The regular session of the Texas Legislature has ended and several of you have asked for my thoughts on it, for whatever they are worth at this point. Based solely on what was actually accomplished in the 140-day regular session I would score it at about a C. But the Governor has already called for a special session and there will likely be more to follow on into the summer and the final score could move one way or the other. So we’ll see what can be added, and there are some pretty big items left to deal with, including property tax relief, border security, and my highest priority, comprehensive school choice, which is hanging by a thread with a glimmer of hope that the Governor, who has been a stalwart on it, can bring the House to send him a bill he is willing to sign so as to convene a conference on it with the Senate bill.
As for leadership, Lt. Gov. Patrick had identified 30 priorities for the Senate going into the session and sent the House a Senate bill on almost every one of them with plenty of time to get them approved and sent to Gov. Abbott. Many of them died for lack of action or “slow walking” in the House. So the accountability for the failure to get some Republican priorities fully addressed in this session is pretty apparent.
One additional point: To me, what may prove to be the most important bill to come out of this session is SB 17, the bill to abolish the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy and related programs from Texas public higher education. I have previously written about the insidious nature of DEI, the agenda of which is disastrous for free expression, academic integrity, and the very notion of a university, and that was fast becoming the organizing principle of the leading institutions in Texas. It was shameful that this action had to be taken by the legislature and not through self correction by the institutions, but good that it’s done and that Texas is leading in this “counter-revolution” in higher education.
Larry Adams says
Here is the kicker on residential property tax relief. Counties are already planning on this package being passed. The county governments will not go silently into this process . To make up for the loss in tax revenue Collin County increased my commercial property tax by 91%. No, this is not a typo.
Sandy Kress says
I agree with you wholeheartedly on DEI, Jim. The foolishness there must come to an end, though I fear its proponents will never stop, the new law notwithstanding. Sadly, the battle will have to be fought over and over again, probably for some time to come.
As to school policy, what I find most interesting is that Patrick and Abbott are playing hardball on funding. No ESAs, no real increases in spending and pay.
This shocked the educrats. The issue will be whether the leadership can withstand the heat the bureaucrats and unions will throw their way. At the very least, nothing above inflation and growth until and unless…
I say it every time I write in this space, but I need to repeat it. It makes me very sad that our reforms of higher standards and accountability for k-12, rather than being fixed and strengthened, only get weakened all the time.
The result for our children is that we’ve lost much of the achievement gains it took decades of good policy and hard work to record. Such a damn shame.
As you know, and as an illustration, the 8th grade math gains on NAEP in Texas since the early 90s were so significant that black and Hispanic students in 2011 were basically as a group academically ready to study high school math FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TEXAS HISTORY.
But, alas, no more. They’ve dropped over a grade level in the last decade.
THIS NEWS WAS AN INCREDIBLE , UNKNOWN VICTORY, AND THE RETREAT HAS BECOME THE SAME SORT OF TRAGEDY.
If we can’t restore good policy, let’s at least help parents find alternative ways out and forward!
Jim Windham says
That’s exactly why I returned to the school choice policy option—no one, not even our former allies, has any interest in discussing the standards and accountability space.