If you were wondering if the left-leaning cabal behind Dade Phelan would ever let any form of school choice pass the Texas house, now you know.
Following a year of anticipation and four special sessions, the hopes of school choice being passed on the floor of the Texas House have been dashed after an amendment stripped education savings accounts (ESAs) from this special session’s education omnibus bill.
The amendment offered by Rep. John Raney (R-College Station) was initially signed by 16 other members before being passed by a vote of 84 to 63.
Members then voted to lock that change in and prevent the removal from being reconsidered at a later time, a motion which passed by the same margin as Raney’s amendment.
Of the 85 Republicans in the House, those voting in favor of the ESA removal amendment included:
Rep. Steve Allison (R-San Antonio)
Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd)
Rep. Keith Bell (R-Forney)
Rep. DeWayne Burns (R-Cleburne)
Rep. Travis Clardy (R-Nacogdoches)
Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo)
Rep. Jay Dean (R-Longview)
Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth)
Rep. Justin Holland (R-Rockwall)
Rep. Kyle Kacal (R-College Station)
Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian)
Rep. John Kuempel (R-Seguin)
Rep. Stan Lambert (R-Abilene)
Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction)
Rep. Four Price (R-Amarillo)
Rep. John Raney (R-College Station)
Rep. Glenn Rogers (R-Graford)
Rep. Hugh Shine (R-Temple)
Rep. Reggie Smith (R-Sherman)
Rep. Ed Thompson (R-Pearland)
Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston)
The ESA removal amendment was supported by all 64 House Democrats.
The names of some of those Republicans voting against school choice should be familiar, as they’ve thwarted Republican priorities in the past:
Allison, Kacel, King, Kuempel, Lambert, Price and Raney all voted to create a “Office of Health Equity Policy” in the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Allison, Bailes, Clardy, Kacel, King, Lambert, Raney and VanDeaver all voted against banning taxpayer-funded lobbying.
Geren was Joe Straus’ righthand man for years, and once had an aide file a false child protective services act against his primary opponent, and was one of the main instigators of the vendetta against Ken Paxton.
All of them except Clardy, Price and Thompson voted in favor of the Paxton impeachment.
Primarying everyone on that list (and, of course, Phelan) would be a good start.
Following the vote, Governor Greg Abbot declared that “the small minority of pro-union Republicans in the Texas House who voted with the Democrats will not derail the outcome that their voters demand,” but it remains unclear how he can move his school choice agenda after this gutting.
Abbott has said he’ll veto and education bills without ESAs. He’s also threatened to keep holding special sessions until school choice passes. We’ll see if he follows through.