ESA day in the Texas House.
Good Tuesday morning. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. After a few months of late nights and early mornings, I am finally bulking up the team to help streamline my workflow and deliver a better product. You can also start to expect a regular cadence of more long-form writings. As always, would love to hear any feedback.
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HAPPY HB 3 DAY. Today at 8:00 AM, the Texas House Public Education Committee will hold its first hearing on House Bill 3. Sponsored by Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado), the bill has garnered support from 75 Republican co-authors—enough for a slim majority in the 150-seat House. But the fight is far from over, with vocal opposition and fresh polling data showing deep voter skepticism.
This is the bill's first public test in the House. After months of tweeting and townhall shouting, lawmakers, advocates, and opponents—including over 400 Texas AFT educators—will have the chance to hash out the details of the bill.
Meanwhile. The Governor, joined by Speaker Burrows, will speak this morning at 11 AM as part of the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Parent Empowerment Day – free ice cream alert! – at their downtown Austin headquarters.
Ones to Watch. Rep. James Talarico (D–Pflugerville) has been the Democrats' primary critic, sparring routinely with Abbott online and regularly stumping against school choice. A member of the Public Education Committee, he’s likely to lead Democrat opposition on the committee. He and his Democratic colleagues on the committee invited Jeff Yass to testify. "After a bipartisan majority of the Texas House rejected the Governor's private school voucher plan in 2023, you made a $6 million campaign donation to Greg Abbott," the invitation reads.
