88th Texas Legislature

[tx 3 putt 76,403]

I’m sure getting rid of tenure at UT and am will go over really well !

[atomheartbevo 89,449]

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s top 30 bills

• Senate Bill 1 – State Budget
• Senate Bill 2 – Restoring Voter Fraud to a Felony
• Senate Bill 3 – Increasing the Homestead Exemption to $70,000
• Senate Bill 4 – Adding Additional Property Tax Relief
• Senate Bill 5 – Increasing the Business Personal Property Tax Exemption
• Senate Bill 6 – Adding New Natural Gas Plants
• Senate Bill 7 – Continuing to Improve the Texas Grid
• Senate Bill 8 – Empowering Parental Rights – Including School Choice
• Senate Bill 9 – Empowering Teacher Rights ­­– Teacher Pay Raise
• Senate Bill 10 – Adding 13th Checks for Retired Teachers
• Senate Bill 11 – Keeping Our Schools Safe and Secure
• Senate Bill 12 – Banning Children’s Exposure to Drag Shows
• Senate Bill 13 – Protecting Children from Obscene Books in Libraries
• Senate Bill 14 – Ending Child Gender Modification
• Senate Bill 15 – Protecting Women’s College Sports
• Senate Bill 16 – Banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Higher Education
• Senate Bill 17 – Banning Discriminatory “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) Policies in Higher Education
• Senate Bill 18 – Eliminating Tenure at General Academic Institutions
• Senate Bill 19 – Creating A New Higher Education Endowment Fund
• Senate Bill 20 – Removing District Attorneys Who Refuse to Follow Texas Law
• Senate Bill 21 – Removing Judges Who Refuse to Follow Texas Law
• Senate Bill 22 – Assisting Rural Law Enforcement Funding – Increasing Pay and Needed Equipment
• Senate Bill 23 – Creating A Mandatory 10-Year Prison Sentence for Criminals Committing Gun Crime
• Senate Bill 24 – Expanding Alternatives to Abortion
• Senate Bill 25 – Creating New Scholarships for Registered Nurses
• Senate Bill 26 – Expanding Mental Health Care Beds Across Texas – Focus on Rural Counties
• Senate Bill 27 – Creating A New Business Specialty Court
• Senate Bill 28 – Addressing Texas’ Future Water Needs
• Senate Bill 29 – Banning Local COVID-19 Mandates
• Senate Bill 30 – Supplemental Budget

Party of small government and local control folks!

[atomheartbevo 89,449]

By the way, any idiots wanting the legislature/governor to go after Texas universities, you may get your wish.  All those pesky history classes talking about the Civil War and slavery may have to go away, because we deserve to see our state devolve into a shitshow where the snowflakes are protected from learning about something that happened 160 years ago.

[tx 3 putt 76,403]

4 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

By the way, any idiots wanting the legislature/governor to go after Texas universities, you may get your wish.  All those pesky history classes talking about the Civil War and slavery may have to go away, because we deserve to see our state devolve into a shitshow where the snowflakes are protected from learning about something that happened 160 years ago.

Texas higher education is already behind, these two jackasses are going to send it back to the Stone Age 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,151]

1 hour ago, miguelito said:

Shut up, or else they might ban cell phones.

I'd be good with that one.

[atomheartbevo 89,449]

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

Texas higher education is already behind, these two jackasses are going to send it back to the Stone Age 

It's pretty stunning (and embarrassing as a former Republican) how Republicans have become such snowflakes, offended at the slightest thing that doesn't reflect their world view, and wanting to censor any history that doesn't glorify their ancestors, and fully embracing cancel culture for anything they don't like or that confuses them.

Although having done a lot of genealogy for people in Texas/LA/AR/OK, a whole lot of "my ancestors were Rebels who fought at such and such battle and we have to worship them" turned out to be "your ancestor wasn't even in the country, or wasn't in the South, or didn't even serve, or was AWOL, or fucking died of some disease before they ever saw a battlefield"

Edited February 14, 2023 by atomheartbevo

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

Republicans, the party of education, empathy and small government.

[Neonmoon 38,127]

On 1/12/2023 at 7:49 PM, Neonmoon said:

GOP cutting funding to any school with diversity education. 

 

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

 

• Senate Bill 16 – Banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Higher Education
• Senate Bill 17 – Banning Discriminatory “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) Policies in Higher Education

Nailed it 

[atomheartbevo 89,449]

9 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Nailed it 

Dan Patrick didn't even go to school/university in Texas, but by Gawd he's going to tell Texans how it should be done.

[tx 3 putt 76,403]

10 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Dan Patrick didn't even go to school/university in Texas, but by Gawd he's going to tell Texans how it should be done.

his home state wouldn’t take him back 

[1978horn 880]

Bill introduced to prohibit polling locations on institutions of higher education.

https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB2390/2023

[tx 3 putt 76,403]

4 minutes ago, 1978horn said:

Bill introduced to prohibit polling locations on institutions of higher education.

https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB2390/2023

😂😂😂😂😂

[YGIFS 19,449]

^
that's funny because it flies in the face of Charlie Kirk and TurningPoint.  

Also, as I told Brisket last night...Chancellor Milliken and A&M Chancellor had quite a hoot with Dan Patrick yesterday.  Film at 11. 

[atomheartbevo 89,449]

3 hours ago, 1978horn said:

Bill introduced to prohibit polling locations on institutions of higher education.

https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB2390/2023

Again, give the Republicans credit for not trying to hide how shitty they are, and how scared they are of losing power.

[Neonmoon 38,127]

3 hours ago, 1978horn said:

Bill introduced to prohibit polling locations on institutions of higher education.

https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB2390/2023

Well you can’t just say white men who own real estate…yet 

[1978horn 880]

Apparently this bill was filed for campus safety purposes…that’s the line they are telling people who call Issac’s office.

[HenryJames 65,890]

On 2/13/2023 at 5:39 PM, atomheartbevo said:

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s top 30 bills

• Senate Bill 1 – State Budget
• Senate Bill 2 – Restoring Voter Fraud to a Felony
• Senate Bill 3 – Increasing the Homestead Exemption to $70,000
• Senate Bill 4 – Adding Additional Property Tax Relief
• Senate Bill 5 – Increasing the Business Personal Property Tax Exemption
• Senate Bill 6 – Adding New Natural Gas Plants
• Senate Bill 7 – Continuing to Improve the Texas Grid
• Senate Bill 8 – Empowering Parental Rights – Including School Choice
• Senate Bill 9 – Empowering Teacher Rights ­­– Teacher Pay Raise
• Senate Bill 10 – Adding 13th Checks for Retired Teachers
• Senate Bill 11 – Keeping Our Schools Safe and Secure
• Senate Bill 12 – Banning Children’s Exposure to Drag Shows
• Senate Bill 13 – Protecting Children from Obscene Books in Libraries
• Senate Bill 14 – Ending Child Gender Modification
• Senate Bill 15 – Protecting Women’s College Sports
• Senate Bill 16 – Banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Higher Education
• Senate Bill 17 – Banning Discriminatory “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) Policies in Higher Education
• Senate Bill 18 – Eliminating Tenure at General Academic Institutions
• Senate Bill 19 – Creating A New Higher Education Endowment Fund
• Senate Bill 20 – Removing District Attorneys Who Refuse to Follow Texas Law
• Senate Bill 21 – Removing Judges Who Refuse to Follow Texas Law
• Senate Bill 22 – Assisting Rural Law Enforcement Funding – Increasing Pay and Needed Equipment
• Senate Bill 23 – Creating A Mandatory 10-Year Prison Sentence for Criminals Committing Gun Crime
• Senate Bill 24 – Expanding Alternatives to Abortion
• Senate Bill 25 – Creating New Scholarships for Registered Nurses
• Senate Bill 26 – Expanding Mental Health Care Beds Across Texas – Focus on Rural Counties
• Senate Bill 27 – Creating A New Business Specialty Court
• Senate Bill 28 – Addressing Texas’ Future Water Needs
• Senate Bill 29 – Banning Local COVID-19 Mandates
• Senate Bill 30 – Supplemental Budget

Party of small government and local control folks!

 

[pacman 7,330]

Is there any State with a successful school voucher program? 

[YGIFS 19,449]

~2 million kids commuting 90 minutes each way to/from the nearest private school?  Oh yeah, this is an absolute can't miss idea.

There's about a half dozen near me.  One is expanding its physical space.  The others are the same size they were when I moved into the area.  Where are all the new classrooms and teachers coming from again?  You can recruit teachers from nearby public schools, you can't recruit 50,000 square feet of space by Sept. 1st.

[elfenix 34,172]

otherwise known as the t-shack promotion act

Edited February 19, 2023 by elfenix

[YGIFS 19,449]

^

While that's probably part of the long game here, I can at least speak for the Austin area and all the charter and private schools we work with.  A large majority of them are never gonna get zoning permission from their adjacent neighbors for shit like that.  Public Schools domain that shit, privates cannot.  Go drive by Saint Michael's or Regents.  You think a dozen portables lining the parking lot is gonna fly with nearby residents?  Nope.  State can't make 'em choke on it unless they want to eat shit on their property tax valuations.  Saint Andrew's, Hyde Park?  A line of glorified mobile homes in those multi-million dollar neighborhoods?  Get ready for the estate showdown that'll make the voucher battle look like preschool nap time.

[CooterBrown 17,913]

The point isn’t to make private schools available to the masses. It’s to subsidize keeping the masses out of private schools.

[Brisketexan 104,628]

^
While that's probably part of the long game here, I can at least speak for the Austin area and all the charter and private schools we work with.  A large majority of them are never gonna get zoning permission from their adjacent neighbors for shit like that.  Public Schools domain that shit, privates cannot.  Go drive by Saint Michael's or Regents.  You think a dozen portables lining the parking lot is gonna fly with nearby residents?  Nope.  State can't make 'em choke on it unless they want to eat shit on their property tax valuations.  Saint Andrew's, Hyde Park?  A line of glorified mobile homes in those multi-million dollar neighborhoods?  Get ready for the estate showdown that'll make the voucher battle look like preschool nap time.

You are looking at this ALL wrong. We’re talking about modern American “conservatives.” It’s about one thing: GRIFT.
That’s why I’m giving you this exclusive opportunity to invest in Brisket’s chain of “American Christian Patriot Academies.” We will teach your children how to be good, gunslinging, Bible-believing American Christian patriots. No wokeness or CRT. All of our teaching materials will be those Mike huckabee comic book things. Our teachers will be local folks you know and trust - they don’t need no teachin’ certificate from the Deep State! And we’ll be sure to get plenty of applicants, because we’ll pay 50 cents more per hour than the private prison down the road pays its “guards.” You owe it to your children to send them to American Christian Patriot Academy (located in the asbestos-ridden building that used to be one of your town’s Main Street businesses before Walmart and Dollar General shut em all down) - if you don’t, you must be a socialist groomer. You’re not a socialist groomer, are ya?

[tx 3 putt 76,403]

3 hours ago, pacman said:

Is there any State with a successful school voucher program? 

every private school in the state needs to bump tuition $10k, asap 

[elfenix 34,172]

10 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

The point isn’t to make private schools available to the masses. It’s to subsidize keeping the masses out of private schools.

yup.  it's about giving more tax breaks to the wealthy and further shoving the cost of the society that allows the wealthy to accumulate so much wealth down on the poors. it's the one ideological constant of the republican party for the past century.

Edited February 19, 2023 by elfenix

[tx 3 putt 76,403]

7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

You are looking at this ALL wrong. We’re talking about modern American “conservatives.” It’s about one thing: GRIFT.
That’s why I’m giving you this exclusive opportunity to invest in Brisket’s chain of “American Christian Patriot Academies.” We will teach your children how to be good, gunslinging, Bible-believing American Christian patriots. No wokeness or CRT. All of our teaching materials will be those Mike huckabee comic book things. Our teachers will be local folks you know and trust - they don’t need no teachin’ certificate from the Deep State! And we’ll be sure to get plenty of applicants, because we’ll pay 50 cents more per hour than the private prison down the road pays its “guards.” You owe it to your children to send them to American Christian Patriot Academy (located in the asbestos-ridden building that used to be one of your town’s Main Street businesses before Walmart and Dollar General shut em all down) - if you don’t, you must be a socialist groomer. You’re not a socialist groomer, are ya?

pledge of the allegiance, every 30 minutes 

1hr weekly, mandatory gun range time 

AP classes banned 

Edited February 19, 2023 by tx 3 putt

[YGIFS 19,449]

Each time I look at the list of bills from Dan Patrick, a new one stands out to me and raises so many disturbing questions.  

Today, I have two.  #19 -Creating Higher Education Endowment Fund.  Abbott's own political appointment to THECB was completely stumped by this, as were all of us.  The following systems already have their own endoments-UH, UNT, UT/A&M, Texas Tech, Texas State, and most of the independent schools have their own endowments.  If they want to add money to any of the existing system endowments, they are perfectly free to do that.  But yet another endowment brings with it all kinds of additional redundancies from which we already suffer.  Such an endowment would require 100 employees, tens of millions of dollars in real estate costs, annual G&A budget, money to pay OCIOs and consultants millions in fees, lots of government appointments vying for lucrative contracts with almost no oversight, and over saturation of public monies flowing from Texas endowments into asset classes conveniently owned/operated by friends of Dan Patrick (plus $5mm/year mandated investments in the parent company of Lane Bryant and Subaru).  On a list of grifts, this might be the most egregious. 

#24 -expanding alternatives to abortion?  Uh, da fuh?  Isn't that just called a Live Birth?  I think we already have those, not a huge need for the state to get more involved in a woman's body.  What am I missing here?  Besides another chance for the state to make sure women with no-to-shitty insurance don't get the care they need during pregnancy?    

[atomheartbevo 89,449]

1 hour ago, elfenix said:

otherwise known as the t-shack promotion act

Drives me nuts when people don't know what I mean when I say "t-shacks".

[CooterBrown 17,913]

every private school in the state needs to bump tuition $10k, asap 

Why? They can still discriminate on admissions as they see fit. A voucher ain’t getting a poor minority kid into a decent private school.

[YGIFS 19,449]

Yeah, they can...as they often do still say, "Sorry, we're all full this class" or "You may not Trinity material, perhaps you'd thrive at an IDEA campus" or "Even with your voucher, you would still fall several thousands of dollars short of our tuition and fees.  Unfortunately our financial assistance resources are pledged to current students."  

I think you'll see some criss-crossing/transferring to other nearby, better performing, public schools but this not the panacea for faith-based schooling.  The logistics alone don't bear it out, never mind the math, and the other dirty little secret---they take 5-10% economically disadvantaged students because it looks good.  They're not filling up half the fucking school with poors of color.  

[CooterBrown 17,913]

---they take 5-10% economically disadvantaged students because it looks good. 

St Andrew’s needs running backs too.

[Brisketexan 104,628]

Yeah, they can...as they often do still say, "Sorry, we're all full this class" or "You may not Trinity material, perhaps you'd thrive at an IDEA campus" or "Even with your voucher, you would still fall several thousands of dollars short of our tuition and fees.  Unfortunately our financial assistance resources are pledged to current students."  
I think you'll see some criss-crossing/transferring to other nearby, better performing, public schools but this not the panacea for faith-based schooling.  The logistics alone don't bear it out, never mind the math, and the other dirty little secret---they take 5-10% economically disadvantaged students because it looks good.  They're not filling up half the fucking school with poors of color.  

My American Christian Patriot Academy will gladly take anyone’s $8,000 voucher and provide them a $5,000 education. And if that means that $3,000 per student ends up in Brisket’s personal “I deserve this because I love America more than even Lee Greenwood does” account, then that’s God’s will.
Why are you against God, you commie socialist trans groomer?

[tx 3 putt 76,403]

 

7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

My American Christian Patriot Academy will gladly take anyone’s $8,000 voucher and provide them a $5,000 education. And if that means that $3,000 per student ends up in Brisket’s personal “I deserve this because I love America more than even Lee Greenwood does” account, then that’s God’s will.
Why are you against God, you commie socialist trans groomer?

It cant cost much to get Lee greenwood, once a month or so for Friday assembly ?

[YGIFS 19,449]

The grift opportunities in this primary education space will make the prison system corruption look like a fraternity prank by comparison.

I depart from many of you on this issue regarding primary education approaches though.  But this proposed model at the Capitol?  Even if the outcomes were practically guaranteed, there's two massive fucking holes in this thing.  First off, the money doesn't add up.  Not even fucking close.  You'll have a millions of students from average, suburban schools in search of a private school that'll take their money but still leave them thousands and thousands of dollars short for full cost of attendance.  Second, I checked my map this morning and yep, Texas is still a really big fucking state.  Nearly 2 million kids don't live within 90 minutes of a private school.  Not a private school that meets their family's value and faith benchmarks, like no fucking schools at all.  And even if there is some higher-performing rural or exurban public you want to transfer over to?  Still 2-3 hours on the bus everyday.  Between driving their kids to school at 4:30am every morning or worrying about CRT and woke library books, I bet most parents cave in the end.  

Again, talk about curriculum, academics grounded in citizenship, faith, and patriotism.  Fine.  Design your fucking dream school day, teachers, staff, and activities/sports.  In the end, the check won't cover it.  And even if I did, I can't miracle your ass to the school of your choosing 100 miles away every morning and every night after practice.  And even I could do that with gondolas or hyperloops, the schools don't fucking want your kid's stinky ass in their classrooms.  They don't need your money that bad, for profit education is doing just-fucking-fine all by its lonesome.  

 

[tx 3 putt 76,403]

52 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Why? They can still discriminate on admissions as they see fit. A voucher ain’t getting a poor minority kid into a decent private school.

every current student, will soon have an extra $10k thanks to people like you and me !

[mchookem 16,224]

wtf! seems like the pace of shit getting worse in Texas for many, many people is actually speeding up...

you know how folks are always 'waahh why you gotta bring politics into everything??'...but if i were still living and paying taxes in Texas to fund this regime of criminals and nasty-hearted cretins i'd have a hard time feeling goodwill towards the general populace knowing they overwhelmingly support all this. 😒

i admit it's easier to avoid/ignore within my own family since i've removed myself from being subjected to it. 

it's a sad fucking state of affairs is what it is. 😕

[Brisketexan 104,628]

every current student, will soon have an extra $10k thanks to people like you and me !

Sounds to me like tuition is about to go up $10k a year at all of those schools.
Aren’t the republicans the ones who love to lecture the rest of the world on the effect that “free money” has on pricing?
Irony is dead.

[YGIFS 19,449]

Something's still not adding up.  Average sized private primary school onboards one full class of "school choice" kids per grade.  That's 200 kids, $20mm.  But even at scale (which is one thing publics are better at), it'll "cost" the school $15mm of that to educate the kids with appropriate new staff, teachers, more custodians, more trash pickup, more water, more A/C, more basketballs, more books, more doors, more art supplies, more recorders in music, more lunch ladies making more salisbury steak, etc.  So that leaves a few million leftover for massive upgrades to M&O and capital expenditures outside the classroom and/or more classrooms.  Is a school wiling to upend the promised experience and cohort dynamic for families loyally paying in $20k/year all these years for a few million bucks that'll be out the door immediately once they start having to build new spaces?  School vouchers cover cost of education, not the cost of new buildings and they can't float bonds or modify tax rates.  

I don't think as many schools are gonna go for this and the ones that will are too fucking far away from the students in need or improved schools.  

Again, I actually believe in the spirit of enabling parents to make better choices.  But the math and the physical geography of this don't make sense.  And it all relies on thousands of private schools welcoming with open arms all these students who may not be equipped academically to hang.  Plus you gotta figure out where to put them physically.  And all that to clear a few million when you can just do the same thing with freezing class sizes, bumping tuition up 5%, and hosting a year-end fundraising gala instead.  And you don't have to worry about a revolving door of new families "trying things out for one academic year" 

There are way more logistical holes in this than a Russian military intelligence briefing.  

[pyrohornIII 4,809]

On 2/13/2023 at 5:48 PM, tx 3 putt said:

Texas higher education is already behind, these two jackasses are going to send it back to the Stone Age 

It will really start collapsing when professors start opting out of Texas schools and go to those who have tenure tracks.  

3 hours ago, YGIFS said:

The grift opportunities in this primary education space will make the prison system corruption look like a fraternity prank by comparison.

I depart from many of you on this issue regarding primary education approaches though.  But this proposed model at the Capitol?  Even if the outcomes were practically guaranteed, there's two massive fucking holes in this thing.  First off, the money doesn't add up.  Not even fucking close.  You'll have a millions of students from average, suburban schools in search of a private school that'll take their money but still leave them thousands and thousands of dollars short for full cost of attendance.  Second, I checked my map this morning and yep, Texas is still a really big fucking state.  Nearly 2 million kids don't live within 90 minutes of a private school.  Not a private school that meets their family's value and faith benchmarks, like no fucking schools at all.  And even if there is some higher-performing rural or exurban public you want to transfer over to?  Still 2-3 hours on the bus everyday.  Between driving their kids to school at 4:30am every morning or worrying about CRT and woke library books, I bet most parents cave in the end.  

Again, talk about curriculum, academics grounded in citizenship, faith, and patriotism.  Fine.  Design your fucking dream school day, teachers, staff, and activities/sports.  In the end, the check won't cover it.  And even if I did, I can't miracle your ass to the school of your choosing 100 miles away every morning and every night after practice.  And even I could do that with gondolas or hyperloops, the schools don't fucking want your kid's stinky ass in their classrooms.  They don't need your money that bad, for profit education is doing just-fucking-fine all by its lonesome.  

 

I thought first about how those kids couldn't engage in extra curricular things like athletics or other activities, not without a huge sacrifice of time from the parents to ferry their asses around.

It would not surprise me if some are already thinking of boarding those kids who have to travel so far.  Set up bare minimum barracks and charge out the ass to house and feed them.  What the parents can't pay, the state will give them yet another voucher program.   

Basically a boarding school for the poors.

 

[YGIFS 19,449]

Yeah, children of color taken out of their communities to live, sleep, bathe, and eat in a strange town surrounded by nobody they know except some random adults they've no connection to who "stay over at the school for safety purposes."  Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?  This has never gone sideways since the beginning of time. 

[troph 24,563]

Fuck it let them say creationism is a scientific theory, at least it will shut them up. 
 

- progressives 40-45 years ago when the Christian conservatives first showed up demanding their Bible be taught as fact.

look how far we’ve come. 

[Poe It Up 126]

7 hours ago, mchookem said:

wtf! seems like the pace of shit getting worse in Texas for many, many people is actually speeding up...

you know how folks are always 'waahh why you gotta bring politics into everything??'...but if i were still living and paying taxes in Texas to fund this regime of criminals and nasty-hearted cretins i'd have a hard time feeling goodwill towards the general populace knowing they overwhelmingly support all this. 😒

i admit it's easier to avoid/ignore within my own family since i've removed myself from being subjected to it. 

it's a sad fucking state of affairs is what it is. 😕

I don’t know, it’s a pretty kick ass state actually. I love it here. 

[ERhine 1,894]

Second, I checked my map this morning and yep, Texas is still a really big fucking state.  Nearly 2 million kids don't live within 90 minutes of a private school. 
 

You didn’t check a map this morning. You didn’t research anything. Prove it.

[mchookem 16,224]

50 minutes ago, Poe It Up said:

I don’t know, it’s a pretty kick ass state actually. I love it here. 

 

[troph 24,563]

I love it here too. 😞 

[Pescado_Rojo 19,331]

17 minutes ago, troph said:

I love it here too. 😞 

I never thought I'd  leave, but now I can't imagine staying once the kids are out of high school.

 

[South Austin 52,146]

14 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

I never thought I'd  leave, but now I can't imagine staying once the kids are out of high school.

Same, except my career sort of has me trapped in Austin.

[WBT 20,422]

23 hours ago, pacman said:

Is there any State with a successful school voucher program? 

And that's why it hasn't and won't get out of the house.  There are enough Ds plus rural Rs to block it.  Danny keeps trying to kick that football though.

[bluto 4,894]

1 hour ago, WBT said:

And that's why it hasn't and won't get out of the house.  There are enough Ds plus rural Rs to block it.  Danny keeps trying to kick that football though.

When those rural R’s catch hell from Fox News fueled constituents about the gays/CRT and leaned on by the party with full force/threat of primaried, things can change. The momentum has been building, not sure it’s quite there yet but not far. 
 

The other historical firewalls, rich white suburban isds and state board of education, are already laying down their arms. 

[WBT 20,422]

The isd is a top employer in a ton of these small towns.  Between that and the threat to Friday night lights, I don't see it.

Edited February 21, 2023 by WBT