for universal school choice and other conservative priorities in Texas. view article