Lone Star State
The Texas House on Friday defeated a proposed voucher plan, also leaving in doubt a comprehensive public school funding plan that became tied to it, The Dallas Morning News reported. A coalition of rural Republicans and Democrats joined together to take education savings accounts out of the bill by an 84-63 margin.
The Texas Legislature, conceived as a part-time body to meet every other year for 140 days, is now in its record fifth session (counting the regular session). When the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is included, legislators have been in Austin pretty much the entire year, as the Texas Tribune noted. While legislators are paid just $7,200 a year in salary, per diem payments – meant to cover their expenses while in Austin – have mounted.
On November 1, the first pair of whooping cranes of the year were spotted flying toward the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the southwest side of San Antonio Bay. Their arrival is about 10 days later than last year, but well within the typical arrival window, according to Kevin McAbee, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Whooping Crane Coordinator.
As the clock ran down on the Legislature’s third special session, Texas House and Senate leaders exchanged barbs over Governor Greg Abbott’s school choice bill and border security proposals, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
In a social media post, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said House Speaker Dade Phelan “wasted another special session” as that chamber failed to even consider Abbott’s measure to use public money for private tuition, commonly known as vouchers.
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