Texas Senate green lights school vouchers, sending $1 billion bill to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk

AUSTIN — After declining to make any amendments to the Texas House’s version of a sweeping school voucher bill, the state Senate on Thursday passed the legislation on a 19-12 vote.

Senate Bill 2 now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott, who made vouchers his top priority during the past two legislative sessions. The Republican governor has collected millions in campaign donations from backers of so-called “school choice” legislation.

Sen. Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) was the only Senate Republican to vote against the bill Thursday.

The Senate’s approval comes a week after the Republican-controlled House approved the voucher proposal. House Democrats, led by Rep. James Talarico of Austin, made a last-ditch attempt to put the question of vouchers to a statewide vote but ultimately lost in that bid.

“Thanks to the dedication of our lawmakers, Texas families will soon have educational freedom,” Abbott tweeted after the bill cleared the Senate.

During the 2023 legislative session, a coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans shut down Abbott’s voucher proposal in the Texas House. Voucher opponents argue Texas’ program would pull money away from already cash-strapped public school districts to subsidize the private-school tuitions of deathly families.

However, Abbott spent big to mount primary challenges for anti-voucher GOP incumbents last year, and he reportedly warned of further reprisals ahead of last week’s vote on SB 2.

Under SB 2, some Texas families will be allowed to use taxpayer money to cover $10,000 in private school tuition and other school-related expenses.

The bill would prioritize the vouchers going to low-income families and those whose children have special education needs. However, up to 20% of those enrolled in the program could be families of four earning more than $160,000.

The state’s voucher program will go into effect during the 2026-27 school year, and it will be capped at $1 billion for the first two years of operation.

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This article appears in Apr 16-29, 2025.