House Public Education Committee passes school finance, school voucher bills

The House Public Education Committee conducted a formal meeting on April 4 to vote on bills left pending in previous meetings, including HB 2 (school finance) and HB 3/SB 2 (vouchers). Typically, these meetings are procedural, do not involve any debate, and are sparsely attended, but given the controversial nature of the agenda, Chair Brad Buckley (R-Salado) opted to hold the meeting in the usual hearing room so more members of the public and media could attend.

Before the first bill was considered, Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) grilled Buckley on his decision not to broadcast the meeting online through the typial Capitol livestream. Buckley repeatedly responded that House rules do not require formal meetings to be broadcast, but Talarico was undeterred, asking Buckley if he could broadcast the meeting if he desired. Buckley never gave him a straight answer, saying that news coverage would suffice. CBS Texas streamed the meeting on YouTube, and others in attendance also recorded the meeting.

Discussion on both the school finance and voucher bills was lengthy. A new version of the school finance bill includes a small increase in the basic allotment, raising it to $6,500 per student (from the current $6,160). School district representatives have told lawmakers that a total increase of more than $1,300 would be needed just to keep up with inflation since the last increase in state funding. The House bill does not include a specific teacher pay raise, but retains (and revises) existing language tying salary increases to funding increases. Estimates have not been publicized, but the small increase in the basic allotment is not expected to provide a significant improvement in salaries. HB 2 was advanced from the committee on a 13-2 vote.

The committee substituted its version of voucher legislation into the Senate's, so SB 2 is now the vehicle moving forward in the House. The committee vote on the voucher legislation was 9-6, and the bill will advance to the Calendars Committee for possible scheduling for House floor debate.