With the signature issue of the 2025 Legislative Conference crossing the Texas border to bring it closer to the finish line, Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday tapped his former Arizona counterpart to sell a message that school voucher plans and fully funded public schools can get it.
Sitting alongside former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, alongside Lt. Col. Dan Patrick and house speaker Dustin Burrows, Abbott expressed confidence that the Republican-led Congress would continue to persuade the public that the scale would improve education in The Texas, sending him a long-determined voucher plan.
“School choice is extremely important to parents and essential to students,” Abbott said at a press conference in the Capitol office suite on the second floor. “If we look at the states currently ranked number one for education, it’s Florida. Florida ranks number one in the largest school selection program in the United States.
“If you are trying to achieve your goal of being ranked among the best states in America to educate your students, you will start this session by passing through your school choice.
In early February, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 2, the version of the voucher bill, as it did several times during its regular and special sessions in 2023. However, during the state’s final legislative session, vouchers jumped up and died at home, which helped a lot to the frustration of Senators Abbott and Patrick.
Burrows revealed that he hopes his chamber of commerce will advance his school voucher proposal in his first term at the helm of the home. The House Public Education Committee, which convened a marathon hearing on March 11th on House proposals on House Bill 3, is expected to approve next week’s action and send it to the full home for consideration.
Prior to Ducey’s appearance with Abbott, Democrats distributed a July 2024 report in which the voucher law signed by Ducey in 2022 “After two Republicans resigned, the voucher law signed by Arizona with a “budget meltdown.” The publication cites an analysis by the Grand Canyon Institute, a non-partisan Arizona think tank, with the program’s forecast cost increased by $65 million, five times in its first year to $332 million.
Rep. James Talarico of D-Austin said Abbott’s decision to bring out-of-state reinforcement to the American nation state to boost the voucher bill.
“I think the steam is gone,” Taralico said. He said that despite the 140-day session halfway through, the House of Representatives measures have yet to clear the Public Education Board.
In a news release, Taralico repeated the points created by several other House Democrats who called the voucher proposal “a fraud.”
“The Arizona voucher program is a budget-breaking, school-rising disaster, draining hundreds of millions of people from public schools and giving that money to wealthy parents who have already sent their children to private schools,” he said.
During a press conference with Abbott, Ducey pushed back the Propobrica story and said his successor, Democrat Katie Hobbs, will blame the $1.4 billion shortfall last year.
Ducey noted that all eight years of his governor were necessary to pass his voucher plan and said he provided a 20% salary increase to his state teachers. When he took office, Arizona’s budget surplus had a $2.5 billion budget surplus, he said.
“And that’s a school choice,” Ducey said. “The budget challenge they face today is due to the irresponsible spending that has occurred since 2023. So they need to grow the nation without spending as much as they spend.”
Abbott and Burrows rejected the Democratic House of Representatives’ claims to support the voucher. The governor said that over half of the House members have signed as co-authors of HB 3, and that the speakers have amplified the message.
“There are more votes on the floor of the house for school choices when passing than the co-authors,” Burrows said.
Abbott’s mention of Florida as the nation’s top state for education was found last year by US News and World Reports, which looked at last year’s survey and ranked in a set of categories including pre-K-12 K-12 and higher education. Texas ranked 29th in the report.
