Five Bills to Kill Texas Vouchers. Show the Audit First.

Five bills. Four days. One target: the Texas voucher program.

Plain-English summary

Texas created an education savings account program in 2025. Most people call it vouchers. The state calls it Texas Education Freedom Accounts. The comptroller runs it.

Today another repeal bill landed. HB 1129, filed by Rep. Turner, wipes out the whole program, closes the fund, and sends the leftover money back to the state's general checking account.

It is the fifth repeal bill filed since bill filing opened on November 9. That is not a rumor. That is the bill list.

I wrote last week that the audit should land before the vote. The repeal side is moving faster than the audit. So let's put the record on the table.

Why it matters

A lot of East Texas families have skin in this.

Some families used an account to move a child out of a school that was not working. Some live in towns where the public school is the biggest employer in the county and the center of Friday night. Both kinds of families pay the same taxes.

If this program ends, families who planned around it need to know when. If it stays, taxpayers need to know what it bought. Either way, nobody should be guessing.

The receipt

FACT: HB 1129 was filed November 12, 2026. Author: Turner. Caption: "Relating to repealing the education savings account program." (bill history, bill text PDF)

FACT: Section 1 repeals Subchapter J, Chapter 29 of the Education Code. That is the whole program.

FACT: Section 3 abolishes the program fund. The unspent, uncommitted balance moves to the general revenue fund. Money already promised by contract is held in trust by the comptroller and paid out under that contract.

FACT: Section 4 says money sent to an account for the 2026-2027 school year stays under the old rules. In plain English, families already funded this school year are not cut off midyear.

FACT: Section 6 says the bill takes effect immediately only with a two-thirds vote of each chamber. If not, it takes effect September 1, 2027.

FACT: Four other repeal bills were filed November 9, 2026:

• HB 164 by Rep. Bucy (history)
• HB 735 by Rep. Jimenez (history)
• SB 106 by Sen. Menéndez (history)
• SB 294 by Sen. West with nine other senators listed as authors (history)

FACT: The Texas Senate has 31 members and the House has 150. (Texas Constitution, Article III) Two-thirds means 21 senators and 100 House members for immediate effect.

FACT: The 2025 law caps spending for the current two-year budget at $1 billion. It requires a private audit at least once a year, a State Auditor review, a random check of 10 percent of applications, and a public annual report. (SB 2, 89th Legislature, enrolled)

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE: Community Impact reported in September that nearly 110,000 students have received money from the program, more than 106,000 are on a waitlist, and the comptroller's office asked lawmakers for more than $2 billion for the next two years. (Community Impact)

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE: The Texas Tribune reported that Republicans still hold the Texas Senate after the November election. (Texas Tribune)

What Ryan says

RYAN STATEMENT: Five bills in four days tells me one thing. Somebody already made up their mind.

Fine. That is their right. But making up your mind is not the same as showing your work.

The law that built this program put the audit in writing. The private audit. The State Auditor check. The random 10 percent pull. The annual report with real totals. If you want to kill it, bring those receipts to the committee hearing. If you want to keep it, bring the same receipts.

Same rule both directions.

And here is the part nobody puts on a yard sign. A family in Gregg County or Upshur County that signed up in good faith needs a straight answer on dates. HB 1129 at least says this school year's money stays put. Good. Say it out loud so families hear it.

I am not going to tell you this program is a miracle or a scam. The first school year is not even over. Anybody selling you a final verdict today is selling you something.

Show me the evidence. Then vote.

What this does not prove

It does not prove the program wasted money. It does not prove the program worked. It does not prove any repeal bill will pass. Filing is step one. Committee, floor votes in both chambers, and the governor's desk come after. It does not prove how any single lawmaker will vote.

What it does prove

Five repeal bills are on file in the 90th Legislature. HB 1129 was filed today.

HB 1129 would end the program, send the unspent balance to general revenue, honor contracts, and leave this school year's accounts in place.

The audit duties are already law. Nobody has to pass a new bill to release them.

The bottom line

The repeal fight is not coming. It is here. Before anybody votes to grow it or end it, put the audit on the table. Receipts first. Then the vote.

This is the record.

Do not threaten anyone. Do not harass anyone. Do not contact anyone in my name. Read it. Share it. Send receipts, evidence, witnesses. Put eyes on the record.