Another rejection on school vouchers
Gov. Greg Abbott has officially struck out again in his quest to get a school voucher plan passed in the Texas Legislature.
To the surprise of no one, the Texas House officially ended the fourth special session Abbott had called this year without passing his priority item. Many rural Republicans and most Democrats in the House have opposed Abbott's plan to allow parents to use tax dollars to cover part of the tuition for private schools. And they show no signs of budging.
Now the ball is back in Abbott's court. He can call lawmakers back for a fifth special session with little to no prospects of the bill passing or simply wait until the March primary elections where he has vowed to help defeat House Republicans who have refused to pass the school choice package he wants.
Earlier this fall, Abbott said he would keep calling special session after special session until he gets what he wanted. But more recently, he's changed that tone a bit and sounded more like he is preparing for battle in the March Republican primary.
"I will continue advancing school choice in the Texas Legislature and at the ballot box," Abbott said in a statement just over two weeks ago.
Who's up, who's down
Up: Tommy Tuberville.
The Republican Senator from Alabama and one-time Texas Tech football coach finally ended his one-man blockade of more than 300 military promotions and appointments. "I am not going to hold the promotions of these people any longer," he said at a press conference in Washington, D.C. Soldiers based in San Antonio and at Fort Cavazos have been among those blocked from accepting appointments or promotions.
Down: Greg Abbott.
There is no way to sugarcoat it. He used his political weight to demand the Texas House pass a school voucher plan, and they said no — again. The Republican governor has mostly gotten what he wants from the Republican-controlled Legislature during his three terms in office. The loss is more glaring given how much public pressure Abbott has applied, even at one point claiming they had a deal and were on the one-yard line of getting the plan passed.
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What else is going on in Texas
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Pick of the day
A Texas woman is asking a judge to allow her to get an emergency abortion after learning that her baby has a rare and typically fatal condition. The first-of-its-kind lawsuit, filed Tuesday, is significant because it comes a week after state lawyers suggested before the Texas Supreme Court that only pregnant women in immediate distress could bring claims against the state's abortion ban.
What else I'm reading
The Texas Tribune reports that State Rep. Frederick Frazier, R-McKinney, on Tuesday pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges of trying to impersonate a public servant, part of a plea agreement stemming from allegations he targeted his primary runoff opponent's campaign signs over a year ago. Frazier, a Dallas police officer who first ran for the House last year with the backing of former President Donald Trump, has also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief.
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