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MustReadTexas.com [ [link removed] ] – @MustReadTexas [ [link removed] ]
BY: @MattMackowiak [ [link removed] ]
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WEDNESDAY || 2/5/25
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AUSTIN NEWSLETTER LAUNCHED
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TOP NEWS
“Texas Senate to vote today on school choice bill,” Dallas Morning News' Philip Jankowski — “The Texas Senate is poised to pass a “school choice” bill [ [link removed] ] Wednesday that would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars for private school education.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, has vowed to pass Senate Bill 2 [ [link removed] ] and send it to the Texas House, where similar school voucher-style bills fell short in previous legislative sessions.
Gov. Greg Abbott has made school choice his No. 1 policy goal [ [link removed] ] for the Legislature.
The debate and votes will be livestreamed by the Texas Senate at senate.texas.gov/av-live.php [ [link removed] ]. The Senate session begins at noon, and SB 2 is the only bill set for debate Wednesday.
SB 2 would create a fund for education savings accounts, a school voucher-style program, with $1 billion from the state budget devoted to the fund. Officials have estimated it would provide enough funding for 90,000 students.
All Texas school-age children would be eligible to apply for an education savings account. Students chosen would get $10,000 to put toward a certified private school. Special education children could receive $11,500. Home-schooled children could get $2,000 to put toward their education.
The bill creates tiered access. If the number of children applying for an education savings account exceeds the $1 billion currently allocated for the fund, $800 million would be prioritized for low-income families or children receiving special education who previously attended public school.
The bill defines low income as families earning five times the federal poverty level, or about $160,000 a year for a family of four.
The remaining $200 million would be available to children of all income levels and include those who are currently in private school.
Similar proposals have passed the Senate numerous times in previous years. Support for the bill falls largely on partisan lines in the Senate, where Republicans hold a strong majority of 20 out of 31 seats.
Patrick has boasted that SB 2 will face little resistance in the Senate, telling KTVT-TV last week that he would send the bill “like a rocket ship” to the House.
The House is a different story. In previous years, similar bills have been defeated by a coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans who opposed using taxpayer money for private school education.
Many House Republicans who opposed school choice retired or were unseated in bruising 2024 Republican primaries in which Abbott actively campaigned against incumbents. Abbott’s political opposition was fueled by $10 million from GOP megadonor Jeff Yass, a Pennsylvania billionaire and leading school choice advocate.
Abbott has said he has at least 79 votes to pass the measure – a majority of the 150-member House." DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
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TOP NEWS
TX TRIB: “After teasing border security rollback, Texas plunges in deeper” Texas Tribune [ [link removed] ]
#TXLEGE
TX TRIB: “Abbott's political muscle puts his agenda on fast track in Legislature” Texas Tribune [ [link removed] ]
STATE GOVERNMENT
AAS: “ERCOT Board discusses transmission plan to serve growing needs of Permian Basin region” AAS [ [link removed] ] ($)
SAEN: “ERCOT's costs to keep aging CPS unit running surge by $12.5M” SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)
KXAN: “Buckingham excited for collaboration with Trump administration, Mexico on border control” KXAN [ [link removed] ]
HOU CHRON: “Paxton donors helped a Texas judge win. Now he wants election reforms” Houston Chronicle [ [link removed] ] ($)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
SAEN: “County Judge Sakai open to using county tax dollars for new arena” SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)
DMN: “Residents locked out of Dallas County Tax Office website on last day to pay” DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
BUSINESS NEWS
HOU CHRON: “CenterPoint agrees to rate decrease in rate case settlement” Houston Chronicle [ [link removed] ] ($)
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
> AP: "Texas man set to be executed for killing a pastor in his own church" AP [ [link removed] ]
> DMN: "TX Attorney General celebrates win in trans health care suits" DMN [ [link removed] ]
> TX TRIB: "After teasing border security rollback, Texas plunges in deeper" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
> FWST: "Dad fatally shot by neighbor in front of his kids with ‘no warning,’ Texas family says" FWST [ [link removed] ]
> TX TRIB: "Justice Department restarts legal aid programs for detained immigrants" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
> TX TRIB: "Execution of man convicted of killing pastor in 2011 scheduled Wednesday" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
> DMN: "What Lakers' Dorian Finney-Smith said about reunion with Luka Doncic" DMN [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "Exclusive: Texas A&M picks 4 companies to build cutting-edge nuclear reactors" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> FWST: "UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth paid president $560,000 to resign" FWST [ [link removed] ]
> FWST: "On his first day as a Laker, Luka Doncic makes it clear he wanted to be a Dallas Maverick | Opinion" FWST [ [link removed] ]
> FWST: "1 person fatally shot during fight in south Fort Worth, police say" FWST [ [link removed] ]
> DMN: "Illegal Texas hunting operation employed ‘sophisticated scheme’" DMN [ [link removed] ]
> DMN: "Fort Worth police investigating fight that turned into fatal shooting" DMN [ [link removed] ]
> FWST: "1 dead, 1 injured after multi-vehicle crash in northwest Fort Worth, police say" FWST [ [link removed] ]
> DMN: "Fort Worth fixture Tandy Leather moving headquarters to nearby city" DMN [ [link removed] ]
> FWST: "Fort Worth neighborhoods are losing internet service for weeks. Blame copper wire thieves." FWST [ [link removed] ]
> FWST: "Former DeSoto and Texas Longhorns football player arrested in Fort Worth" FWST [ [link removed] ]
> DMN: "Texas Lottery: North TX player wins $2 million Mega Million prize" DMN [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "'In shock': Houston's Ismaili Muslim community deals with death of spiritual leader, the Aga Khan" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "Woman fatally shot at west Houston gas station, police say" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> DMN: "Country singer Alan Jackson brings farewell tour to Fort Worth" DMN [ [link removed] ]
> COMMUNITY IMPACT: "Texas must invest in water to meet population growth, state demographer says" COMMUNITY IMPACT [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "Rice University could be targeted under Trump's DEI ban" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "Highly anticipated Katy Food Hall opens with hot chicken, birria and burgers" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "Waffle House adds egg surcharge to restaurants due to ongoing bird flu outbreak" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
EXTRA POINTS
Last night's Texas sports score:
> NBA: Philadelphia 118, Dallas 116
> NBA: Brooklyn 99, Houston 97
> NHL: Anaheim 2, Dallas 1
> NCAAM: #5 Houston 72, Oklahoma State 63
> NCAAM: #13 Texas Tech 73, Baylor 59
> NCAAM: AR Pine Bluff 69, Texas Southern 68
Tonight''s Texas sports schedule:
> 6pm: NCAAM: Rice at East Carolina (ESPN+)
> 6pm: NCAAM: Texas State at Old Dominion (ESPN+)
> 6pm: NBA: San Antonio at Atlanta (ESPN)
> 7pm: NCAAM: West Virginia at TCU (ESPN+)
> 7pm: NCAAM: Tulane at UTSA (ESPN+)
> 8pm: NCAAM: Arkansas at Texas (ESPN2)
> 8pm: NCAAM: SMU at Virginia Tech (ACC Network)
DALLAS MAVERICKS: "Max Christie 'better than advertised' in Mavericks debut" DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
DALLAS MAVERICKS: "Mavericks trading for 76ers forward Caleb Martin" DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
SAN ANTONIO SPURS: "Spurs upgrade Fox, McLaughlin to available for Atlanta game" SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)
DALLAS STARS: "Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen undergoes knee surgery in New York" DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)

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