Education savings accounts and illegal immigration will be part of third special legislative session’s focus

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Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday released his agenda for the third legislative special session of the year, asking lawmakers to pass “school choice” and further crack down on illegal immigration. The special session starts at 1 p.m. Monday.

In addition, Abbott urged legislators to prohibit private employers from imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Abbott stated that he is calling for Special Session #3 to bring back the Texas Legislature, with the aim of further advancing the accomplishments made during the 88th Regular Legislative Session and the two previous special sessions held this summer.

The special session has long been expected, but it comes at a tense time in Texas politics. Last month, the state Senate acquitted Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial, ratcheting up tensions with the House that overwhelmingly voted to impeach him in May. And the special session starts about a month before candidate filing begins for the March primary, heightening implications for members’ reelection prospects.

Abbott has been pushing all year for legislation that would allow parents to use taxpayer funds to help pay for private school tuition, home schooling expenses or private tutoring. He prioritized it during the regular session, but it did not advance out of the House, where Democrats and rural Republicans have long resisted it.

Abbott’s agenda specifically calls for “education savings accounts for all Texas schoolchildren,” or taxpayer-funded accounts that parents could use to subsidize alternative education costs.

Abbott expressed his determination to collaborate and create a more promising future for every child in Texas. He emphasized the importance of empowering parents to select the optimal education option for their children.

It is worth mentioning that Abbott’s agenda solely focuses on education savings accounts, omitting any other education matters. This is noteworthy considering that lawmakers were unable to prioritize teacher pay raises and an increase in per-student funding during the regular session, as these proposals became entangled with Abbott’s push for education savings accounts and failed to be implemented.

Abbott’s appeal for education savings accounts was met with a swift response from the Democrats.

“Today, there are schools in my district and all across Texas at risk of closure because the governor is holding public school funding hostage to pass his private school voucher scam,” state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, said in a statement. “It’s clear Greg Abbott is more interested in doing the bidding of the billionaire mega donors pushing this scam than in serving the people of Texas.”

In the past few weeks, it has become evident that Abbott will prioritize border security. His agenda includes resurrecting certain proposals that were previously unsuccessful, such as enhancing penalties for human smuggling and establishing a state criminal offense for illegal entry from a foreign country.

But Abbott also included a fresher topic on the call: Colony Ridge, the massive residential settlement north of Houston that conservative media has portrayed as a haven for illegal immigration. The developer, a major GOP donor named Trey Harris, has fiercely pushed back on the allegations and invited all lawmakers to tour the community Thursday.

Abbott’s intentions regarding Colony Ridge are still ambiguous. His agenda emphasizes the need for legislation addressing public safety, security, environmental quality, and property ownership in similar areas as Colony Ridge.

Abbott was able to pass a law this year that banned COVID-19 vaccine mandates for public entities, including school districts. However, this law did not apply to private employers, which has caused some concern among conservatives.

“This is fantastic,” Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi posted on X after Abbott announced his agenda. “I did not expect vaccine mandates to be added to the call.”

In a swift response to Abbott’s agenda, the Senate wasted no time in announcing two committee hearings for early next week. The first hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, will be held by the Senate Education Committee to discuss legislation on education savings accounts. The second hearing, set for a day earlier, will be convened by the Finance Committee to address “teacher compensation and funding for public schools.” Although these topics aren’t specifically mentioned in Abbott’s agenda, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been adamant that the Legislature has broad authority to consider various matters during a special session – a point of contention with the governor during previous special sessions.

After the regular session concluded in late May, the first two special sessions promptly commenced. During these sessions, lawmakers dedicated their efforts to negotiate property tax relief, which they eventually achieved in mid-July.

Along the way, though, Abbott aggressively used his veto pen to try to force a compromise between the House and Senate. He vetoed 76 bills from the regular session, the second highest tally in state history.

He stated that several vetoes were justified by stating that the bills could only be revisited in a later special session once property tax relief is successfully implemented. However, none of these bills are included in the agenda released by Abbott on Thursday.

It is also noticeable that there are no mentions of teacher pay raises or school funding. Abbott had previously implied that they would be connected to education savings accounts during a future special session after the regular session.

In August, when questioned about teacher pay raises, Abbott assured a reporter of his unwavering dedication to such legislation. However, he refrained from confirming its inclusion in the ongoing special session.