The Texas House passed school choice. What comes next?
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — On Thursday afternoon it was official, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) are coming to Texas.
'There being 86 ayes and 68 nays, SB 2 is finally passed,' Speaker of the Texas House Dustin Burrows announced before a smattering of cheers rang through the chamber.
While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — who allegedly threatened Republican members to vote for the bill — eagerly awaits the final bill to reach his desk, there's still one final step in the Legislative process to close discrepancies between the versions of Senate Bill 2 passed by the Texas House and Texas Senate.
The Senate's version of SB 2 prioritized including as many middle-class families as possible by only having one 'low-income' requirement. To be classified as low-income under the Senate's version of the bill, households would have to make less than five times the Federal Poverty Line (FPL).
Using 2025's FPL, a family of four making under $160,750 would be eligible to qualify as 'low-income,' putting themselves in a lottery with all other 'low-income' families and families of students with disabilities. The first round of families admitted to the program would draw from this lottery until 80% of the funds are disbursed. The last 20% of funds would be drawn from a lottery available to all students.
READ MORE: Texas leaders share unfiltered thoughts on future of education
The House's version is geared more towards low-income families, setting four prioritization buckets. The first bucket would be families who make under five times the FPL whose student has a disability. The second bucket would be families who are at or below two times the FPL, or $64,300 a year for a family of four. The third bucket would be for families between two times the FPL and five times the FPL, and the last bucket is open enrollment. Under HB 3, everyone who applied for bucket one has to be admitted before funds can start being given to bucket two, and so on.
Priority Ranking
Senate's Version of SB 2
House's Version of SB 2
1
Lottery for students with disabilities OR whose family income is at or below 500% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL). Lottery ends when 80% of funds are dispersed.
Students with disabilities whose family income is at or below 500% of the FPL.
2
Lottery for all students until the remainder of funds are fully dispersed.
Students whose family income is at or below 200% of the FPL.
3
Students whose family income is above 200% and below 500% of the FPL.
4
Students whose family income is above 500% of the FPL.
The Senate's version of SB 2 also differs from the House in how much money recipients are granted. Their version gives $10,000 a year per student who attends an accredited private school in Texas, increased to $11,500 for students with disabilities and decreased to $2,000 for students who are homeschooled.
Instead of giving families a flat rate, the House's version would award admitted families with 85% of the estimated amount of funding each public-school student gets if their child enrolls in an accredited private school. According to the Legislative Budget Board's (LBB) fiscal note, this amount would likely equal $10,330 per student in 2027 — increasing to $10,899 per student in 2030. This number would increase for students with disabilities based on the public school disability funding formula, while admitted home school families would also be eligible for up to $2,000.
To determine which version should be sent to the governor's desk, both chambers of the legislature will send a five 'conferees' for a conference committee.
'Those 10 members — five House (and) five Senate — will work together, being led by the bill authors, to bring solution to the differences between the bill,' Former Speaker of the Texas House Dennis Bonnen said. 'You have to stay within the confines of what the House and the Senate passed. The conferees have to basically decide, 'Are we taking the house language (or) are we taking the Senate language?' when it's in disagreement. They're not allowed to say, we'll just make it all up now and do whatever we want.'
'The consequences were dire': Republican lawmaker alludes to pressure over school choice vote
Some bills never have the full meeting.
'Most conference committees, the two bill authors from the House and Senate meet with each other and work out differences,' Former Democratic Texas House Rep. Mark Strama said.
The bills that don't go to conference are usually on the smaller side, Strama said. However, if the Texas Senate wants to take the exact version the Texas House passed, they could do so without a conference committee.
'If there even is a conference committee — which would be unusual to not have one, but I think there's a chance they won't — but even if there is, I think you're going to find that the House had been respectfully bringing these ideas to the Senate leadership, to Sen. [Brandon] Creighton (R-Conroe) for his consideration,' Bonnen said. '[They did that] so that there would not be significant contention, debate, discussion in a conference, and frankly, for the goal of getting the bill to the governor's desk as soon as possible.'
Rejecting a conference committee would also speed up the pace of legislation.
'That gives the Republican majority greater control over the process. It eliminates the risk that the Democrats are able to exploit the calendar and use time to try to kill the bill,' Strama said. 'Strategically, you'd have to tip your hat to that. That wouldn't be a bad idea for them.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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'And we will make an example of you, you can guarantee it.' ___ Associated Press reporters Nadia Lathan and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California; Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut; Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Florida; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago; contributed. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .


Boston Globe
40 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
US governors are divided along party lines about military troops deployed to protests
All 22 other Democratic governors signed a statement sent by the Democratic Governors Association on Sunday backing Newsom, calling the Guard deployment and threats to send in Marines 'an alarming abuse of power' that 'undermines the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The protests in Los Angeles have mostly been contained to five blocks in a small section of downtown; nearly 200 people were detained on Tuesday and at least seven police officers have been injured. Advertisement In Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they're planning to deploy military troops for protests. Since Trump's return to office, Democratic governors have been calculating about when to criticize him, when to emphasize common ground and when to bite their tongues. 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JB Pritzker, who is set to testify before Congress on Thursday about his state laws protecting people who are in the country without legal status, reiterated in a statement that he stands with Newsom. The office said 'local authorities should be able to do their jobs without the chaos of this federal interference and intimidation.' Advertisement Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, in an interview Wednesday in The Washington Post, said Trump should not send troops to a weekend protest scheduled in Philadelphia. 'He's injected chaos into the world order, he's injected it into our economy, he is trying to inject chaos into our streets by doing what he did with the Guard in California,' Shapiro said. As state attorney general during Trump's first term, Shapiro routinely boasted that he sued Trump over 40 times and won each time. As governor he has often treaded more carefully, by bashing Trump's tariffs, but not necessarily targeting Trump himself. 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In Connecticut, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said he has spoken with his public safety commissioner to make sure state and local police work together. Advertisement 'I don't want to give the president any pretext to think he can come into Connecticut and militarize the situation. That just makes the situation worse,' said Lamont, who called Trump 'a little eager to send federal troops and militarize the situation in Los Angeles.' It is unclear how many Texas National Guard members will be deployed or how many cities asked for assistance. In Austin, where police used chemical irritants to disperse several hundred protesters on Monday, the mayor's office said the National Guard was not requested. San Antonio officials also said they didn't request the Guard. 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Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
US governors are divided along party lines about military troops deployed to protests
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling President Donald Trump's military intervention at protests over federal immigration policy in Los Angeles an assault on democracy and has sued to try to stop it. Meanwhile, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is putting the National Guard on standby in areas in his state where demonstrations are planned. The divergent approaches illustrate the ways the two parties are trying to navigate national politics and the role of executive power in enforcing immigration policies. In his live TV address this week, Newsom said that Trump's move escalated the situation — and for political gain. All 22 other Democratic governors signed a statement sent by the Democratic Governors Association on Sunday backing Newsom, calling the Guard deployment and threats to send in Marines 'an alarming abuse of power' that 'undermines the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement.' The protests in Los Angeles have mostly been contained to five blocks in a small section of downtown; nearly 200 people were detained on Tuesday and at least seven police officers have been injured. In Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they're planning to deploy military troops for protests. Since Trump's return to office, Democratic governors have been calculating about when to criticize him, when to emphasize common ground and when to bite their tongues. The governors' responses are guided partly by a series of political considerations, said Kristoffer Shields, director of the Eagleton Center on the American Governor at Rutgers University: How would criticizing Trump play with Democrats, Republicans and independent voters in their states? And for those with presidential ambitions, how does that message resonate nationally? Democratic governors are weighing a number of considerations. 'There probably is some concern about retributions — what the reaction of the administration could be for a governor who takes a strong stance,' Shields said. And in this case, polling indicates about half of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling immigration, though that polling was conducted before the recent military deployment. On other issues, Democratic governors have taken a variety of approaches with Trump. At a White House meeting in February, Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills told Trump, ' we'll see you in court ' over his push to cut off funding to the state because it allowed transgender athletes in girls' school sports. Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, publicly sparred with Trump during his first term but this time around, has met with him privately to find common ground. Initially, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green referred to Trump as a 'straight-up dictator,' but the next month he told a local outlet that he was treading carefully, saying: 'I'm not going to criticize him directly much at all.' Democratic governors speaking out — but some cautiously Apart from their joint statement, some of the highest-profile Democratic governors have not talked publicly about the situation in California. When asked, on Wednesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's office pointed to a Sunday social media post about the joint statement. Whitmer didn't respond. The office of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is set to testify before Congress on Thursday about his state laws protecting people who are in the country without legal status, reiterated in a statement that he stands with Newsom. The office said 'local authorities should be able to do their jobs without the chaos of this federal interference and intimidation.' Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, in an interview Wednesday in The Washington Post, said Trump should not send troops to a weekend protest scheduled in Philadelphia. 'He's injected chaos into the world order, he's injected it into our economy, he is trying to inject chaos into our streets by doing what he did with the Guard in California,' Shapiro said. As state attorney general during Trump's first term, Shapiro routinely boasted that he sued Trump over 40 times and won each time. As governor he has often treaded more carefully, by bashing Trump's tariffs, but not necessarily targeting Trump himself. GOP governors weighing in Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has often clashed with Newsom, a fellow term-limited governor with national ambitions. Newsom's office said DeSantis offered to send Florida State Guard troops to California. 'Given the guard were not needed in the first place, we declined Governor DeSantis attempt to inflame an already chaotic situation made worse by his Party's leader,' Newsom spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo said in an email to The Associated Press. Speaking on Fox News on Tuesday, DeSantis said the gesture was a typical offer of mutual aid during a crisis — and was dismissive of the reasons it was turned down. 'The way to put the fire out is to make sure you have law and order,' he said. States are preparing for more protests this weekend Protests against immigration enforcement raids have sprung up in other cities — and a series of 'No Kings' demonstrations are planned for the weekend — with governors preparing to respond. In Connecticut, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said he has spoken with his public safety commissioner to make sure state and local police work together. 'I don't want to give the president any pretext to think he can come into Connecticut and militarize the situation. That just makes the situation worse,' said Lamont, who called Trump 'a little eager to send federal troops and militarize the situation in Los Angeles.' It is unclear how many Texas National Guard members will be deployed or how many cities asked for assistance. In Austin, where police used chemical irritants to disperse several hundred protesters on Monday, the mayor's office said the National Guard was not requested. San Antonio officials also said they didn't request the Guard. Florida's DeSantis said law enforcement in his state is preparing 'The minute you cross into attacking law enforcement, any type of rioting, any type of vandalism, looting, just be prepared to have the law come down on you,' DeSantis said Tuesday. 'And we will make an example of you, you can guarantee it.' ___ Associated Press reporters Nadia Lathan and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California; Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut; Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Florida; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago; contributed.