Vouchers, border security, abortion: The issues from 2023 that will continue to be hotly debated in 2024
This is part one of a two part story breaking down the hot topics that will continue to be discussed in 2024.
2023 was a particularly long year in Texas politics. In addition to the regular legislative session that ran from January through May, state lawmakers reconvened during four special legislative sessions — and for Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial.
2024 also promises to be eventful with a presidential election and all of the state’s representatives in the Texas and U.S. houses on the ballot — along with other federal, state and local officials. It’ll be an opportunity for voters to weigh in on how sitting leaders addressed (or didn’t address) the issues that matter to them.
Some political issues in 2023, such as school vouchers and border security, drew attention throughout the year. And others, like turmoil seen at the Houston school district and Texas A&M University, turned the spotlight beyond the state Capitol. Here’s a recap of the major issues we’ve seen and how they could spill over into 2024.
VOUCHERS AND SCHOOL FINANCE What happened in 2023: Gov. Greg Abbott entered the year listing “school choice” as his top legislative priority. He urged lawmakers to pass a measure that would allow parents to use state funds to help pay for private school tuition or home-schooling costs. But he met stiff resistance in the Texas House, where Democrats and rural Republicans banded together to block the idea at every turn.
The measure failed in the regular legislative session and in multiple special sessions after that. And it took down billions of dollars earmarked for public schools in the process. The state entered the year with a more than $30 billion surplus, and lawmakers planned to use a big chunk of it to fund raises for teachers and support to help schools deal with rising inflation and other expenses. But Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made clear they wouldn’t let it pass without some sort of voucher measure accompanying it.
What could happen in 2024: Abbott could call the lawmakers back into session to try again in 2024, but it’s unclear what would change in the House to allow it to pass. In the meantime, he’s focusing his attention on the Republican primary in March, where he is supporting challengers of incumbents who voted against his voucher plan. If those challengers are successful, he might have a better chance of passing his priority in 2025.
— Matthew Watkins IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY
What happened in 2023: Gov. Greg Abbott urged lawmakers to approve several immigration enforcement proposals. Over one regular legislative session and four special sessions, Republicans passed bills that would enhance the punishment for human smuggling, fund $1.54 billion to continue building a border barrier and make it a state crime to illegally cross the Rio Grande from Mexico.
Under a new law, police who suspect that a person crossed the border illegally can arrest them and charge them with a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of up to six months in jail. Repeat offenders could face a second-degree felony with a punishment of two to 20 years in prison. The law allows a judge to drop the charges if a migrant agrees to return to Mexico.
That law has already drawn a legal challenge.
The legislation also allows $40 million to pay for state troopers to patrol Colony Ridge, a housing development near Houston that far-right publications claim is a magnet for undocumented immigrants. Federal officials, however, are suing the developer, accusing it of targeting Latino home buyers with predatory loans and false promises.
The new laws also allow the governor to use part of new border money to give grants to municipal governments that may incur increased costs while enforcing a new state immigration law.
What could happen in 2024: Some state Republican leaders have said they would welcome a legal fight with President Joe Biden’s administration that could reverse a U.S. Supreme Court landmark case: Arizona v U.S.
In 2012, a majority of the justices ruled that local police didn’t have the authority to arrest someone solely based on their immigration status because that responsibility falls to the federal government. That case stemmed from a 2010 Arizona law known as Senate Bill 1070, which made it a state crime for legal immigrants not to carry their immigration papers and required police officers to investigate the immigration status of any person they come into contact with.
Court battles over Texas’ new law are likely to play out throughout the year.
— Uriel J. García ABORTION
What happened in 2023: Abortion is still banned in Texas, except to save the life of the pregnant patient. Some Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, called for clarification of the laws, but for the first time in decades, the Legislature basically left the abortion issue alone.
But in the courts, the battles rage on. Attorney General Ken Paxton has challenged every effort from the Biden administration to improve abortion access, and a federal Texas judge ruled that mifepristone, a common abortion-inducing drug, had to be off the market. (The U.S. Supreme Court put that ruling on hold until it hears arguments this term.)
On the other side, 20 women who say they were denied medically necessary abortions have sued Texas, and in early December, a state judge ruled that Kate Cox, a Dallas mom carrying a nonviable pregnancy, should be allowed to have an abortion. The Texas Supreme Court overturned that ruling, and Cox ended up having to travel out of state to get an abortion.
What could happen in 2024: More municipalities could pass travel bans, which would likely draw legal challenges. More pregnant patients could sue for the right to have an abortion. And there could be more efforts to restrict access to contraception. One big fight to watch: Texas is trying to put Planned Parenthood out of business with a $1.8 billion lawsuit that’s sitting before an anti-abortion judge in Amarillo.
— Eleanor Klibanoff
KEN PAXTON'S IMPEACHMENT ACQUITTAL
What happened in 2023: The Texas House, including a majority of Republican members, impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton in May. The vote came after the House investigated Paxton’s request to the Legislature to fund a $3.3 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by four of his former deputies, who alleged the attorney general fired them in 2020 after they accused him of bribery and corruption. The House’s investigative committee concluded that the whistleblowers were telling the truth and that Paxton should be removed.
At a dramatic trial in September, House managers presented evidence that Paxton had abused his office to help a friend, struggling real estate investor Nate Paul, while benefiting from Paul’s assistance in renovating his Austin house and employing a woman with whom the attorney general was allegedly having an affair.
Paxton’s defense team, led by high-profile lawyer Tony Buzbee, argued that the House had jumped to far-fetched conclusions and said the attorney general was being persecuted by liberal Republicans for political reasons.
The Senate acquitted Paxton of 16 charges and dismissed the remaining four. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who had been the trial’s judge, blasted the House managers for even bringing the case, further inflaming the tensions between himself and House Speaker Dade Phelan.
What could happen in 2024: A federal criminal investigation into Paxton is unresolved, as is the whistleblower lawsuit, which is now headed to a trial in Houston. Paxton has also vowed revenge by supporting primary challengers to the Republican House members who supported impeachment.
— Zach Despart
HIGHER EDUCATION What happened in 2023: State lawmakers filed multiple bills that would interfere with day-to-day operations on college campuses.
The Legislature eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion offices on public college and university campuses. DEI offices were created to help students from all backgrounds succeed on campus, but critics argue they’ve become a mechanism for universities to force certain political ideologies onto students. Lawmakers also approved a bill that codified tenure policies, spelling out when a school can grant or revoke tenure.
Faculty pushed back against both initiatives — arguing they infringed on the long-standing principle of academic freedom, which protects professors from being targeted for their teaching or research — and raised concerns about how they could create a chilling effect within Texas’ universities.
Those concerns became a reality for many faculty over the summer after The Texas Tribune reported that Texas A&M University leaders had watered down their job offer to Kathleen McElroy, a Black journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, after some university system regents raised concerns about her perceived liberal leanings. A&M also placed a professor on paid administrative leave after a politically connected student accused her of criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during a lecture. The scandals led to the resignation of the flagship’s president and a wide-reaching internal investigation.
What could happen in 2024: The state’s DEI ban goes into effect on Jan. 1. Texas could see additional pushback from students and faculty as schools continue to change their policies and procedures to comply with the new law.
More broadly, university presidents have faced sharp criticism from across the aisle this fall about their response to the war between Israel and Hamas and related campus protests and conversations, exacerbating the national erosion of trust in higher education. More debates about campus free speech and the role of higher education are expected, especially as the 2024 presidential campaign kicks into high gear.
— Kate McGee
SCHOOL SAFETY
What happened in 2023: Almost a year after Texas’ deadliest school shooting in Uvalde, state lawmakers passed sweeping legislation on school safety during the 2023 regular legislative session. Among its most significant changes, House Bill 3 ordered school districts to secure schools with armed police officers and to train more staff to identify students who may need mental health support. It also granted the Texas Education Agency more authority to ensure school districts have robust safety plans to respond to an active shooter and slightly raised the amount of funding districts receive for school safety expenses.
Even before HB 3 went into effect in September, school safety experts warned that placing an armed officer at every campus would be costly and hard to implement amid a law enforcement shortage. And despite subsequent proposals for more school safety funding, school leaders’ hopes were dashed after the fourth special session ended amid a stalemate on school voucher legislation.
What could happen in 2024: HB 3 allows school districts facing financial or staffing constraints to secure schools with alternative plans, including by hiring security guards or training school staff to be armed, and does not punish districts for failing to meet the armed officer requirement. But even with these alternatives, school leaders working to follow the new school safety requirements have said they may be forced to make budget cuts without additional funding.
— María Méndez This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune. org/2024/01/01/texas-political- issues-2024/. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune. org.
