Rep. Dustin Burrows also tells us whether he thinks the Texas lottery will survive and whether members support a total ban on THC.
Rep. Dustin Burrows also tells us whether he thinks the Texas lottery will survive and whether members support a total ban on THC.
Rep. Dustin Burrows also tells us whether he thinks the Texas lottery will survive and whether members support a total ban on THC.
DALLAS — Speaker Dustin Burrows has led the Texas House for three months now, and he’s already accomplished something none of his predecessors could: pushing school vouchers across the finish line.
And now that the historic legislation is headed to the Governor’s desk, the Speaker knows there’s still plenty to do, from determining the future of the Texas lottery to helping solve an affordability crisis that’s impacting Texans on multiple fronts.
The House recently passed a budget with zero funding for the Texas Lottery Commission, which has faced months of criticism from lawmakers, particularly over the use of courier services to sell tickets.
We asked Speaker Burrows point-blank if he thinks the Texas lottery should be abolished.
“I’m not there yet,” he told us on Inside Texas Politics. “In the next 30 days, there’s going to be a real conversation about are we going to keep it, and if we do, what changes need to be made so that people have confidence that it is a legitimate gaming operation.”
The lottery is just one of many topics Rep. Burrows, R-Lubbock, discussed with Jason Whitely in a rare one-on-one conversation inside the Speaker’s office.
On the very day of our interview, he and other conservatives were celebrating Governor Greg Abbott’s first bill signing of the session that created a Texas Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, office.
“There’s going to be cuts. But I think the biggest thing that it’s going to do is it’s going to look at all the regulations that have been passed and are being considered,” he told us about the new office. “It’s going to make sure that they’re done in plain English. It’s going to look for redundancies. And it’s going to try to minimize the number of regulations.”
Full interview:
Speaker Burrows says he hopes there is no need for a special session, and they’re on track to avoid one.
But if there is one topic that might bring lawmakers back over the summer, it is banning THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the ingredient in marijuana that makes a user feel high.
One of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s top priorities is a total ban on all products containing THC, outside of what’s allowed under the state’s limited medical marijuana program. The Republican leader of the Senate has threatened to force a special session if lawmakers do not pass the legislation.
The Senate has already passed SB 3. But the lower chamber hasn’t taken any action yet, though the House has held committee hearings.
Speaker Burrows says he’s concerned about many of the THC products that have made it onto the market, such as vapes. And he thinks there’s bipartisan support for banning many of those products. But he also acknowledged the fact that there appears to be more support in the House for stricter regulation and licensing requirements versus an outright ban.
“I think there’s some products people want to have the conversation about keeping for access. I think all that’s going to be coming to the floor very soon, and members are going to try to figure out what is the right balance,” the Republican leader relayed.
When it comes to affordability, the Texas House set aside $51 billion in its budget to reduce property taxes once again.
And there are bills in both chambers that look to reduce what Speaker Burrows calls one of the biggest costs impacting housing affordability in Texas: time.
“If you look at new construction, the time from actually purchasing a piece of land and getting permits and trying to actually get something built, it’s too long. It’s unnecessarily long. And time is money. That’s capital that’s out there in the marketplace. We’re trying to speed up third-party permitting,” the Lubbock Republican explained.
But the recent legislation that’s dominated headlines is the passage of the school choice bill, SB 2, which is now headed to the Governor’s desk after passing both the House and Senate.
The $1 billion statewide voucher program would provide between $10,300 and $10,900 per student per year.
Students with disabilities could receive up to $30,000 more.
And homeschoolers could receive up to $2,000 a year.
Speaker Burrows says one of the most important aspects of the legislation is the fact that private schools don’t have to participate in the program if they don’t want to. And he sees existing private schools, specifically mentioning the catholic church, expanding and providing more opportunities because of the legislation.
While school choice was the top conservative priority heading into the session, Speaker Burrows says HB 2, the public school funding legislation, is the biggest bill the House will pass this session.
“For the Texas House, it is the big win of the session,” the Speaker said proudly.
The House overwhelmingly passed the legislation 142-5. It is now assigned to the Senate Committee on Education K-16.
For the first time in years, the bill increases the basic allotment by $395, from $6,160 to $6,555. The basic allotment is the funding the state provides schools per student, based on attendance.
The $8 billion package also raises teacher salaries and changes the way special education is funded.
“That is a historic win. And we’re taking care of some much-needed things. Teacher pay raises. Special education funding. Full day PreK,” said Burrows.
While Speaker Burrows thinks HB 2 is the big win of the session, some educators aren’t so sure.
The interim Superintendent of Keller ISD, Dr. Cory Wilson, sent an email to district families telling them that while the additional funding is a step in the right direction and appreciated, the $6,555 basic allotment “falls well short of the $7,660 needed to cover the cost of inflation over the past six years.”
But the Speaker says, combined with a few other programs lawmakers are working on, they will have spent more on public education during this session than any other in the state’s history.
And the Lubbock Republican says he’s very happy with where things stand, including the legislation that’s been passed and the relationship between the House and Senate and the Governor.
“It’s been a good session so far,” he told us in a business-as-usual manner. “I think we’re on track to have a very good session.”