Texas Senate Republicans are not fans of the state House's school funding bill.
The House is looking at a one-time $1.8 billion funding solution to keep schools open, but Friendswood Sen. Larry Taylor wants to create a panel to study school finance from the ground up.
“Adding one-time money to what are obvious continuing expenses to this system is a political fix,” Taylor told reporters Tuesday. “It may feel good and be well intentioned, but it is not a long-term solution.”
“At some point you realize a new car will be more efficient, have many new innovations, give you budget reliability and has the reliability that you need, we in the state of Texas are at that point,” he says. “It is time to move on and start shopping for that new car.”
Meanwhile, Houston Sen. Joan Huffman is pushing a plan for teacher retirements and bonuses.
“One-hundred-93 million dollars in bonuses would be distributed to certain classroom teachers in September 2018, but I want to emphasize that this is not an unfunded mandated, nor does it take money away from current public education funding,” says Hoffman.
The House on Tuesday did give preliminary approval to a bill requiring women to purchase separate insurance policies for coverage of abortions, except in cases of medical emergency.
The special session ends next week.