Abbott Signs Voucher Bill Into Law

Gov. Greg Abbott last week signed a $1 billion private school voucher bill into law in front of a large crowd at the Governor’s Mansion, the San Antonio Express-News and other media outlets reported. Abbott called the new law the biggest legislative win of his time in the governor’s office and touted the new program as the largest in the nation.

“Today is the culmination of a movement that has swept across our state and across our country,” Abbott said. “It’s time we put our children on a pathway to have the number one-ranked education system in the United States of America.”

The new voucher law will give Texas students $10,000 a year that can be used toward private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, and other educational expenses.

Abbott was joined on stage by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dustin Burrows, and several private school leaders. Meanwhile, across the street from the mansion, Democratic legislators, union officials, and public educators gathered to express their opposition to vouchers.

“Today, big money won and the students of Texas lost,” said state Rep. James Talarico, DAustin. “Remember this day next time a school closes in your neighborhood. Remember this day next time a beloved teacher quits because they can’t support their family on their salary.”

Bail Crackdown Bill Struggling in the House Another of Abbott’s priorities is facing stiff opposition in the House from enough Democratic members to jeopardize its passage, according to the Houston Chronicle. The bail crackdown bill would prohibit pretrial release of defendants accused of certain violent offenses. In addition, voters would have to approve it as a constitutional amendment.

As of late last week, not enough Democrats support the bill, which requires passage by a supermajority. At least 12 Democrats would have to side with Republican legislators in order for the bail bills to pass. Senate Joint Resolution 5 would allow judges to deny bail to anyone accused of a violent crime or sexual offense, while Senate Joint Resolution 1 would prevent judges from granting bail for undocumented immigrants charged with a felony.

“This is not a right or left issue,” Abbott said. “This is not and should not be a Republican or a Democrat issue. This is a public safety issue, plain and simple.” Both measures easily passed the Senate in February. House Democrats assail the proposals as unconstitutional and have offered alternative bail reform proposals. “Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott don’t actually want to fix crime — they want to run on it next year,” state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston and chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement.

State May Restrain New Large Energy Users 

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas predicts the state’s energy needs will nearly double in six years, The Texas Tribune reported, prompting one West Texas legislator to sponsor Senate Bill 6. That measure, sponsored by state Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, would put guardrails on the state’s energy market meant to help ERCOT better forecast future electricity needs.

“We do not have accurate load forecasting. No one knows if the forecast is real,” King said. Large companies, he added, are requiring ERCOT to plan “for load growth at dramatically higher levels than experienced ever in the history of Texas, and frankly, ever in the history of the United States.” King said that without credible data the state runs the risk of either overbuilding, leading to higher rates for consumers in order to finance the expansions, or underbuilding and risking grid failure. His bill has already passed the Senate and is now before a House committee.

King’s bill would require new large businesses needing more than 75 megawatts to disclose whether they have similar requests elsewhere in Texas or out of state, what their backup generator capacity will be, and to pay at least $100,000 to examine the transmission work needed to get electricity to their facilities.

Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@ texaspress.com.