As the fate of school choice legislation hangs in the Texas House’s hands, Gov. Greg Abbott says he could call lawmakers back repeatedly if it fails.
A top priority for Abbott this year, school choice legislation has never before reached a vote by the full House. On Friday, the issue hit a new milestone after a school choice bill was passed out of a House Committee, preparing the way for a vote by the full body.
The omnibus education bill includes an Education Savings Account program in addition to increased school funding and teacher pay raises. While there have been rumors that the House could strip the ESA provision out of the bill, Abbott says he will call additional special sessions to get it passed.
“We’d be spending December here, maybe January here, maybe February here,” Abbott said during a bill signing on Friday. “And I know one thing about both the House and Senate—They want to get out of here.”
The remarks differed from a previous statement made by him in September, where he suggested that if school choice failed to pass during a fourth special session, he would take the issue to the primary elections.
The record for most special sessions called during a legislative session is six. That was set by Gov. Bill Clements in 1990.
If the Texas House fails to pass school choice in the coming weeks, that record could soon be broken.
