El Paso Matters – El Paso lawmakers talk school funding, border security, health care ahead of legislative session

Public school funding, access to health care and issues related to immigration and the border are some of the key topics El Paso lawmakers hope to address during the 89th session of the Texas Legislature.

State Sen. César Blanco and state Reps. Mary González, Joe Moody and Vince Perez participated in a panel discussion Wednesday at the El Paso Community College Administrative Services Center to talk about their priorities for the session. State Reps. Claudia Ordaz and Eddie Morales were unable to attend.

The discussion was moderated by El Paso Matters founder and CEO Robert Moore and sponsored by the Paso del Norte Health Foundation.

The Texas Legislature meets every other year. The coming 89th session convenes Tuesday, Jan. 14. State Comptroller Glenn Hegar has projected the state will have a $20 billion surplus going into the session.

School vouchers

With both the Texas House and Senate being controlled by Republicans, much of El Paso’s Democratic lawmakers’ efforts will go toward staving off conservative-led initiatives, including creating education savings accounts — a voucher-like program that allows parents to use state funds to pay for private school.

In 2023, Republican lawmakers and Gov. Greg Abbott attempted to pass similar legislation, tying public education funding increases to the same bill. Voucher legislation passed the Senate but failed to make it through the House due to Democrats and a coalition of rural Republicans who opposed the program.

Critics of the voucher-like program have argued that it will siphon tax dollars away from public schools, many of which are already under financial strain, and will only benefit high-income families with children in private schools.

“This is just a big tax giveaway to corporations and a big tax subsidy for folks who are already in private school. What you’re going to see a lot of corporate schools pop up, these fly-by schools that are going to coincidentally charge the same tuition that the state of Texas is giving folks. And you’re going to have all these random schools that are going to have very low standards (and) low accountability,” Perez said.

After a couple of House seats flipped and a handful of anti-voucher Republicans either retired or were ousted during the November election, Abbott boasted on X — formerly Twitter — that he had enough votes in the lower chamber to pass the legislation.

Every candidate that I backed in Texas House general election races won tonight.

We even had Republican candidates win seats that had been held by Democrats.

There are more than enough votes to pass school choice in Texas.

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 6, 2024

Some El Paso lawmakers said the outcome may depend on whether the program is limited to low-income families.

“I think when Abbott says he thinks he has the votes to pass it, the math looks like he does,” Moody said. “If it’s universal, I think that number starts to shift this way. If it starts to winnow down and limit and maybe certain populations, then maybe you get more votes that direction.”

González said she expects a repeat of the last Legislature, which was called back for a historic fourth special session in an attempt to get approval on the program.

“Maybe we do pass something. Will the lieutenant governor think that’s far enough? Will the governor think that’s far enough? Are we all just going to be in a stalemate because the leadership can agree on what vouchers or education savings accounts look like?” González said.

Public school funding

As schools throughout Texas deal with budget shortfalls, some lawmakers have suggested changing the formula used to fund public schools.

Currently, the state gives school district’s a basic allotment based on student attendance – $6,160 per student, which has not been changed since 2019.

Blanco hopes to change the formula so it is based on student enrollment.

“If kids are sick and they are out of school, the state doesn’t give the school money for the kid that’s out for that day, whereas in enrollment (based funding) the school district knows exactly what the state’s going to give them for that school year. It’s easier to budget and makes things a lot more efficient,” Blanco said.

Others like González want to implement legislation that would automatically increase the basic allotment to adjust for inflation.

Perez said he wants to create incentives for people who move to neighborhoods within a school district with shrinking enrollment such as the El Paso Independent School District to help it regain funding.

“I would like to see the taxing entities come together where they provide tax abatements, perhaps for a period of 10 years, to families who come in and rehabilitate homes in aging neighborhoods,” Perez said.

High-speed chases and border security

Lawmakers said they need to work with the Texas Department of Public Safety to set stricter pursuit standards to address the dangerous high-speed chases of suspected migrant smugglers by state troopers in El Paso.

A report presented this week by the El Paso County Attorney’s Office found these pursuits happen daily on average, can reach more than 100 mph, and often go through neighborhoods and other sensitive areas, leading to several injuries and deaths. 

The report said DPS has more flexible standards for pursuits than those used by local law enforcement or the Border Patrol.

“There’s precedent. The Border Patrol has decided to no longer do high-speed chases because they’re dangerous,” Blanco, who has served on the Senate Border Security Committee, said. “I think the troopers need training and a policy that balances public safety with law enforcement.”

“If we’re not using best practices, then we need to evaluate why we’re not doing that, and probably shift to best practices. It’s ultimately going to end up in more tragedy,” Moody said, adding that the state doesn’t need to be involved in those interactions that are a federal responsibility.

The lawmakers also took issue with the state’s multi-billion-dollar border security initiative and said that should be handled by the federal government.

“People need to realize that this is a federal issue. We need comprehensive immigration reform, but we also need smart, intelligent border security tactics,” Moody said. 

“Democrats aren’t against border security. We are for border security. It’s how we do it,” he said. “We’re for a humane immigration system, and we are for smart border security, utilizing drones and cameras and infrared and things that are force multipliers, that can actually catch bad guys that are coming in and doing harm for our communities.” 

González said border security funding should be directed to public resources like education and health care, noting that the cost of the state’s border security initiative stands at $14 billion – the entire state government budget of New Mexico.

“We are spending the entire budget of another state on just border security. Imagine right now, when we’re in a teacher crisis when we have health care access issues, we have all these things. We’re not talking a little bit of money, we’re talking a significant amount of money that could be utilized for.”

Access to affordable health care

Making health care more affordable and accessible for El Pasoans was another major priority mentioned throughout the discussion.

Blanco said he wants to make it easier for Texas residents to enroll in Medicaid.

“It’s very easy in other states, but when you look at the state of Texas, there’s a lot of bureaucracy, so I’ve got some legislation that’s going to focus specifically on helping people re-enroll into Medicaid,” Blanco said.

The senator said he would also like to reintroduce legislation that would allow advanced practice registered nurses to provide primary care services without needing a doctor’s oversight.

“I filed the HEAL Texans Act, which allows nurse practitioners to practice to the full extent of their training and allow them to practice without the administrative barriers that they currently have in the state of Texas,” Blaco said. “This would help our rural and urban communities have access to primary care, so it would make things affordable for the state as well.”

Perez said he would like to see El Paso take the lead in implementing legislation that would make it easier for doctors from other countries to practice in Texas.

“There are a lot of well educated, very experienced doctors who speak English and who would like the opportunity to practice in the U.S., but there’s a lot of barriers. Not only do they have to pass an exam to become doctors here in the U.S., but we make them go through residency all over again,” Perez said. “We just don’t have enough residency spots to accommodate these doctors.”

One challenge will be educating dozens of newly elected House members on El Paso’s health care needs such as a cancer treatment center and expansions to the El Paso Psychiatric Center approved during the 2023 Legislative Session, González said. 

“Everything that happens next session is going to be an uphill battle, just because of all the new energy that’s going to be in the space,” she said.

She encourages residents to reach out to state leadership to advocate for more of these types of community resources.

“We’re already fighting for these things, but they need to hear from you too,” González said. “Contact the governor, lieutenant governor and Speaker of the House, and say why this particular issue is important to you.”

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