Day 57: Vouchers, Because Millionaires Deserve Your Tax Dollars, Too

HB3 moves forward, prioritizing the wealthy over public education.

23 Hours. That’s how long the Committee on Public Education lasted during the hearing over the voucher scheme. It started at 8:00 a.m. yesterday. They took a break at 2:00 p.m. to convene with the full body in the House Chamber, then went straight back to the hearing, which concluded shortly before 7:00 a.m. today.

All the members stayed throughout the hearing. I’m unsure how they managed to pull that off. I tried to stay up late to watch them but didn’t even make it until midnight. Nothing will remind you of your age quite like staying up too late during daylight savings week. The House members somehow powered through 23 hours.

Seven hundred thirty-four people registered a position on HB3, the voucher bill, and 502 were against it.

Unsurprisingly, James Talarico (D-HD50) was the breakout star from this hearing. He called Republicans out, asked pertinent questions, and made sure the details of this bill were clear, like when he pressed Brad Buckley (R-HD54) on why there was no income cap to prevent millionaires and billionaires from taking advantage of taxpayer-funded vouchers.

Talarico pointed out the glaring contradiction: while the bill was framed as a way to help low-income kids escape failing public schools, it lacked any guardrails to ensure they would benefit. Instead, as he noted, in every state that has tried similar programs, most voucher users are wealthier families who have already sent their kids to private schools. “If this is really about helping low-income students,” he asked, “why not put that in writing?” The response? A lot of hand-waving about ‘parental choice,’ which, as Talarico made clear, ultimately means private schools have the real power, not parents.

Buckley’s response was telling. Instead of addressing why taxpayers should subsidize private school tuition for wealthy families, he pivoted to vague platitudes about “every parent’s right” to choose their child’s education. However, his real concern became apparent when he lamented that even families earning $150,000 a year might struggle with private school tuition, as if that were the crisis lawmakers should be addressing.

Meanwhile, Texas public schools remain chronically underfunded, with teachers begging for resources and districts forced to make painful budget cuts. Instead of fixing that, the voucher bill would funnel billions into private institutions without an obligation to serve all students.

Talarico did not let him off the hook. He pressed Buckley repeatedly, refusing to let the conversation drift into vague rhetoric about “parental choice.” Instead, he kept bringing it back to the undeniable reality: this bill would allow millionaires to siphon public funds for private school tuition while public schools struggled.

“Do you think our taxpayer dollars should go to a family making over $500,000 a year who are already sending their kids to private school?” he asked directly. Dodging yet again, Buckley fell back on the same talking points about prioritization, ignoring that prioritization doesn’t guarantee access nor prevent the wealthiest families from benefiting the most.

Talarico didn’t stop there. He called out the relentless political pressure behind the voucher push, pointing out that in just two years, the Legislature had held six hearings on vouchers—but not six on teacher pay, student mental health, or arts education. The reason? This wasn’t about education at all. It was about politics.

He reminded the room that powerful interests were at play and that six lawmakers had lost their seats for daring to oppose this agenda. “There are powerful forces trying to dismantle public education in this state and across the country,” he said, his voice cutting through the chamber. “I can’t stay silent. I won’t stay silent.”

But Talarico wasn’t the only Democrat fighting back.

Gina Hinojosa (D-HD49) took the fight further, exposing how the bill was designed to open the floodgates for corruption. She zeroed in on a buried provision allowing private vendors to solicit and accept anonymous donations without any requirement to disclose the source. “I did a search of all our laws,” she said, “and I can find nowhere in law where we allow a government contractor to solicit and accept gifts.” In other words, the bill would create a legalized bribery loophole, enabling deep-pocketed donors to influence the program without any transparency.

With every question, Hinojosa peeled back another layer of corruption, making it clear: this bill wasn’t about helping kids. It was about lining the pockets of private interests and giving political operatives a new tool to consolidate power.

Then came John Bryant (D-HD114), who took a broader approach, laying bare the state’s decades-long neglect of public education. While voucher supporters insisted this bill wouldn’t hurt public schools, Bryant pointed out an unavoidable truth: Texas already ranks 44th nationwide for school funding. “If we were just 25th,” he said, “I think everything my colleagues have said would have to be taken at face value—that we love public education, that we want to support it, and that this won’t hurt it. But we’re 44th.”

Bryant went straight for the political hypocrisy. After hearing Republican lawmakers claim their party had long been the champion of education, he called out their record. “For the last 20 years, this legislature has been run by your party,” he reminded them. “And for 30 years, your party has controlled the executive branch.” In other words, if Texas public schools were failing, it wasn’t because of teachers or administrators. The same people pushing vouchers had been running the show the entire time.

Milton Fiedman has entered the chat.

One of the GOP’s invited witnesses was EdChoice, a pro-voucher organization founded by famed economist Milton Friedman. Republicans love Friedman’s free-market absolutism, which favors financial deregulation, income inequality, and the erosion of labor rights.

Friedman’s ghost lingered over the hearing as Republicans twisted his free-market education philosophy to justify subsidizing private schools with taxpayer money. When pressed on the glaring stratification this bill would create, EdChoice’s witness tried to spin the issue as a “rising tide lifts all boats” scenario. He rattled off vague examples of homeschooling growth, “micro-schools,” and the expansion of private schools in other voucher states like Arizona and Florida, claiming that options for low-income families were growing.

But the math didn’t add up.

Hinojosa cut through the nonsense, pointing out that no matter how many micro schools or home-based education setups existed, not all children would have access to all schools. “So what I gather from what you just told me,” she summarized, “is that we will absolutely have a stratification system. Depending on what you can afford, you may get subsidized by the state, but all those options are not available to all the kids.” In other words, the entire voucher argument collapses when confronted with the reality of price tags.

The Milton Friedman school of thought was on full display 🤮. Education should be treated as a market commodity, where quality and access are dictated by what families can afford, not as a public good that guarantees equal opportunity.

Them damn Yankees!

We frequently discuss how a large majority of Texas Republicans don’t hail from Texas. Many of them move here in adulthood specifically for politics. More than anything, it’s just funny listening to them talk. Like yesterday, when Teri Leo-Wilson (R-HD23) kept trying to say “Lutheran,” which is a three-syllable word.

Yeah, yeah, it’s petty, I know. Leo-Wilson, a Minnesota native, says “Lutheran” in a funny accent. Remember, laugh at the little things. Like when our Texas government officials talk like Yankees.

And perhaps I wasn’t the only one to notice…

We can’t all be one-billionth-generation Texan. 😉

Alan Schoolcraft (R-HD44) is a natural-born Texan, talks like one, too. Yet, here he was last night, stating that millionaires and billionaires should get taxpayer dollars under vouchers because they pay higher property taxes:

Obviously, being from Texas doesn’t always make you better.

Republican voters and activists are very much against this bill.

While I fell asleep last night and have yet to catch up with all the testimony, a few Republican activists testified against the voucher bill, and their testimony is well worth watching.

Like this one from a Tarrant County Republican Party Precinct Chair:

Or this one from Republican activist Lynn Davenport, who pointed out Alan Schoolcraft and his financial interests in vouchers passing:

The fundamental question at the heart of this voucher scheme is simple: Why should working Texans foot the bill for millionaires and billionaires to send their kids to private school?

The answer, of course, is that they shouldn’t. Yet, under HB3, the wealthy would receive our taxpayer dollars to subsidize an education they can already afford, while public schools, which serve the vast majority of Texas children, remain underfunded and neglected.

This isn’t about “parental choice.” It’s about redistributing public money to private interests, lining the pockets of politically connected vendors, private school operators, and those looking to make a quick buck off the destruction of public education. And thanks to provisions allowing anonymous donations and loose vendor regulations, HB3 is practically an invitation for corruption.

The bill was left pending in committee. We all know how this goes. Texas Republicans will almost certainly pass it out of committee and move it to the House floor, where we’re in for an all-out battle. The opposition to this bill has been loud and relentless and will only get louder.

So, stay tuned. This fight is far from over.

• March 14: The last day Legislators can file bills.

• June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

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