Legislative session wraps up

The dust hasn’t quite settled on the 2025 legislative session, but here’s a sampling of bills already sent to Gov. Greg Abbott.

• A ban on clubs supporting gay teens in public schools won final legislative passage on Saturday. The measure sponsored by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, would prohibit schools from authorizing or sponsoring student clubs based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Several Democrats argued passionately against the bill, the Texas Tribune reported.

Editors: This is an early bulldog edition of Capital Highlights to accommodate early holiday deadlines. It will be updated Sunday if needed.

Less than a week remains in legislative session

Lawmakers agree on $8 billion school funding package

Leaders from the Texas House and Senate have agreed on an $8 billion school funding package, which is being called the largest in state history, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Abbott signs voucher bill into law

Gov. Greg Abbott last week signed a $1 billion private school voucher bill into law in front of a large crowd at the Governor’s Mansion, the San Antonio Express-News and other media outlets reported. Abbott called the new law the biggest legislative win of his time in the governor’s office and touted the new program as the largest in the nation.

House bill proposes new standardized test

A Texas House bill would eliminate the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness test and replace it with a test comparing students’ performance to one another rather than state-set standards, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

House Bill 4 would also create benchmark tests to measure students’ academic performance throughout the year.

TEA releases 2023 A-F accountability ratings

After a prolonged delay because of a lawsuit filed by about 100 school districts, the Texas Education Agency has released the 2023 A-F accountability ratings, indicating the share of campuses that received a passing ranking dropped by 14% from 2022.

House passes school voucher bill

Paxton, Cornyn gear up for primary battle

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made it official last week, announcing he will challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in next March’s Republican primary. The fireworks already have begun, the Austin American-Statesman reported, with Cornyn calling his rival “a con man and a fraud.”

Appeals court: TEA can release A-F school ratings

A judge with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the Texas Education Agency can release its 2023 A-F school accountability ratings, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Senate bill would curb home insurance rates without approval

Lawmakers in the Texas Senate are considering a measure that would require home insurers to get approval from regulators before increasing rates more than 10%, the Houston Chronicle reported.