Greg Abbott Calls Fourth Called Legislative Session Prioritizing Billionaire-Backed Agenda to Defund Public Schools

AUSTIN, Texas –  Today, Greg Abbott set the agenda — as instructed by his shady billionaire donors — for the fourth special session of the 88th Texas Legislature. Predictably, private school voucher schemes are positioned with the highest priority — again. Additionally, our always camera-ready governor re-issued the call for taxpayer-funded border security measures that divide communities, erode trust between Texans and law enforcement, and violate human rights.

Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa issued the following statement on Greg Abbott’s MAGA agenda set before the fourth called legislative session:

“This year, Greg Abbott has wasted millions of dollars calling special session after special session to pass legislation that appeases his billionaire backers and gives him opportunities to promote his extremist ideologies on Fox News — all while leaving working families behind. The reality is that private school voucher scams are deeply unpopular in Texas, and will harm our rural schools the most. Through a bipartisan effort, some Texas Republicans representing rural communities joined all Texas House Democrats in holding the line against the passage of voucher scams in the third called session after Abbott’s “too-little-too-late” call for more public school funding if vouchers are passed.

“Greg Abbott has had the ability to fully fund our public schools for 8 years — but refused to at every opportunity. Now, Abbott is exercising his rule with a MAGA-fist by purposefully withholding necessary funding for our kids’ classrooms, and instead diverting public funds to private schools and border militarization. From school voucher scams to Operation Lone Star – Texans can only rely on their governor to pull political stunts instead of enacting policies that make our schools and state stronger and safer. We look forward to continuing our bipartisan approach to defeat any attempt to defund Texas public schools, and will not back down until our classrooms are fully funded so that each student, faculty member and classroom can reach their full potential.” 

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