IN FOCUS: Recapping the 89th session of the Texas Legislature

TYLER, Texas (KETK) – In this edition of East Texas In Focus, KETK’s Nolan Hoffman recapped the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature by looking back at some of the biggest pieces of legislation that’ve been sent to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

One priority for Abbott was school choice which passed through the legislature as Senate Bill 2. The $1 billion school choice bill will create education savings accounts for students across Texas once it becomes law on Sept. 1. The bill was signed into law by Abbott on May 3.

KETK spoke with East Texas school districts about the passage of the school choice bill, one superintendent said it would give most of its money to children already attending private schools.

“They call it school choice, but it’s really not school choice, it’s a voucher to give money, most of the money, whatever it ends up being, 60, 70, 80% or higher, to students already in private school,” Lindale ISD superintendent Stan Surratt said in April.

The other big education bill passed this session was House Bill 2, which increases how much money public schools get for each student in attendance from $6,160 to $6,500.

Abbott also signed Senate Bill 2308 which allows the state of Texas to research the drug Ibogaine as a treatment for opioid use disorder. The bill was sponsored by East Texas State Representatives Cody Harris and Gary VanDeaver.

In the 89th session, Texas lawmakers passed over 1,000 pieces of legislation and many of those bills are waiting to be signed or vetoed by Gov. Abbott.

One such bill is Senate Bill 3, which would ban products containing THC from being sold in Texas. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is a major supporter of the ban and he stopped in Tyler recently to discuss it.

“We have to take care of our young people and our schools; this is an organized assault on the State of Texas by the cannabis industry,” Patrick said.

To learn even more about of the 89th Legislative session, watch the full episode of East Texas In Focus at the top of this article.