AUSTIN, Texas — In the halls of the Capitol and behind closed doors, a campaign was on Thursday to get the votes to pass school choice legislation in the Senate.
"It's not about me," said Senator Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo. "It's about 5 million kids and the constitutional obligation we have to those schools."
But Seliger and other lawmakers representing rural districts in the upper chamber were the targets of that campaign. Rural districts rely heavily on public schools, and many in those areas fear a voucher program could take away resources from their schools. But the bill's author Senator Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, had changes in mind to attract rural Republicans to his school choice bill.
"That's what this is all about, allowing parents and students to make choices based on their own individual needs," said Taylor.
In the substitute, only counties with more than 285,000 people could participate in the voucher program. Additionally, the cap for tax-credit-paid private school scholarships was lowered from $100 million to $25 million, and only low-income students would qualify.
"I see it as a menu for people that they can choose, and now we're expanding that menu to people who cannot afford it on their own," Taylor said.
The changes still didn't woo most Democrats.
"In my view, you can put lipstick on a voucher, but it's still a voucher," said Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston.
It also didn't woo Republicans like Seliger, who fear for rural district funding and worry about sending public money to private schools that aren't held to the same accountability standards.
"This could be a lot of public money, and we demand great accountability of public schools, and SB-3 has none," Seliger said.
In the end, the campaign of compromises appeared to work, with 18 senators giving this voucher legislation the go-ahead to meet its fate in the House.