- Texas Senate approves bill that could reshape how history and race are taught in state universities.
Senate Bill 37 passed despite Democrats raising concerns it could lead to a faculty brain drain, self-censorship or lawsuits against the state.
“I’ve got constituents reaching out to me saying this is the death of higher ed,” said Sen. Molly Cook, a Democrat from Houston, during discussion to give the bill initial approval Tuesday.
Democrats also criticized the bill’s author, Republican Sen. Brandon Creighton, for not giving them enough time to review a 13-page amendment he filed shortly before the Tuesday vote was taken. Creighton ultimately agreed to give them 10 minutes to read it. The amendment added that universities would be required to either end or revise degree programs if the state determines the programs do not offer a return on investment for students.
- Click here for Senate Bill 37.
- In historic first, Texas House approves private school voucher program.
The Texas House gave final approval Thursday to a bill that would create a $1 billion private school voucher program, crossing a historic milestone and bringing Gov. Greg Abbott’s top legislative priority closer than ever to reaching his desk.
The lower chamber signed off on its voucher proposal, Senate Bill 2, on an 86-61 vote. Every present Democrat voted against the bill. They were joined by two Republicans — far short of the bipartisan coalitions that in previous legislative sessions consistently blocked proposals to let Texans use taxpayer money to pay for their children’s private schooling.
. . . The initial vote came more than 10 hours after the chamber gave preliminary approval to its sweeping $7.7 billion school funding package, which would give local districts more money per student and raise teacher salaries. House Bill 2, which received final passage Thursday on a 142-5 vote, also aims to improve the quality of special education services by allocating funding based on the individual needs of children with disabilities.
- Click here for Senate Bill 2.
- Click here for House Bill 2.
- Election officials wary of shift to Texas’ centralized voter-registration system.
An effort to force all of Texas’ 254 counties onto the state’s central system for managing voter registration has some election officials concerned about the system’s history of technical problems, its capacity to handle larger volumes of data and the potential for new security risks.
Thirty-two Texas counties, including some of the state’s largest, currently use private vendors for software to handle voter registration and election management tasks. The software helps counties manage information including voters’ addresses, voting history, registration applications, images of signatures for verification, images of mail-ballot envelopes and other personal data.
Pending legislation, Senate Bill 2382, would require counties to exclusively use the state’s system, called Texas Election Administration Management, or TEAM. Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Republican from Houston, filed the bill after many counties last year faced a surprise surcharge from one of the private vendors, Votec.
Click here for Senate Bill 2382.
- Why Texas Republicans are trying to rein in high home prices and rents.
For decades, Texas benefited from relatively low home prices and rents, a key component of the state’s ability to lure new residents and employers from more expensive parts of the country.
Now, Texas Republicans find themselves trying to rein in the state’s high housing costs — before it’s too late.
The state’s top Republicans have shown increasing alarm as high housing costs have put homeownership out-of-reach for an increasing number of Texas families, especially young ones. GOP leaders have pointed to figures from Texas Realtors that show the typical homebuyer is getting older. The median age of a Texas homebuyer was 48 in 2020. Last year, it was 58.
. . . There’s political urgency for Republicans to deal with housing affordability. They are increasingly aware that Texans view the state’s high housing costs as a considerable problem. A poll last year showed some 90% of Texans view housing affordability as a problem where they live — an agreement that transcends party lines and whether people live in a big city, suburb or rural town.
Click here for Senate Bill 15.
