(C) Texas Tribune
This story was originally published by Texas Tribune and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
The Blast - April 17, 2025 [1]
['The Texas Tribune']
Date: 2025-04
29 days for the House to pass legislation that originated in the House 46 days until sine die
“SHOW THE SPEAKER VOTING AYE.”
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows must have a crystal ball, because his predictions this session have been dead on.
Yesterday, he guessed the House would end its day at 2:30 a.m. They ultimately wrapped at 2:34 a.m.
But he was also spot on with a more consequential prediction earlier this session.
“There will be more votes on the House floor for school choice when it passes than there are coauthors,” Burrows said three weeks ago, during his press conference with Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
In the end, despite the band of Republican holdouts against the education savings account plan, all but two GOP members voted in favor of Senate Bill 2. That exceeded the 76 House sponsors and authors who signed on to the voucher legislation.
Burrows helped make it happen, in part because he was the first speaker to openly support the measure. (Former Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, was one of the two to vote against the bill.) However, the final push came from above.
In public statements and posts, members — and their families — have started to peel back the layers on the pressure they received and what would happen if they didn’t play along.
Up until at least Wednesday morning, freshman Rep. Jeff Barry, R-Pearland, was firmly against the bill. He had campaigned against vouchers in a primary against Abbott-backed Alex Kamkar.
“If I voted against it I would have had every statewide and national political AI figure against me. Not to mention all of my bills vetoed,” Barry wrote in a Facebook reply to his statement. “The consequences were dire with no upside at all.”
Clarisa Darby, the wife of Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, defended her husband in his replies with a since-deleted comment, outlining that school funding, oil and gas, water and higher education institutions in the district are issues too important to be vetoed.
She also touched on a key difference between the anti-voucher effort this session and last session.
“In talking to district superintendents before the vote, they made it clear that it was imperative to have school funding,” Clarisa Darby said. “They understood the choice … and school funding was more important to them. Cannot go another two years without it.”
Every flip who has gone public has noted that if they voted no, the Legislature would’ve passed a worse bill.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://thetexastribune.beehiiv.com/p/the-blast-april-17-2025-e60e77cfeb8bf4b9
Published and (C) by Texas Tribune
Content appears here under this condition or license: Used with Permission:
https://www.texastribune.org/republishing-guidelines/.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/texastribune/
