On April 24, 2025, with a vote of 19-12, the Texas Senate passed the version of SB 2 that the House passed April 17, sending the bill that creates an education savings account (ESA) program to the governor’s desk with no further changes.
As amended in the House, the bill:
- Contains the same structure as the House ESA/voucher bill, HB 3.
- Establishes a $1 billion statutory expenditure cap on the ESA program for the first
- biennium.
- Limits ESA funding for students without disabilities or from non-low-income households (eligibility tier 4) to 20 percent of the program’s total budget and prioritizes students transitioning from public to private school over those already enrolled in private schools. This provision expires after the 2026-27 school year.
- Exempts private school students below third grade from testing requirements.
- Makes various changes suggested by the Comptroller for program implementation.
- Requires students to be US citizens or lawfully admitted to the US to be eligible for the program.
- Excludes a student returning mid-year to the public school system after using an ESA from accountability requirements and entitles the receiving school district to an additional 10 percent of state funding for the remainder of the school year.
- Clarifies that the amount appropriated for purposes of the program for a state fiscal biennium must be established by the Legislature by appropriation for that biennium.
Amendments made to the bill on the House floor on April 16-17:
- add children of active duty military service members to the list of eligible children
- clarify documents that may be used to prove residency
- require that private schools that participate have been accredited for at least two years
- change payments to families from quarterly to three times per year
- strengthen data reporting on students requiring special education services who leave private schools
Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will sign SB 2. The bill stipulates that the program will begin with the 2026-27 school year.
Read coverage of yesterday’s Senate debate by The Texas Tribune.
