Darby, Rural Republicans Bow on Vouchers

After vowing opposition to school vouchers for many years, San Angelo’s Rep. Drew Darby (TX-72) lent his support to Senate Bill 2, commonly known as the Voucher Bill, late Wednesday in exchange for amendments to the legislation he called “critical.”

The move followed a major push by rural Republicans and the Democratic Caucus to bring the issue before the people by getting it on the ballot next election cycle.

All of the representatives who survived primary challenges by candidates backed by Gov. Abbott, except one, voted for the bill, which passed along party lines, 86-63.

Rep. Drew Darby’s Statement on the Vote

In a statement on the site formerly known as Twitter, Darby said:

Today I joined my fellow rural, West Texas Republicans — those who stood firm against vouchers in 2023 — in voting for Senate Bill 2, following days of tough negotiations with Public Education Chairman Brad Buckley on Behalf of our rural public schools.

We made this decision with a clear understanding: the bill would pass with or without our support. Rather than stand by, we chose to stay in the fight, negotiating critical amendments to reduce the impact on our communities.

Let me be clear: I remain deeply skeptical of this program. Since the day I was elected, I have fought for our public schools — and that fight continues. But after countless conversations with school leaders, constituents, and lifelong supporters, it became clear: allowing this bill to move forward unchanged would be a disservice to the very people I represent.

Once again, rural Republicans — despite being politically diminished for our stand two years ago — mustered one more battle. Today, we secured real, meaningful changes to improve this bill.

These key provisions of these amendments, agreed to by Chairman Buckley, include:

• Annual public audits of the voucher program and any third-party contractors by the State Auditor

•  Full public school funding retention, ensuring districts keep all per-student funding, not just the basic allotment portion, even when a student leaves with a voucher

• Clear residency requirements to prevent abuse and block non-residents, including undocumented immigrants, from accessing the program

• A two-year ban on new private schools accepting vouchers

• A permanent cap limiting non-low-income, non-special-needs recipients to just 20% of the bottom tier vouchers

• A truthful funding model that blocks automatic rollover funding for waitlists

These protections would not be in the bill without our involvement. The House will ensure the amendments stay in any conference committee. 

In addition, Chairman Buckley agreed to key provisions inHouse Bill 2, including a stronger teacher pay raise and a major boost to the basic allotment—long overdue investments.

I know many will be disappointed by this vote—so am I. But in the Texas House, we have to work with the reality in front of us, not the one we wish existed. If there had been any viable path to defeat this bill, I would have taken it. That path simply did not exist.

What did exist was an opportunity to act, to protect our rural schools from greater harm and secure the funding they desperately need. I am proud the House passed an $8 billion education package today. Our schools, and House District 72, cannot wait any longer.

The good news is this: the legislature must vote to reauthorize and fund the voucher program every two years, allowing us to review its impact and end it if it fails Texas families or hurts our schools.

Make no mistake: this major investment in rural education was only possible because we negotiated as a block of rural Republicans. And with the amendments we secured, Senate Bill 2 will now have a far more limited impact on rural Texas.

While vouchers have dominated the headlines, other urgent issues for West Texas remain on the table—and at risk. From rural healthcare and water infrastructure to broadband access and other funding items, these priorities cannot be sidelined. Rural Texas must not be forgotten while attention stays fixed on a single debate.

The truth is, this is not the bill I would have written but it is far better than what was coming. Rural Texas is better protected because we stood up, fought back, and stayed at the table. I did not come here to be a bystander—I came to serve. And I will never stop fighting to ensure our schools, communities, and values are never left behind.

The Fight

Coming out of the weekend, the Senate Voucher Bill had been sent to Calendars along with the House Bill 2 on school funding, and both were expected to come up for a floor vote on Wednesday.

Monday evening, Scott Braddock of Quorum Report wrote: “Some House Republicans support putting vouchers on the ballot this fall. QR has learned there may be as many as 85 R and D votes in the House for that; Abbott is privately telling members such a move would be unconstitutional, per sources. But there is precedent for it.

“Despite his public insistence that there are enough votes in the Texas House to pass “school choice,” Republican sources on Monday indicated Gov. Greg Abbott is privately furious with some GOP lawmakers who want to make changes to his signature initiative.

“Those possible changes include a provision that, if adopted, could trigger a statewide vote of Texans on the issue of school vouchers. There’s also been more grumbling in the past couple weeks – even from some House GOP supporters of the voucher plan – who are argue this entire process so far should have been handled in a much more transparent way.”

Despite impassioned arguments urging members to vote no on the legislation to send a clear separation-of-powers message to the Governor, according to reports from several news outlets, the tide of events turned in Abbott’s favor following a telephone conference call with President Donald Trump.

According to insider reports, Republican representatives out of step with the governor’s plan were threatened with having their legislation vetoed.

Sixty-one of the 62 Democratic Caucus members voted against the bill, with one absent, but only two Republicans voted no: Rep. Dade Phelan (TX-21) and Gary Vandeaver (TX-1).

“YEA” on Senate Bill 2

“Relating to the establishment of an education savings account program”

• Rep. Alders, Daniel [R]
• Rep. Ashby, Trent [R]
• Rep. Barry, Jeffrey “Jeff” [R]
• Rep. Bell Jr., Cecil [R]
• Rep. Bell, Keith [R]
• Rep. Bonnen, Greg [R]
• Rep. Buckley, Bradley “Brad” [R]
• Rep. Bumgarner, Ben [R]
• Rep. Burrows, Dustin [R]
• Rep. Button, Angie Chen [R]
• Rep. Cain, Briscoe [R]
• Rep. Capriglione, Giovanni [R]
• Rep. Cook, David [R]
• Rep. Craddick, Tom [R]
• Rep. Cunningham, Charles [R]
• Rep. Curry, Pat [R]
• Rep. Darby, Drew [R]
• Rep. Dean, Jay [R]
• Rep. DeAyala, Mano [R]
• Rep. Dyson, Paul [R]
• Rep. Frank, James [R]
• Rep. Gates Jr., Gary W. [R]
• Rep. Gerdes, Stan [R]
• Rep. Geren, Charlie [R]
• Rep. Guillen, Ryan [R]
• Rep. Harris Davila, Caroline [R]
• Rep. Harris, Cody Joe [R]
• Rep. Harrison, Brian [R
• Rep. Hayes, Richard [R
• Rep. Hefner, Cole [R]
• Rep. Hickland, Hillary [R]
• Rep. Holt, Janis [R]
• Rep. Hopper, Andy [R]
• Rep. Hull, Lacey [R]
• Rep. Hunter, Todd [R]
• Rep. Isaac, Carrie [R]
• Rep. Kerwin, Helen [R]
• Rep. King, Ken [R]
• Rep. Kitzman, Stan [R]
• Rep. LaHood, Marc [R]
• Rep. Lambert, Stan [R]
• Rep. Landgraf, Brooks [R]
• Rep. Leach, Jeff [R]
• Rep. Leo-Wilson, Terri [R]
• Rep. Little, Mitch [R]
• Rep. Lopez, Janie [R]
• Rep. Louderback, AJ [R]
• Rep. Lowe, David [R]
• Rep. Lozano, J. M. [R]
• Rep. Lujan IV, John [R]
• Rep. Luther, Shelley [R]
• Rep. McLaughlin Jr., Don [R]
• Rep. McQueeney, John [R]
• Rep. Metcalf, William “Will” [R
• Rep. Meyer, Morgan [R]
• Rep. Money, Brent [R]
• Rep. Morgan, Matt [R]
• Rep. Noble, Candy [R]
• Rep. Olcott, Mike [R]
• Rep. Oliverson, Tom [R]
• Rep. Orr, Angelia [R]
• Rep. Patterson, Jared [R]
• Rep. Paul, Dennis R. [R]
• Rep. Pierson, Katrina [R]
• Rep. Richardson, Keresa [R]
• Rep. Rosenthal, Jon E. [D]
• Rep. Schatzline, Nate [R]
• Rep. Schofield, Michael “Mike” [R]
• Rep. Schoolcraft, Alan [R]
• Rep. Shaheen, Matthew “Matt” F. [R]
• Rep. Shofner, Joanne [R]
• Rep. Slawson, Shelby [R
• Rep. Smithee, John [R]
• Rep. Spiller, David [R]
• Rep. Tepper, Carl [R]
• Rep. Tinderholt, Tony [R]
• Rep. Toth, Steve [R]
• Rep. Troxclair, Ellen [R]
• Rep. Vasut, Cody Thane [R]
• Rep. Villalobos, Denise [R]
• Rep. Virdell, Wesley “Wes” [R]
• Rep. Wharton, Trey [R]
• Rep. Wilson, Terry [R]