AUSTIN, Texas — The political debate continues at the Texas Capitol over the future of a bill to create a school voucher program.
Lawmakers will get back to work today to address that bill. Last week, the Senate debated several hours over the bill but ultimately passed it, mostly along party lines. Gov. Gregg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick praised the bill’s passing, but it now faces an uphill battle in the House.
EDITORIAL NOTE: The video above is live from the Capitol where the House is expected to vote on the school voucher program.
The bill, Senate Bill 1, sets aside tax dollars for parents to up to $8,000 for sending an eligible child to a private school.
In the House, Republicans from rural districts and Democrats are united in their opposition to the bill.
Their concern is the bill could siphon tax dollars away from public schools and toward private schools that operate under different rules.
The bill has been a priority for the governor who argues the bill gives Texas parents freedom and choice to send their child to different education options if they’re not happy with public schools.
Political experts explained to KHOU 11 the challenges the bill faces in the House.
“We could be in for a long haul here," said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. “This is a special session, obviously devoted to vouchers, but it’s going to take a lot of time for the parties to get together on this because there’s such a divide in terms of exactly how the funding is going to go, what the accountability mechanism is going to be, and then specifically, which members might have to be flipped.”
The governor has offered a carrot and a stick. The carrot is additional funding for public schools if SB 1 reaches his desk. The stick is a promise to campaign against Republican legislators who vote down SB 1 in their next primaries.
The House reconvenes this afternoon.
