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Good morning,

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, January 29, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Burrows Blocks Debate on House Staff Citizenship and Tax Relief By opting to bypass a vote on the chamber's housekeeping resolution, House Speaker Dustin Burrows effectively blocked consideration of lawmakers' pre-filed amendments, some of which touched on high-profile issues. Brandon Waltens has the exclusive details [[link removed]].

Burrows announced Monday that members of the Texas House would not vote on the standard housekeeping resolution typically passed at the start of each legislative session. This procedural step, which addresses matters like staff pay and office budgets, also has provided an opportunity for members to propose and vote on amendments addressing House operations.

Among the amendments that Burrows prevented from reaching the floor for discussion was one requiring that all House employees be U.S. citizens. Another would have reduced office budgets for House members if the chamber did not deliver at least $12 billion in property tax relief during this session. Senate Education Committee Passes School Choice In the first policy hearing of 2025, the Texas Senate's Committee on Education K-16 focused on school choice and education savings accounts. Luca Cacciatore has more from the Texas Capitol [[link removed]].

According to State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), who authored the ESA-focused Senate Bill 2, up to 100,000 students could take advantage of the program in the 2026-2027 school year. That constraint is based on the funding limitations for the coming biennial budget.

Russell Withers, director of policy and general counsel at the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute, testified in favor of the measure and specifically praised its lack of connection to public school funding increases.

The bill was then voted out of committee last night, and it is expected to be voted on by the full Senate next week.

"This program is still ten times what Florida launched 25 years ago and, I believe, it is a 100x factor or more on what Arizona began with. But for 20-plus years, those two states respectively started out with a focus of public school students needing an option that might involve a private school opportunity." – Brandon Creighton [[link removed]]RELATED NEWS Emily Medeiros reports [[link removed]] that a new poll from the University of Houston indicates more than two-thirds of Texans support legislation enacting Education Savings Accounts for students. Demographically, 70 percent of Latino Republicans said they support ESAs benefiting all parents, along with 70 percent of white Republicans, 61 percent of Latino Democrats, and 66 percent of black Democrats. The lowest support for ESAs came from white Democrats (52 percent). Despite Declining Test Scores, Education Commissioner Claims ‘Progress’ Despite declining test scores, the Texas Education Agency commissioner expressed “optimism for the future of public education” in a report recapping the 2023-24 school year. Erin Anderson has more information [[link removed]].

According to the agency’s 2024 Annual Report, only 48 percent of 3rd-grade students read at or above grade level—a 2-percent decline from the previous school year. Just 42 percent scored at or above grade level in math—a 3-percent decline.

Performance data for 8th graders was only slightly better, with 56 percent reading at or above grade level and 49 percent at or above grade level in math. Yet again, those numbers are a decline compared to the previous year.

Education Commissioner Mike Morath [[link removed]] acknowledged that the state’s education system faces “significant challenges” and “obstacles,” yet he still said Texans “can take pride in the progress toward growing opportunities for all Texas students.” Aggressive Offers Add to Ongoing Texas Lottery Controversies In another concerning development, Lotto.com has reportedly begun offering free lottery tickets to customers of the AMC Theater chain... regardless of the theater-goers' ages. Daniel Greer reports [[link removed]] that this follows the revelation of similar activity directed at Uber customers.

The specific instance reported to Texas Scorecard involved purchasing tickets to the "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" movie. No age verification is required to buy tickets for PG-rated movies, potentially exposing minors to online gambling.

This latest instance of aggressive lottery marketing comes as the former executive director of the Texas Lottery has been widely exposed as a rogue actor. During Gary Grief’s tenure, the lottery commission systemically undermined state law and long-standing agency rules. A recent report by the Texas Sunset Commission revealed how online lottery ticket sales proliferated under Grief’s watch.

According to Rob Kohler [[link removed]], a lobbyist for the Christian Life Commission, since the Lottery Commission has allowed couriers to act as “merchants of record on behalf of the Texas Lottery,” the movie ticket advertising violates Texas Government Code. Quote-Unquote

"Schools have not necessarily much to do with education… they are mainly institutions of control where certain basic habits must be inculcated in the young. Education is quite different and has little place in school."

– Winston Churchill​

Number of the Day

$15,503

Total per-student funding in the 2023-24 school year.

[Source: Texas Education Agency [[link removed]]]

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(202) 224-2934

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