The Legislature will reconvene later this afternoon for a third week of this special session without much fanfare expected. The House has two committee meetings scheduled – Appropriations met today at 10:00 a.m. to discuss Rep. Jacey Jetton’s border wall funding plan (HB 6) and Calendars will meet at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday to consider a floor schedule forWednesday.
Despite the narrow criteria of the governor’s call, nearly 400 pieces of legislation have been filed. The latest bill of note is HB 1 by Rep. Brad Buckley. Buckley, House Public Education Chairman, filed the omnibus education spending bill, including an Education Savings Account (ESA), last Friday. The Chairmanindicated hewill not schedule a hearing on the bill until the governor expands the call to include education funding. Meanwhile, thegovernor continues to emphasize that the call will only be expanded once an ESA bill has passed. The stalemate between the legislative and executive branches seems to increase the chances of a fourth special session. The final day of the current thirty-day special session is Tuesday, November 7th.
What also remains in question is whether vouchers have enough votes to pass if a bill were to reach the floor. The NTC continues to lead a coalition that is urging legislatorsto oppose any legislation that transfers public dollars to private education systems that are not accountable to taxpayers. Yesterday, the NTC was featured on NBC 5’s Lone Star Politics to discuss our recent stance against vouchers in this Dallas Morning News op-ed. You can watch a recording of the segment here.
Upcoming Elections
The early voting period for the Constitutional Amendment election begins today, October 23, and runs through Friday, November 3. The November 7th Constitutional Amendment Election will have fourteen propositions for voters to consider. The NTC’s Board of Directors endorsed nine of the amendments on the ballot. You can access information on those initiatives and other useful election resources on our official GOTV toolkit webpage. The Secretary of State’s website has a helpful link to the explanatory statements for each of the fourteen propositions.
If your organization would like an in-depth explanation of the interworkings of the Capitol or an Election Primer, do not hesitate to get in touch with Christopher Lee (christopher@ntc-dfw.org), Director of State Relations, to schedule an NTC presentation.
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