AUSTIN (Nexstar) – A vote Thursday in the Texas House moved the state one step closer to creating a program to let parents use tax dollars to help pay for private school. An announcement Friday indicates the next steps could come quickly.
The House gave final approval to Senate Bill 2, which would create education savings accounts, but included an amendment on how to prioritize the funding. The House plan put a higher priority on low income families and families of children with disabilities. The amended bill raised the potential for a conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
But on Friday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick posted on social media that he’s calling on the Senate to accept the House changes. That would speed up the process of getting the legislation to Gov. Greg Abbott to sign the bill into law.
“I’ve fought for school choice for my entire legislative career,” Patrick posted on X. “Now, in consultation with @CreightonForTX, I am recommending the Senate concur with Senate Bill 2, the largest school choice launch in American history,” Patrick added.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, posted on X that the Senate will send the bill to Abbott on Tuesday, April 22.
Abbott listed education savings accounts as one of his emergency items, making it a priority for lawmakers. He posted a response to Patrick’s post, saying, “Ready to sign this bill into law.”
The House passage of the ESA legislation came after hours of heated debate, which stretched from Wednesday afternoon into the early morning hours Thursday.
A Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives explained to his constituents in a comment on a Facebook post that he voted to approve Senate Bill 2, the ESA bill, because all of his bills and appropriations were “at risk,” echoing allegations made against the Governor Wednesday night.
The bill would create a $1 billion program where families could apply to use taxpayer money to help pay for private school tuition and school supplies.
Early Thursday morning, after hours of debate, State Rep. Jeff Barry, R-Pearland, posted his official statement on the passage of the education savings account legislation.
“While I have had serious reservations about any form of ESA proposal, I fought to make the legislation better for our students by working closely with House Public Education Committee Chairman Brad Buckley and committee members, House colleagues, and our school districts to develop provisions that would improve this proposal,” Barry said in the statement.
He posted it to his Facebook page and received more than 130 comments from constituents, most of them negative about his yes vote. One Facebook user, Maritza Wong, wrote in a comment, “Just Wednesday morning, your staff said you were a firm no on vouchers.”
Barry’s account responded to that comment, saying, “The bill was passing regardless of my vote. If I voted against it, I would have had every statewide and national political Al figure against me. Not to mention all of my bills vetoed. The consequences were dire, with no upside at all. I understand your frustration, and I am disappointed in the outcome as well. If I would have voted against this, all of my bills and appropriations were at risk. We have some great things we have already done for the district.”
Nexstar has reached out to Barry’s office for a comment and is waiting to hear back.
The comments made in the Facebook post echo the allegations made against Gov. Abbott during the House floor debate. State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, proposed an amendment to call for a referendum, allowing Texas voters to decide in a statewide vote if they wanted an ESA program.
In his layout of the amendment, Talarico alleged Abbott was threatening Republican lawmakers by telling them he would veto all of their bills and threatened to make their primaries a “blood bath.”
“The last time I checked, this was still the people’s House, not the Governor’s House,” Talarico said to his House colleagues. State Rep. Mitch Little, R – Lewisville, questioned which of his Republican colleagues had been threatened, but Talarico would not provide any names.
Abbott’s Press Office posted a response to those allegations on its official X account, calling Talarico two-faced. “He lied about the school choice program and the Governor,” the post said. A spokesperson in the Governor’s Office said the governor spoke with members and encouraged them to vote for school choice legislation.
The referendum was eventually tabled by the House, along with 42 other amendments that were offered by House Democrats during debate.
Abbott met with the House Republican Caucus before Wednesday’s vote. During that meeting, President Donald Trump called in to the meeting and was put on speaker for all of the members to hear.
According to a portion of that call posted on social media, President Trump could be heard saying school choice is a top priority for the Republican Party.
The President posted on Truth Social following the passage of SB 2. “This is a gigantic Victory for students and parents in the Great State of Texas! We will very soon be sending Education BACK TO ALL THE STATES, where it belongs,” the post read.
In 2023, school choice legislation could not get passed the House of Representatives after 21 Republican members joined Democrats in opposition.
Following that defeat, Abbott campaigned against the members in his own party, spending millions on their primary opponents.
There were only two Republican members who voted against SB 2 on Wednesday night. That included former Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, and State Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, who also voted against school choice in the past.
Texas DOGE calls for sanctions, audit of insurance company accused of investigating lawmakers and customers
The Texas House Committee on the Delivery of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is calling for an immediate audit of and sanctions against Superior HealthPlan, a state Medicaid contractor that manages the care of sick and disabled children and is accused of spying on lawmakers and private citizens.
On Tuesday, the lawmakers released a copy of a letter they sent to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, asking the agency to suspend Superior’s ability to enroll new Medicaid members and to bar the company from receiving any new Texas Medicaid contracts until the Texas Attorney General’s office concludes its ongoing investigation into the company’s surveillance practices.
DOGE also submitted a request with the State Auditor’s Office to conduct a comprehensive review of financial records of Superior and its parent company, Centene Corporation, to find any “evidence of financial irregularities or commingling of state funds, undisclosed payments to contractors, violations of contract terms, and communications regarding whistleblower reports or obstruction of regulatory investigations.”
KXAN reached out to Centene for a response and a spokesperson for the company sent an emailed response, saying, “We look forward to the opportunity to share information with HHSC and the Attorney General to correct the numerous false accusations that have stemmed from the March 26th DOGE committee hearing. The actions in question amounted to a limited number of remote, desk-based research projects using publicly available information and occurred more than five years ago. None of the research was used for unlawful or unethical purposes. For 25 years, Superior has delivered access to high-quality health care to Texans statewide and employs 3,300 people across the state. Superior is consistently rated among the highest quality health plans serving the Texas Medicaid program. We remain committed to continued transparency and accountability in our ongoing partnership with the State.”
DOGE Lawmakers and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have accused Superior of hiring private investigators to get information on lawmakers, who influence Medicaid policy, and private citizens, who are patients.
KXAN investigators reviewed copies of emails showing Superior’s former CEO, Mark Sanders, asking for ‘in-depth’ reports about certain lawmakers and various health care providers from a personnel group known for background investigations.
The emails, sent between 2017 and 2019, were publicly revealed during a March 26 DOGE committee hearing. There, lawmakers grilled Sanders over the company’s surveillance practices.
At the time, committee chairman Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, told Sanders, “I don’t think what any of us expected was for a health insurance company that is funded mostly by Texas taxpayer dollars — that they would use some of those monies to hire private investigators — that they would hire a private investigator to follow a mom whose child was being denied medical care.”
One day after the hearing, Centene announced that Sanders was no longer with the company.
It also released a statement, saying the company had launched an internal investigation to “examine the conduct in question and to ensure our current practices are fully aligned with our core values and ethical standards.”
According to Centene’s investigation to date, the research in question was “conducted through publicly or commercially available resources and limited to desk-based research.” The statement also explicitly said no individual was ever followed or photographed.
The statement went on, “Background research has many business uses, including meeting preparation as well as helping to identify conflicts of interest and potential fraud, waste, and abuse, which is part of our duty as a government-sponsored healthcare organization. The research in question included irrelevant and unnecessary personal information. That was inappropriate and never should have happened. This occurred prior to 2019 and does not reflect the values or standards of our current leadership. For that, we offer our sincere and unequivocal apology.
The company also noted that the suggestions that these materials were used for leverage or blackmail are “completely false.”
In the DOGE announcement on Tuesday, Rep. Capriglione noted that the practices “were nothing short of appalling and raised serious questions about whether Superior sought to gain leverage over legislators in order to advance their own contracting interests.”
He went on, “We now have no choice but to hold Superior accountable to protect the integrity of our healthcare and contracting systems. This is a serious matter of public trust, and we will use every tool available to protect the rights, privacy, and tax dollars of Texans and the integrity of our public health system.”
Patient advocates told KXAN investigators that the emails point to the need for more accountability and oversight for the system in which Texas funnels public dollars to the private companies that operate the state’s various Medicaid programs and manage care for many low-income, elderly, or disabled Texans and foster children.
“Sunlight is the best disinfectant. There is, I think, again, a pattern of behavior here that is really disturbing. Texans deserve better, and taxpayers deserve better. Patients deserve better,” said Hannah Mehta, founder of the advocacy group Protect TX Fragile Kids.
She went on, “This is horrifying and alarming for families who literally are fighting for life, sustaining care for their children, trying to keep their kids alive.”
Middleton announces campaign, Bash touts credentials in race for Texas Attorney General
The race to replace Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is heating up as State Senator and oil and gas businessman Mayes Middleton challenges former U.S. Attorney John Bash for the Republican nomination.
The state attorney general’s race became an open contest after Attorney General Paxton announced a primary challenge to current U.S. Senator John Cornyn in 2026. Sen. Middleton is now the second Republican to announce his candidacy for Texas’ top law enforcement officer.
Attorney Bash announced his bid for the office on April 10. Bash’s candidacy has attracted national attention due to his ties to billionaire Elon Musk. Bash currently represents Musk in a defamation case after Musk amplified social media posts falsely placing a California man at a clash involving far-right protesters near an Oregon Pride festival.
During his time as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, Bash prosecuted a number of high-profile cases. He was involved in the prosecution of a network of “Pill Mill” clinics accused of helping fuel the opioid epidemic 2019. Bash also oversaw the prosecution of the gunman in the 2019 mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart.
Bash said his experience in Washington and as a U.S. Attorney makes him the best prepared person to lead the attorney general’s office.
“I’m not a career politician. I’ve never run for office before,” he said. “(Attorney General is) not a position you use to advance your political career. It’s a real working position that needs to come up with legal strategies to keep our citizens safe, to keep them prosperous.”
Bash said prosecuting cartel violence, challenging certain federal laws, and defending state laws from constitutional challenges are important and difficult tasks for the next attorney general to tackle.
“It’s not a job for somebody who’s never been inside of a courtroom,” he said. “I think my resume and my experience will stack up well against anybody who’s going to run in this race.”
Sen. Middleton announced his run for the office in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday. Middleton is the President of Middleton Oil Company, which operates over 60 wells in Texas. and served two terms as a state representative prior to his senate tenure. Sen. Middleton received a law degree from The University of Texas Law School in 2008.
As a senator, Middleton represents a Republican-stronghold that encompasses much of Galveston County and Brazoria County, and a small portion of Harris County. His campaign website touts his efforts to restrict transgender women from competing in collegiate sports, ban vaccine mandates, and support border security during his time as senator.
In his announcement, Middleton said he would commit $10 million of his own money to the campaign.
“There isn’t another Texas to move to,” he said. “I will work to ensure Texas is the safest state to live and raise a family.”
Middleton would have been up for re-election for his state senate seat next year, but he will have to vacate that seat for his attorney general run.
Federal government cancels $60M grant for Texas high-speed rail
More than $60 million in federal funding previously set aside to help connect Texas cities through high-speed rail, is being nixed, according to a news release from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The Amtrak Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor project would have connected Houston and Dallas. Duffy says the projected cost of that connection ballooned to more than $40 billion.
KXAN has reached out to Amtrak and will update this story when we get a response.
“The Texas Central Railway project was proposed as a private venture. If the private sector believes this project is feasible, they should carry the pre-construction work forward, rather than relying on Amtrak and the American taxpayer to bail them out,” Duffy said.
What does that mean for high-speed rail in Texas? The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) said they’re still looking at opportunities for rail and high-speed rail projects.
“Connecting Dallas and Houston remains one of the more exciting opportunities for new passenger rail in the United States,” said FRA Chief Counsel Kyle Fields.
“We agree with Secretary Duffy that this project should be led by the private sector, and we will be proud to take it forward. This project is shovel-ready and will create significant new jobs and economic growth for Texas as part of President Trump’s efforts to boost the U.S. economy,” Kleinheinz Capital Partners, the lead investment sponsor for the project, said in-part in a statement.
Andy Gent, a representative for Texas Central, testified Thursday before the Texas House Transportation Committee. He echoed the belief that cutting Amtrak out of the project is a good thing, even with the loss of grant funding.
“We support what the Department of Transportation is saying. We look forward to working, continuing to work with the Department of Transportation,” Gent told the committee. “I know that they believe that Dallas to Houston remains a very lucrative… route that they want to explore and so we’re just going to continue to explore that with them,” he added.
Committee member Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville asked about the outlook for the project after the grant funding was canceled.
“To put a fine point on it for the committee, do you still believe that the project is alive?” Little asked.
“Of course,” Gent responded.
Central Texas leaders have also pushed for commuter rail connections between Austin and San Antonio. Travis County Judge Andy Brown has been one of the most vocal.
“I’m still focused on bringing improved passenger rail to help the Travis County-Bexar County super region continue to thrive,” Brown said.