Abbott Opposes Proposal To Put Vouchers On The Ballot, Despite Precedent

Gov. Greg Abbott is privately pushing back against a proposal from some House Republicans to let Texans vote on school vouchers this fall, despite his public claims that the measure has enough support to pass in the Texas House.

According to reporting by Scott Braddock at Quorum Report, GOP sources say Abbott has told lawmakers that putting the issue on the ballot would be unconstitutional — even though there’s precedent for statewide votes on similar matters. In the past, Texans voted on horse racing and a proposal by then-Gov. Mark White to gain appointment power over the State Board of Education, neither of which were constitutional amendments.

Braddock reports that some lawmakers believe there may be as many as 80 to 85 votes — from both Republicans and Democrats — in favor of the ballot proposal. The governor, however, is said to be calling members into his office and threatening to veto unrelated bills if they offer or support amendments to his voucher legislation on the House floor.

“For Republican lawmakers who have long been on the record against school vouchers in any form, Abbott has not renewed threats to veto unrelated legislation if all they do is vote ‘no’ on final passage,” Braddock wrote. “But even among those members, Abbott could decimate their legislative agendas with blanket vetoes of all their bills if any of them were to lead the charge to amend the voucher legislation on the floor this week.”

Frustrations are also mounting over transparency. Braddock reports that Public Education Committee Chair Brad Buckley told legislators they could pick up physical copies of school finance “runs” — spreadsheets detailing how districts would fare under the plan — at the Capitol between 7 and 9 p.m. Monday night. In previous sessions, such materials were distributed publicly online to allow school districts and lawmakers time to review and respond.

“Even some Republican members who support ‘school choice’ were grumbling about why the meeting was not broadcast online on the House website,” Braddock wrote, referring to a recent Public Education Committee meeting that passed both HB 2 and the voucher bills to the Calendars Committee.

Though technically not violating the state’s rules on transparency, the move drew condemnation from Democrats on the committee, who livestreamed their own recording of the meeting in response.

“If this is landmark legislation that we’re proud of, why aren’t we opening this up for all to see?” one frustrated GOP member told QR.

The Texas House GOP Caucus informed members in an email that Abbott will attend their meeting on Wednesday. Several lawmakers told QR that the governor has already begun one-on-one meetings to press his case and discourage changes to the legislation.