TEXAS SENATE APPROVES SCALED BACK SCHOOL VOUCHER PLAN
WTAW News note that state senator Charles Schwertner, who represents Brazos County, voted for senate bill 3, which passed by an 18-13 margin Thursday.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The Texas Senate has approved vouchers offering public money to children attending private and religious schools _ but only after including a major exemption for rural areas.
Sen. Larry Taylor’s bill appeared stalled before he agreed to make wholesale changes. It no longer applies to communities with fewer than 285,000 residents.
Taylor wants to create state-subsidized education saving accounts for parents while offering tax credits to businesses that sponsor private schooling via donations.
The revised version passed Thursday after hours of sometimes emotional debate in the GOP-controlled Senate. It still faces a tough road in the House.
So-called “school choice” has long been defeated by House Democrats and rural Republicans wary of harming public schools that are top employers, and social and cultural centers, for the small communities they represent.
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TEXAS SENATE APPROVES ENDING PUBLIC PAYROLL UNION DEDUCTIONS
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The Texas Senate has given final approval to ending voluntary payroll deductions of union dues from state and public employee paychecks.
Houston Republican Sen. Joan Huffman says the government shouldn’t be in the business of collecting union dues, noting that many other states already have similar rules.
But her bill allows payroll deductions for charities and for unions for first-responders like police and firefighters. It has been backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, as well as business groups.
Senate Democrats opposed the proposal as unfairly targeting teachers’ unions and other organized labor groups.
The measure passed 20-11 Thursday along party lines within the Senate’s Republican majority, sending it to the state House.
A similar measure passed the Senate in 2015, but never got a House vote.
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EL PASO DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN LAUNCHING CAMPAIGN FOR TED CRUZ’S SENATE SEAT
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Democrat Beto O’Rourke needed a hefty upset six years ago just to get to Congress.
Now, the ex-punk-rocker and longtime advocate for legalizing marijuana from the remote West Texas city of El Paso is hoping to pull off an even bigger shocker against powerful incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz next year.
O’Rourke preaches bipartisan tolerance on the U.S.-Mexico border in defiance of President Donald Trump’s “Build that Wall” mantra.
The 44-year-old, third-term, fluent Spanish-speaker is set to announce his 2018 Senate run Friday. He’s the kind of rising political star Democrats hope can help begin turning deep red Texas blue.
But before O’Rourke can challenge Cruz, he’ll have to emerge from a 2018 Democratic primary field that could include another up-and-comer, fellow Congressman Joaquin Castro.