The Texas Report 4/7

April 07, 2023

Happy Friday!

House Appropriations Chairman Greg Bonnen

Written by: Jay Williamson

Statewide News Round-Up

Yesterday, the Texas House met and voted on House Bill (H.B.) 1, which is the bill for the state budget. Consideration for the bill began around 9:00 a.m. and lasted till a little after 8:30 p.m. There were nearly 400 amendments ranging from adding money for the Arts Commission to one from Representative Abel Herrero (D-Corpus Christi), including language preventing state dollars from being used to support school vouchers.

Vouchers were the most contentious issue of the day, as the Governor had been working with House Republicans to try and get them to vote against the amendment as vouchers are one of Abbott's main priorities for the session. The amendment was a test vote showing where the voucher conversation lies in the House. (In most cases voting for the amendment means being against vouchers vs opposing being for)

Republicans who supported the amendment (anti-voucher): 

  • Trent Ashby, Ernest Bailes, Keith Bell, DeWayne Burns, Travis Clardy, Drew Darby, Jay Dean, Charlie Geren, Justin Holland, Kyle Kacal, Ken King, John Kuempel, Stan Lambert, Brooks Landgraf, Angelia Orr, Four Price, John Raney, Glenn Rogers, Hugh Shine, Reggie Smith, David Spiller, and Gary VanDeaver. (Apologies if I missed your position)

  • Several legislators voted "present" and didn't register a position.

It passed on an 86-52 vote, with several rural Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the measure. Judging by the vote disparity, vouchers face an uphill battle in making it through the House. Next Tuesday, House Public Education will hold a committee hearing on some proposed voucher/education savings account legislation, which will likely be one of the most watched hearings of the session. (See how your legislator voted)

One of the other most contentious amendments was by Representative Victoria Neave (D-Dallas), which would have stripped language in the House budget preventing Higher Education Institutions from using Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs or Practices for hiring or admissions. Several Democrats spoke on the amendment and suggested that this would lead to issues down the road of students and faculty choosing not to come to Texas institutions in favor of other schools with these policies in place. The amendment failed on a 64-83 vote that was essentially party line except for Representative Ken King (R-Canadian), who voted for the amendment. 

In a statement about the budget bill, author Representative Greg Bonnen said the spending plan was the culmination of weeks of bipartisan work and culminated in a "final budget that represents the priorities of the state." H.B.1 passed by a 136-10 vote. (Learn more here) With nine Democrats and one Republican dissenting. Some highlights:

  • $17 billion was included to cut the state's appraisal year cap to five percent.

  • Democratic Caucus Leader Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) included an amendment requiring the attorney general's office to provide a semi-annual report on how much state money is being spent on suing the federal government.

  • House Republicans added an amendment increasing funding for Alternatives to Abortion by $40 million annually. (The Texas Tribune reported in 2021 that the initiative lacks data on how the money is being spent.)

  • $4.6 billion for border security efforts.

  • $1.6 billion for school safety grants.

  • $5 billion increase in public education funding, contingent on other actions of the legislature. 

The state budget process is far from over, as the Senate still has to consider its legislation, and then the two chambers will jointly work together over the next month and a half to find common ground. 

The Senate passed voucher legislation yesterday, with one Republican Senator, Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville), joining Democrats in voting against the bill. Senate Bill (S.B.) 8 by Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) would give families $8,000 to spend on private school or other education expenses.

The Senate also approved S.B. 9 by Creighton, which provides teachers a $2k one-time bonus and a $6k bonus for those in school districts with less than 20,000 students. Urban legislators raised questions about fairness, considering the $6k bonus would only be available for some of their school districts. These bills will now be sent over to the House, and judging by my conversations with staff members in the Capitol, most see education as the central issue of the session and are struggling to imagine both chambers agreeing on these proposals. 

In other news, local leaders from the Houston area have responded to Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont's recent comments claiming Houston's downtown area was "butt ugly" during a recent visit to Houston for the NCAA Final Four. County Judge Lina Hidalgo tweeted, "Hi @NedLamont, I'm sure we got some wires crossed about how incredible Houston is," Hidalgo tweeted. "I'd love to show you some of my favorite spots in our lovely Downtown, including fabulous restaurants, historic buildings & massive murals by international artists. Consider this a standing invite!" And Senator Cruz chimed in on social media to add, "The gov of Connecticut—a commuter suburb of NYC that features lovely & safe towns like New Haven—found Houston not up to his aesthetic standard. Must be hard to see so many good jobs for blue-collar workers. Stay classy, Ned. And congrats on the win!" (More here)

Yesterday, Governor Greg Abbott announced two new major statewide initiatives to combat the growing national fentanyl crisis. During his One Pill Kills Summit in Austin. During a press conference following panel discussions, the Governor unveiled a new $10 million multimedia awareness initiative through the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to educate Texans on how to prevent, recognize, and reverse fentanyl poisonings as part of the statewide "One Pill Kills" campaign. The Governor also announced the plan to distribute Naloxone (NARCAN) to all 254 Texas counties by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). (More here)

In his statement about the new campaign Abbott said, "With five Texans losing their lives every day to this clandestine killer, I launched our statewide 'One Pill Kills' campaign last fall to combat the growing fentanyl crisis wreaking havoc on innocent Texans and communities across our state. I thank HHSC for their hard work to raise awareness of fentanyl poisoning and prevention, as well as the Office of the Attorney General and TDEM for securing and implementing the distribution of NARCAN to every county in Texas. I am proud to be here today with so many strong voices leading the fight against the fentanyl crisis in Texas communities. Together, we will save more innocent lives from being lost to the scourge of Fentanyl." The legislature has also signaled that they will be supporting additional training for first responders in treating and handling Fentanyl. 

ProPublica released a report on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his relationship with Dallas billionaire Harlan Crow. The report examines over twenty years of various trips and gifts between the two, including Thomas vacationing on Crow's superyacht, attending events at Crow's private resort in the Adirondacks, and flights on the billionaire's Bombardier Global 5000 jet. In ProPublica's research, they found zero evidence that any of these trips appeared on Thomas' financial disclosures, which may be in violation of a law passed after Watergate requiring justices, judges, members of Congress, and federal officials to disclose most gifts.

In a statement, Crow said, "My wife Kathy and I have been friends with Justice Thomas and his wife Ginni since 1996. We are very dear friends. The hospitality we have extended to the Thomas's over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends. We have been most fortunate to have a great life of many friends and financial success, and we have always placed a priority on spending time with our family and friends. Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality. Crow is a Dallas-based real estate developer and chairman of Crow Holdings. He's been involved in various conservative and Republican causes for decades. (More from Pro Publica here)

Committee schedule for next week: 

Monday - Senate Nominations. House Higher Education, Ways & Means, Energy Resources, Youth Health & Safety, and Corrections. 

Tuesday - Senate Administration, Business & Commerce, State Affairs, Local Government, Criminal Justice. House Human Services, Insurance, International Relations & Economic Development, Natural Resources, Public Education Criminal Jurisprudence, Homeland Security & Public Safety, and Urban Affairs. 

Wednesday - Senate Local Government, Health & Human Services, Natural Resources & Economic Development, and Education. House Transportation, Agriculture & Livestock, Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, Land & Resource Management, Licensing & Administrative Procedures, Pensions, Investments & Financial Services, County Affairs, Juvenile Justice & Family Issues, State Affairs, and Transportation.

Thursday - House Health Care Reform and Culture. Recreation & Tourism Health Care Reform, Redistricting, Defense & Veterans' Affairs, Elections, and Environmental Regulation. 

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