The passage of the state’s first voucher program means ho - meschool families in Texas will soon be eligible for up to $2,000 to use toward educational costs such as tutoring or curriculum. From 500,000 to 600,000 Texas children are being homeschooled - between 8% and 10% of all school-aged children, the Hous - ton Chronicle reported. Homeschooling in Texas is largely unregulated, with no re - quirement for parents to submit curriculum for review. Students are also not required to take the standardized tests given in public schools. Any family that is currently homeschooling its children can apply for the $2,000, with pri - ority given to children with dis - abilities or those in low-income households. Homeschoolers who want to switch to a private school can get up to $10,000 a year to help pay for tuition. If there are more applicants than can be handled by the $1 bil - lion allocated, the state will hold a drawing to determine who gets into the program. The Legislative Budget Board has predicted that about 270,000 homeschoolers will apply in the first year.
Groups fight repeal of Texas Dream Act
Several civil rights groups have joined Austin Communi - ty College trustees in suing to protect the Texas Dream Act, which allowed college students without legal status to obtain instate tuition, the Austin Ameri - can-Statesman reported. The U.S. Department of Jus - tice sued to outlaw the 2001 Tex - as Dream Act, and state Attorney General Ken Paxton declined to defend the state against the law - suit. Joining ACC's suit against the repeal are the American Civil Liberties Union, the Texas Civil Rights Project, Democracy Forward and the National Immi - gration Law Center, as well as a private law firm in Dallas.
The plaintiffs requested an "emergency ruling" allowing them to intervene as defendants in place of the state, arguing that ending the act would cause "ir - reparable harm" to both students and higher-education institutions, which stand to lose millions in tuition funds.
"This is a fight to protect ac - cess to higher education for all Texans, but also a fight to uphold one of the basic tenets of our de - mocracy," Efrén C. Olivares of the National Immigration Center said in a news release.
Ending the Texas Dream Act would affect more than 20,000 students.
Texas Lottery Commission to be disbanded While the sales of lottery tick - ets will continue, the commission charged with its oversight is be - ing disbanded after stories broke of lottery couriers buying mil - lions of tickets in order to virtu -
ally guaran - tee winning a $95 million Lotto Texas prize. The Texas Tri - bune report - ed the lottery will be run, starting in September, by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Recent legislation signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott also prohibits online ticket sales. Play - ers can purchase up to 100 tickets in person at lottery retailers only during store hours.
The lottery raises $2 billion annually for the state.
Ex-Paxton aides allege witness tampering during impeach -
ment trial
Legal filings in a federal suit from top aides to Paxton claim his right-hand deputy threatened to fire employees if they gave un - favorable testimony about Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial, the Chronicle reported. Paxton was acquitted by the Tex - as Senate after that trial. He has since launched a bid to unseat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the 2026 Republican primary. The allegations are detailed in a suit filed last week by former Solicitor General Judd Stone and Chris Hilton, the former chief of the general litigation division. They claim that current First As - sistant Attorney General Brent Webster made the threats. Web - ster has not commented on the allegations.
New consent law takes effect this fall
The Legislature has over - hauled the state's sexual consent laws, through what is known as "the Summer Willis Act," the Statesman reported. It is named after a former University of Texas student-athlete who was drugged and sexually assaulted in 2014 at a fraternity party. The case could not be prosecuted be - cause of loopholes in the Texas law that did not clearly define consent in cases involving intox - ication or impairment. The bill passed by a wide bipartisan mar - gin in both chambers.
"The loophole my rape fell under was because I voluntarily accepted a drink from one person and another person raped me," Willis said in a PBS interview.
The Summer Willis Act pro - vides a clearer definition of con - sent, including an affirmative definition of consent, the with - drawal of consent, and incapaci -
tation due to substance use.
Abbott orders establishment of screwworm response team Abbott last week directed the Texas Parks and Wildlife De - partment and the Texas Animal Health Commission to create a joint Texas New World Screw - worm Response Team. That's in response to the recent northward spread of the screwworm. "The mission for the Re - sponse Team is clear: to lead Texas' prevention and response efforts and ensure that Texas re - mains informed, prepared, and aligned to prevent the re-emer - gence of this destructive para - site," Abbott's news release said. "We stand ready to protect our land, livestock, and wildlife." Animal imports at the south - ern border have been halted due to growing outbreaks in Mexico. Previous outbreaks in the 1950s and 1960s were largely halted by breeding sterile flies, and a simi - lar effort is underway. The New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on live - stock, wildlife, and in rare cases, humans.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin, and Cedar Park. Email:[email protected].
