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Governor Turns Lions to Lambs with Fear
on Vouchers Bill He Failed to Sell on Merits
Capitol Inside
April 17, 2025
Six Texas House Republicans who'd been portrayed as heroes for the fight they'd waged against public subsidies for private schools capitulated early Thursday morning in the face of historic threats and pressure when they voted for a vouchers plan that cleared the lower chamber in Senate Bill 2.
State Reps. Keith Bell of Forney, Drew Darby of San Angelo, Jay Dean of Longview, Charlie Geren of Fort Worth, Ken King of Canadian and Stan Lambert of Abilene all claimed to be representing the will of their constituents when they teamed with Democrats kill the last school choice bill here in special session in 2023.
But the Republican lawmakers who were hailed as lions for holding their ground on vouchers in 2023 may expect no heroes welcomes back at home in districts they'd been protecting before folding in unison on the use of tax dollars to boost private schools around the state.
With former GOP allies on the issue rolling over on school choice, ex-Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont and Rep. Gary VanDeaver of New Boston had the distinction of being the only two Republicans to vote no on SB 2 when it cleared the Legislature's lower chamber on an 86-63 vote around 2 a.m.
None of their Democratic colleagues backed the measure, which the Senate has the option to send to Governor Greg Abbott in the form that passed or gamble on a conference committee to find a middle ground in a move with massive potential to backfire.
Lambert sought to defend his support for switching sides on school choice even though he admitted in a statement that he remains skeptical about the education savings account proposal in SB 2. The West Texan said he and the other voucher converts knew they couldn't stop the bill. So they seized the opportunity to make it less offensive with revisions that he said Republican Rep. Brad Buckley promised to incorporate into the plan as the House sponsor and Public Education Committee chair.
"Instead of allowing the bill to pass as presented, the same group of rural republicans who stood firm against vouchers in 2023 chose to negotiate substantive changes to improve the bill," Lambert contended. "This decision was based solely on what I could do, as one member of a 150-person body, to best improve outcomes for Texas children."
Five of the House Republicans who flipped on school choice represent districts with populations based largely in rural areas that could be among the bigger losers with SB 2. Barring the unlikely chance that all six districts changed together almost overnight on vouchers, the half-dozen GOP representatives who abandoned the fight against the proposal ran the risk of creating problems for themselves back home with their simultaneous conversion.
But Abbott forced the Republicans in the House to decide between their districts and the wages of his wrath. He warned those who appeared opposed to the bill or wavering before the vote that he would do everything in his power to sink their re-election bids next year if they failed to vote the way he demanded on vouchers.
They know that the governor wasn't bluffing in light of the attacks he unleashed last year against some of the House Republicans who defied him on school choice in special session in the fall of 2023. Abbott knocked out seven House Republicans who'd been longtime allies in the primary and runoff elections last year in retaliation for votes against vouchers 18 months ago.
While declining to go after Geren, King, Dean or Bell at the polls in 2024, Abbott lost bids to take out Darby, Lambert and VanDeaver with challengers who he bankrolled with record sums. Darby and Lambert may have been the two most surprising votes for SB 2 as a result.
Lambert said Buckley agreed to back audits of the vouchers program and private contractors, residency requirements and a 20 percent cap on the number of students who are not from low-income families or viewed as special needs. But all bets would be off in a conference committee that would give Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick the ability to reshape the legislation as they and top lieutenants see fit.
The Republicans in the winners circle on SB 2 included three - Reps. Trent Ashby of Lufkin, Brooks Landgraf of Odessa and David Spiller of Jacksboro - who'd voted for an state budget amendment that prohibited the allocation of taxpayer funds for private education. But Spiller, Ashby and Landgraf voted for the vouchers proposal in the fourth special session of 2023 and again this morning.
None of the Republicans who opposed private school subsidies before converting this week were fazed by Democratic speeches that exposed much of the governor's spin on the subject to be wildly exaggerated or flat-out false in some respects. Abbott had given the impression that every Texas student would be able to take advantage of the school choice program. But the debate made it clear that wouldn't be the case by any stretch.
Buckley acknowledged amid grillings from Democrats that SB 2 would make it possible for the state's richest billionaires to use the taxes that Texans pay to subsidize private educations for their kids. The debate that spanned more than 20 hours revealed that the legislation contained no safeguards to prevent religious or racial discrimination in the vouchers application process.
The House voted on Wednesday for a record infusion for public schools that have been hurting financially since the last substantial funding increase six years ago. But Abbott has steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that the state would be spending $1 billion over the next two years that could have been used to improve the public schools if SB 2 becomes law. The price tag on school choice program vaults beyond $6 billion in the following biennium.
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