BREAKING NEWS: HB 1 Passes House Committee!

CONGRATULATIONS, Moms and Dads of Texas! Together, we fought for our right to select the best education for our kids and a bill that would empower parents was just voted out of the House Public Education Committee! And, to add to the list of big wins, the Senate passed out an ESA bill as well—amazing!

This is historic! Take 2 minutes to join me in a parent empowerment happy dance!

Now, with the passage of ESAs out of the House Select Committee on Education, we have a bill that establishes universal education savings accounts. The final leg of our race for education freedom is here! We must stand united and encourage our representatives to pass the legislation on the House floor.

Y’all, I can’t even begin to tell you how historic this is. For the first time in two decades, we will have the opportunity to see legislators debate, vote on, and—hopefully—pass school choice for all of the 6.28 MILLION kids in Texas.

And it wasn’t even a close vote! The Committee voted 10-4 to pass ESAs. Ten to four! Wow!

Let’s deliver a big thank you to the legislators who voted to move the ESA bill out of the education meeting and to the floor:

1. Chairman Buckley  

2. Chairman Ashby

3. Representative Bell

4. Chairman Frank

5. Chairman Harris

6. Representative Hefner

7. Chairman King

8. Chairman Metcalf

9. Representative Shaheen

10. Chairman VanDeaver

Here’s next steps: HB 1 needs 76 votes out of 150 to pass.

We must encourage every single one of these Education Committee members to do the truly hard work – ensuring their colleagues, the other Representatives from all across Texas, vote for the ESA during the floor vote. Moving the bill out of committee was step 1 and should be celebrated. Step 2 is ensuring these 10 legislators stand with us and fight for passage next week when the full House votes on the passage of ESAs.

We must continue to call our reps, continue to email and tweet at them, to let them know that standing with parents is the winning play.

Let them know that ESAs are the way to a brighter future for Texas students! To get in contact with your state rep, just follow this link and enter your address. It’s just a few minutes, and it makes a huge difference! To learn more about ESAs or other ways to get involved, please visit txparentsmatter.com.

We can do this, y’all!

For the children of Texas,

Mandy Drogin