February 2023 Texas Legislative Updates

Governor Greg Abbott delivered a State of the State address, naming seven emergency items: school safety, bail reform, covid restrictions, fentanyl crisis, property taxes, border security, and education freedom. If a bill is related to the governor’s emergency items, members can vote on it earlier in the session.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announces his top 30 legislative session priorities. He said, “… tradition has been for bill numbers 1 through 20 to indicate the Lt. Governor’s and the Senate’s priorities. In 2017, I increased the low bill numbers to 30. Senators like to get a low bill number because it shows their bill is also a priority … and has a great chance of passing.”
House Appropriations Chairman Greg Bonnen announced the appropriations subcommittee chairs and subcommittees:

Subcommittee on Article III

Gary VanDeaver, Chair
Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, Vice Chair
John Bryant
Mando Martinez
Geanie Morrison
Lina Ortega
Carrie Isaac
Carl Teppersad
Kronda Thimesch
Doug Deason, a GOP megadonor, is teaming with former Chairman Larry Taylor and former Representative Ron Simmons to bring their perspectives to the school choice debate. They aim to give parents “a much stronger voice and say in the educational choices for their children.” They appear to be headed toward a clash with Texas House leadership on the matter.

Days until the 88th Texas Legislative Session Sine Die: 98 (May 29, 2023)

TEA official Steve Lecholop admits public school funds could drop with voucher-like programs while advocating for voucher-like programs on behalf of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Lecholop’s secretly recorded comments appear to be the first time a top TEA official has explicitly spoken in support of expanding voucher-like programs.

The U.S. Department of Education announced over $18 million in grants to increase high-quality teacher preparation programs for teachers of color and address teacher shortages. The grants aim to recruit and prepare diverse individuals to become teachers that better reflect the demographics of public school students and provide culturally and linguistically responsive teaching in underserved schools.
The U.S. Justice Department is distributing over $200 million to states and the District of Columbia to enforce “red-flag laws” and crisis-intervention programs. The laws aim to temporarily remove firearms from individuals with potentially violent behavior and prevent them from harming themselves or others. The funding comes from the $1.4 billion allocated for gun violence prevention through landmark bipartisan gun legislation passed by Congress last year.

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