State of Texas: All-night hearing draws hundreds to weigh in on education savings accounts

AUSTIN (Nexstar) - With more than 20 hours of discussion, the Texas House Committee on Public Education adjourned around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. After hearing more than 300 testimonies on House Bill 3 (HB 3) -- establishing an education savings account to subsidize private education for eligible Texans -- they left the bill pending in committee.

While most of the people who spoke in public testimony were opposed to HB 3, the committee posted a list of 735 people who registered their stance on the bill. The list, which included those who registered positions, but did not testify, showed 504 people against the bill, 212 for HB 3, and 19 testifying neither in support nor opposition to the bill.

'A vote for layoffs and economic decline'

State Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, who chairs the Public Education Committee, announced 335 people signed up to testify as of 7 p.m. when public testimony started.

"Your district schools are more than places where kids learn, they're major employers," Danielle Bryant, a former teacher who opposes the ESA program said, while addressing the rural school choice supporters on the committee. "A vote for HB 3 is a vote for layoffs and economic decline in your own communities."

'It's not conservative'

Tarrant County GOP Precinct Chair Hollie Plemons testified her opposition to the bill, saying it doesn't conform with Republican values.

"I'm against this bill is because it's not conservative. It grows government [and] creates a subsidy," Plemons said. "I am very well aware of the paid messaging that all [Republicans] want HB 3. But I beg to differ. I bet money that Republican voters would not be for HB 3 if they knew illegals were eligible and closer to the front of the line than they are. That an LGBTQ school that is private -- just like they have in Arizona -- can be created and be a voucher school. That Muslim schools -- we have 25 of them in the state of Texas, 16 of them are already accredited -- can immediately become a voucher vendor school. I'm positive that Republicans do not want to fund that."

Plemons then got emotional talking about the sacrifices she had to make to put her children through private school.

"I sold my car. I drive an almost 20-year-old car. I have the newest car in my family. We don't go on vacations, we don't go out to eat, we don't even go to the movies, because I think it's more important to have a government-free education for my child," she said. "I've been waiting for the last two years. I just got to get through two years, and then. My baby is going to be able to go to that private school, and now this, this isn't fair, Chairman Buckley, this isn't fair what you're doing at all. This is not responsible."

'My quality education didn't make the budget'

Testimony in favor of HB 3 also got emotional, as Angelina Tamez discussed how she was priced out of private education.

"In my opinion, this could be a game-changer for Hispanic families like my own," Tamez said. "When I was a sophomore in high school, I walked into my class thinking it was going to be a regular agenda -- take notes, listen to the lecture. However this time, my teacher decided to do this assignment where she posted statistics on the walls. It was for us to be forced to encounter the truth of our education system. Two of these statistics said '7% of Rio Grande Valley (RGV) students are considered college-ready based on their ACT and SAT scores.' 7%. And 'a third of your region's working-age residents never completed high school."

While Tamez said the teacher was trying to motivate her class, she said it scared her into looking for alternative schooling options, but it was too expensive.

"With two toddlers in the home, groceries and gasoline were priority, and like so many south Texas residents, my quality education didn't make the budget," she said. "In the RGV, 90% of us are Hispanic and so many of us are first-generation college and high school graduates like myself. Our abuelos, our parents, make so many sacrifices to give us the American dream and so often the public school system fails to meet us there. Therefore, in a community where poverty is high and test scores are low, school choice, HB 3, would allow us the opportunity of the American dream, a fighting chance and where our zip code no longer dictates our destiny."

'I think Rep. Schoolcraft should recuse himself'

The hearing started to get testy when Lynn Davenport asked Rep. Alan Schoolcraft, R-Guadalupe, to recuse himself from the vote due to campaign funding he received from Gov. Greg Abbott.

Schoolcraft, who originally served in the Texas House from 1981-1993, won a primary against former Rep. John Kuempel. After Kuempel voted to kill similar legislation in 2023, Abbott's campaign donated $965,617.68 to Schoolcraft's campaign -- one of many donations the campaign made to Republicans challenging incumbent Republicans who voted against school choice.

"I think Rep. Schoolcraft should recuse himself because of the money that the governor gave him to buy that seat," Davenport said. "I'm serious, I think this is a really serious issue."

"Hold up a second," Buckley said. "Don't make a personal attack against a member of the committee."

"Was that personal," Davenport replied. "That was pretty public, it's all public. Go to [the] Transparency Texas website."

Moments later, Schoolcraft weighed in.

"School choice is not a new issue to me. Has nothing to do with the governor," he said. "In 1989-91, I was here advocating for school choice. I filed to run [this session] because of school choice, and it was over a month after I filed that I first heard from the governor."

'It's about your testimony and the credibility of your testimony'

Tensions between commenters and Schoolcraft picked up again at around 3 a.m. After hearing testimony from President of Republicans for Public Education Amy Fennell, Schoolcraft brought up a post on X she made eight hours earlier.

"I'm looking at something that really kind of stuns me," Schoolcraft said. "It's a tweet--it's a picture of you in this room. It says 'Lord help me. Representative Terri Leo-Wilson won’t shut up. The more she talks, the more the average IQ in this room drops.'"

"And that has to do with the bill how," Fennell responded.

"It has to do with the credibility of your testimony, that would be it," Schoolcraft replied.

A couple of minutes later, Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, weighed in.

"I've also seen tweets of that nature from our governor, so I guess that's the new standard," he said.

As Talarico continued to address Fennell, Schoolcraft interjected "The governor's not on this panel."

"You have to be recognized by the chairman. You're a new freshman -- that's how this works," Talarico responded.

The exchange overshadowed Fennell's concerns about language in the bill making it cost-prohibitive for parents to sue if they have disagreements over the disbursement of funds.

"If a parent disagrees with with a decision made by the comptroller or an EOA (Educational Opportunity Organization) selected by the comptroller, they have to appeal that decision to the comptroller," Fennell said. "Any decision made by the comptroller is considered final, so there's no path for recourse through the comptroller. So let's say that the parent decides 'okay, I'm going to contest this, I should not have been denied this -- it's a violation of my Constitutional rights.' So they decide to file suit against the state. Section 29.374 grants the vendor the right to defend the program, which means the parent has to go up against the state and the vendor. How exactly does that protect parents? Then it gets worse. Let's say the parent somehow manages to fight off the state and the vendor, wins their lawsuit. The last section of section 8 on page 50 of the bill explicitly states that the bill does not permit the recovery of attorney's fees against the state, regardless of the outcome of this case."

The final moments of the hearing included testimony in opposition to HB 3. Some of those who testified in the last 15 minutes of the hearing were high school students who stayed up overnight waiting to testify.

"I want to start off by telling you why I'm here, even though it is 6:19 am and I have school in two hours, I am here because I believe in our public schools," Grace Ford, a high school student in Austin, told committee members.

In the end, after leaving the bill pending, Chairman Buckley had a final message for committee members.

"Members, I appreciate your attention tonight, your diligence. It really means a lot. This is the best of the Texas House. We stick through this and hear from so many people. Thank you, all," Buckley said, before closing the meeting.

The House Public Education committee is scheduled to meet again on Tuesday morning. The hearing notice posted Friday does not show HB 3 up for discussion.

'He was loved' Texas Capitol ceremony honors Sylvester Turner

On Thursday, a rare tribute at the Texas Capitol honored a former Texas legislator who dedicated his life to public service. The flag-draped casket of Congressman Sylvester Turner was carried into the Texas House chamber to lie in honor before his funeral on Saturday in Houston.

Turner died on March 5, just two months after taking office in Congress and hours after attending President Donald Trump’s address before Congress. He was 70. Turner previously served as mayor of Houston and served in the Texas House for 27 years.

On Thursday, his former colleagues at the Capitol held a memorial service in the House chamber. Those who knew him remember Turner as a leader who worked to make a difference.

"His legacy is that he didn't forget the little people," State Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston said. "He always tried to bring people up, like myself and a cavalry of other men and women, to make them better so they could serve their communities. He was a real public servant."

"What mattered to him was other people, and I think this day and age that type of leadership is few and far between," State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston said of Turner.

"I hope Sylvester knew how much he was loved, and how many lives he changed," Wu added.

State lawmakers push to fund water projects for years to come

Gov. Greg Abbott called on state lawmakers to make a Texas-sized investment in water infrastructure and supply during his State of the State address, amid concerns the resource can't keep up with growth in the state.

Lawmakers have already filed two bills, one in each chamber, that would amend the Texas Constitution to create a dedicated stream of revenue to the Texas Water Fund, which was created in 2023 after Texas voters approved a one-time $1 billion investment.

But since the creation of the Texas Water Fund, the threat facing Texas is becoming clearer. Farmers in South Texas are only able to plant on 50% of their land as the U.S. and Mexican governments dispute over a water treaty, local officials warn of the potential of public health crises, water reservoirs are drying up, and West Texas residents face constant boil water notices and leaky pipes.

Water experts say the investment in 2023 was a good start but it is barely enough. "It was a good measure and a good appropriation but it's literally a drop in the bucket compared to the $154 billion that we need to invest long term," Jeremy Mazur explained. He is the director of infrastructure and natural resources at Texas 2036, a nonpartisan public policy research organization.

State Sen. Charles Perry, R–Lubbock, and State Rep. Cody Harris, R–Palestine, authored their respective bills in each chamber. Perry's bill has 25 other co-authors in the Senate, showing bipartisan support for the initiative.

Both bills would dedicate a portion of sales tax revenue to the Texas Water Fund (TWF), similar to what the state does for the State Highway Fund. Harris' bill would allocate up to $2 billion each year to the TWF, while Perry's bill would allocate $1 billion each year with an emphasis on new water supply.

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is responsible for doling out the funds from the TWF. The TWDB uses the money from the fund to award money through existing financial assistance programs. The TWDB has committed $48,459,153 of TWF money to water infrastructure improvement projects in rural areas.

The agency also approved a one-year, $2 million contract with the Texas Water Foundation to develop a statewide water awareness campaign, according to a spokesperson with the agency.

Texas voters would have to approve the dedicated funding for the TWF if the constitutional amendments pass. Mazur said Texans already show support for water legislation, adding, "If we want to see this thing called the Texas economic miracle continue for generations to come, we need three things in place -- dependable electric grid, reliable workforce, and dependable water infrastructure."

Traditionally, Texas' water sources have been rivers, lakes, wells, and aquifers, but the state must now search for new supplies.

Dr. Robert Mace, the executive director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, said the near future of water in Texas will be about reuse and water conservation. "Squeezing every drop out of our drops of water," Mace explained.

A growing trend communities around the state are exploring is direct potable reuse, where you treat wastewater and then bring it back into the drinking water supply. "In many ways your wastewater treatment plant is like a local source of water," Mace said.

El Paso Water recently began construction on its Pure Water Center, a facility that will use direct potable reuse to provide 10 million gallons of drinking water per day for its customers on the western tip of the state.

"El Paso Water now is going to be the beacon for a lot of communities to show that it is possible to close their recycling loop," Gilbert Trejo, the vice president of operations and technical services for El Paso Water, said. "To be able to have a drought-resistant, sustainable water supply."

The utility has been leading the way on finding new supplies of water, including housing the world's largest inland desalination plant. The Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant produces 27.5 million gallons of water per day and the utility is working to expand that capacity to 33.5 MGD. A spokesperson for El Paso Water said the desalination plant produces 10% of the yearly water supply for El Paso.

Mace says the future of Texas’ water supply could come from the Gulf Coast, where seawater desalination plants could be developed. Currently, Texas does not have any seawater desalination plants, but Corpus Christi is in the process of creating the first one in the state and plans to finish it by 2028.

"The fact that we have the Gulf right there is comforting," Mace said.

South Texas farmers, local officials warn of impacts with lack of water

Local officials and farmers in South Texas traveled to the Capitol Monday to ask lawmakers to get involved with holding Mexico accountable to an 80-year-old treaty that provides water to the region.

"We're in dire straits right now," Brian Jones explained. Jones is a fourth generation farmer from Hidalgo County who grows cotton, corn, grain sorghum and soybeans. He is also a state director for the Texas Farm Bureau representing South Texas counties.

For the past three years he has only been able to plant half of his farm because he does not have enough water to take care of his entire farm. It's not just him but farmers all along the Rio Grande Valley.

"We just don't have enough water to take care of what we normally farm," Jones said. He said Mexico continues to fall behind on the amount of water it is supposed to release to the United States. According to a treaty signed in 1944 between the two countries, Mexico is required to release 350,000 acre-feet annually in five-year cycles.

The next five-year cycle ends in October 2025 and state leaders say Mexico is currently behind 984,814 acre-feet.

Jones said farmers in the RGV will not be able to produce as much crop as they are accustomed to. This will lead to less Texas products in local grocery stores that will have to be replaced by products from either other states or other countries like Mexico.

The lack of production also means a major loss in revenue for the region. The last operating sugar mill in Texas had to close its doors because of the lack of water. The mill employed about 600 people, Jones said.

According to a report from Texas A&M AgriLife, the "lack of irrigation water for crop production in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in 2024 would be about $495.8 million in direct revenue loss."

But local officials also warn the water dispute between the U.S. and Mexico will lead to a public health crisis for local municipalities that rely on it for drinking water. "If this continues, drinking water for cities like Brownsville, McAllen, Harlingen will be at risk, leading to conservation mandates, potential rationing, and a public health crisis," Mark Dombroski, the COO of Brownsville Public Utilities, testified to Texas Senators on Monday.

During testimony from experts and farmers on Monday, Texas Senators were able to ask questions about the issue. State Senator Nathan Johnson, D - Dallas, pointed out that only 30% of the water used in the RGV comes from Mexico.

He also pointed out that the RGV is in a regional drought and loses 500 acre-feet of water annually. "Even if we solve that problem, we've only solved 30% of the problem," Johnson said. "We still need water from Texas to Texas, and I think we should keep sight on that because if we spend all our time getting angry at Mexico, we've solved 30% of the problem."

State Senator Charles Perry, R - Lubbock, followed up those comments saying the drought is part of the problem, but that Mexico had also not delivered water before the drought. He also agreed with Johnson that the state will have to do more this session to solve the state's water crisis. Gov. Greg Abbott said during his State of the State address he wanted a "Texas-sized investment on water."

"This is a water session. This is when we put things in place that 10 or 20 years from now we look back and say this was when that got solved," Perry said.

Texas congressmen at the federal level have been working to ensure Mexico complies with the 1944 Treaty.

During a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Sen. John Cornyn, R - Texas, asked then U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the water dispute with Mexico.

“I would just like to get your commitment to work with us to try to just simply get Mexico to live up to its requirements under the treaty, and if they won’t do it voluntarily, to look for leverage and ways we can persuade them to do what they already have a legal obligation to do, which is to release water on a timely basis," Cornyn said.

“Absolutely… It has real implications not just for the state of Texas, but broadly for the United States," Rubio responded.

Cornyn also led a letter sent to the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on State and Foreign Operations asking them to withhold designated funds from Mexico until it entered into an agreement to balance the deficit of the water deliveries.

Botox bill aims to enhance patient safety

Proposed legislation to enhance patient safety and tighten Texas laws over who can administer Botox injections -- and similar treatments -- was introduced to the Senate Business and Commerce Committee at the Capitol this week.

The legislation comes after a KXAN investigation uncovered that anyone can become certified to do injections, including Botox, and the need for more oversight for patient safety.

The committee learned the details of Senate Bill 378 from State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, who is also a medical doctor. He filed the same bill last session before it stalled after passing the Senate.

"I'll call this the Botox party bill," said Schwertner, whose proposed legislation would prevent barbers, cosmetologists, and estheticians from administering Botox and other injectables unless they are licensed or authorized to give the shots.  

"There have been increased reports of estheticians administering unauthorized and unsafe injections to friends and family without proper physician supervision," Schwertner stated.

In May, KXAN’s “Backroom Botox,” highlighted a medical emergency under investigation by the police department in Dublin, a small city north of Austin. A woman who wanted her privacy protected told KXAN investigators that she had fainted after getting a Botox treatment in the back room of a shop in town. 

According to the EMS report, the "Backroom Botox" procedure resulted in a Dublin woman having a five-minute seizure and vomiting.

The supervising physician listed for the Dublin Botox provider was a pediatrician, over three hours away.

Schwertner said his bill focuses on patient safety and the need for clearer regulatory oversight and disciplinary jurisdiction over cosmetologists and estheticians administering unauthorized injections.

If passed, Schwertner's bill would give the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation the statutory authority to take disciplinary action against those administering unauthorized injections.

"Somebody needs to be regulating what's going on," said Dr. Patricia Aronin with TX400, a grassroots group of doctors advocating for patient safety across the state.

Aronin, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon, spoke in favor of Schwertner's bill at the committee hearing this week and explained the risks and consequences associated with getting injections from providers who don't have the proper medical training or experience to safely do so.

"We can teach a monkey to operate, it's learning who and on what procedure and when and how to manage complications that take all the years of training," Aronin said.