Vouchers, border security, abortion: The issues from 2023 that will continue to be hotly debated in 2024
This is the second part 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.
HOUSTON ISD TAKEOVER
What happened in 2023: The Texas Education Agency in June officially took over the Houston school district after years of poor academic outcomes at a single campus, Phillis Wheatley High School, and allegations of misconduct against school board members.
The TEA ousted Houston ISD’s democratically elected school board and replaced the district’s previous leader with Superintendent Mike Miles and a nine-member “board of managers” that acts as the school board.
Thus far, Miles has overhauled several campuses under his “New Education System,” which he describes as an “innovative staffing model that puts the focus on classroom instruction and improved student outcomes.”
Many parents and teachers have criticized the system as a one-size-fits-all approach that won’t work for all students. Teacher resignations have surged.
What could happen in 2024: It is unlikely the TEA will leave Houston ISD. Miles will most likely finish the first year in charge and has already said he would need four to five years to put the district on the right path.
— Brian Lopez
PROPERTY TAXES
What happened in 2023: Lawmakers reached an agreement to spend $18 billion on a sweeping tax-cut package, and voters signed off on the deal at the November ballot box. Of that, $12.7 billion will pay for new cuts to school property taxes over the next two years.
The homestead exemption on school district taxes, or the amount of a home’s value that can’t be taxed to pay for public schools, went from $40,000 to $100,000 at a cost of $5.6 billion.
The state will send $7.1 billion to school districts to replace money that would have been collected through local property taxes. That way, school districts can lower their tax rates.
What could happen in 2024: Taxpayers already are seeing the cuts reflected on their 2023 tax bills. The typical Texas homeowner should see a little less than $2,600 in savings over two years, according to estimates provided by the office of state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston-area Republican and the Senate’s chief taxcut proponent.
— Joshua Fechter
LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
What happened in 2023: Republican lawmakers pushed a slate of bills that could impact the lives of LGBTQ+ Texans. Texas banned the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender kids and restricted the college sports teams that trans athletes can join. LGBTQ+ advocates argue these laws target their community and remove live-saving health care access to transgender youth.
Additionally, lawmakers tried to restrict children from attending certain drag shows by expanding the definition of sexually explicit performances in an attempt to protect minors from inappropriate material, measures that are being fought in the courts.
What could happen in 2024: The Texas Supreme Court will likely consider the constitutionality of restricting transgender youth from accessing hormone therapy and puberty blockers. Similar legal battles have yielded mixed results. While some courts have fully blocked these types of restrictions, others have made exceptions to allow some minors to access gender-affirming care. It’s unclear how the conservative state Supreme Court will rule on the issue.
— William Melhado
EXTREME HEAT
What happened in 2023: A crushing heat wave blanketed much of the state through the summer, frequently pushing daytime temperatures into triple digits with little relief at night. Scientists say climate change is making these types of heat waves more common and more severe in Texas than they would be otherwise. Combined with a lack of rain that pushed much of the state into severe drought, the summer of 2023 was Texas’ second hottest ever recorded. It ranked just behind the blistering hot and extremely dry summer of 2011.
Some cities, including El Paso and Austin, went more than 40 consecutive days with 100-degree temperatures. According to early figures from the Department of State Health Services, at least 322 people died in Texas from the heat this year. Though the data is not yet final, it’s almost certainly the most people killed by heat in Texas in more than two decades.
What could happen in 2024: It’s too soon to know how next summer will stack up to the historical record. That’s because, aside from climate change, there are many factors that affect the summer heat. That includes the El Niño and La Niña weather patterns, whether the state is in a drought, the temperature of the Gulf of Mexico and general storm patterns such as tropical storms. However, as global temperatures rise, climate change becomes more of a determinant of heat waves and other weather patterns.
Global average temperatures have already risen at least 1.1 degrees Celsius, or about 2 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial times. Scientists warned this year that the planet could very likely soon exceed a key threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. Warming past that long-held international goal would likely mean widespread heatwaves as well as other intensifying climate change impacts, such as water supply shortages and sea level rise.
— Erin Douglas
ELECTRIC GRID
What happened in 2023: The year started with intense political debate over how to reform the electricity market in Texas. In 2021, a deadly and disastrous winter storm revealed the shortcomings of the state’s power grid after power generators failed in the freezing weather and could not keep up with high demand. Since then, politicians have sought to change how electricity is bought and sold to improve the grid’s reliability.
Legislators this year passed policies intended to spur companies to build and operate more power plants fueled by natural gas, which they consider more reliable than wind and solar power because, in theory, they can operate at any time. Experts debated whether the policies will make a difference. This summer, record-breaking heat and power demand pushed the grid again near the brink, with grid operators repeatedly calling on residents to reduce their power use. A significant number of new solar farms and batteries helped grid operators pull through.
What could happen in 2024: Officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the power grid, made a last-ditch effort to pay any company willing to bring a shuttered gas- or coal-powered plant back online for winter. That attempt failed. ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas then characterized the idea as an extra precaution and said he expects to have enough resources to meet demand. ERCOT and state electricity regulators at the Public Utility Commission will continue to work to implement the electricity market changes that legislators approved.
— Emily Foxhall
WATER SUPPLY AND INFRASTRUCTURE
What happened in 2023: Texas’ crumbling water infrastructure came into focus this year after a record number of boil-water notices across the state — which can indicate aging pipes — as well as temporary water outages in Odessa and Zavalla. Increasing amounts of water loss and a crushing drought left some communities without enough safe drinking water for residents.
The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 28, which will allocate $1 billion to create a new fund for water supply projects and upgrades to existing infrastructure. Voters overwhelmingly approved the measure, known as Proposition 6 in November’s constitutional amendment election. That money is on top of the roughly $2.5 billion the state will receive over the next five years through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
What could happen in 2024: The Texas Water Development Board will likely need to come up with rules on how the $1 billion will be allocated. And because $1 billion will not be sufficient to address Texas’ water infrastructure problems, the state could discuss creating a permanent revenue stream for the new water fund.
— Pooja Salhotra
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.
