AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A voucher plan offering families public money to send their children to private and religious schools is headed to the full Texas Senate.
Senator Larry Taylor’s bill would create state-subsidized education saving accounts for parents while offering tax credits to businesses that sponsor private schooling via donations.
The issue has long roiled the Legislature, with the Republican-led Senate backing so-called “school choice” but such plans stalling in the GOP-controlled House. There, many lawmakers worry about harming public schools that are the lifeblood of the small communities they represent.
Taylor, a Republican from Friendswood, heads the Senate Education Committee, which approved his bill 7-3. That sets it up for a successful Senate floor vote soon.
The House probably will defeat the bill, though, like it has past voucher measures.