Pres. Donald Trump praises Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Texas Senate on passing SB2

AUSTIN, Texas - President Donald Trump is praising the work of the Texas Senate in their passing of Senate Bill 2 that would allow taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition.

What they're saying:

Trump took to Truth Social to praise Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on the passage of the bill which would allocate $1 billion of state funds to create savings accounts that incentivize pulling students from public school to attend private schools.

READ MORE: Texas Senate passes SB2, would allow parents to use tax funds for private schools

"Congratulations to my friend, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, for the biggest launch of a School Choice program in American History, with $1 Billion Dollars for 100,000 students in Texas," Trump said. "Senator Brandon Creighton did fantastic work passing SB2. Lt. Gov. Patrick has now passed School Choice six times out of the Texas Senate, only to see it die in the Texas House every time, but he never quits."

The backstory:

The bill would create education savings accounts from taxpayer money for families who are interested in private education over public with up to $10,000 per year per student.

Students with disabilities could get up to $11,500.

The bill would have a lottery system where 80 percent of the funds would be allocated to students who have special needs or are in low-income households.

The bill classifies low-income as a family making 500% or less of the federal poverty line.

The remaining 20 percent would be open to any student based on lottery selection.

The funds could be used to pay for private school tuition, public school costs, tutors and books. 

Democrats expressed their concerns over the bill only allowing up to 100,000 students to participate in the education savings accounts that would allow parents to use public money for private school tuition.

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Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D- San Antonio) argued the bill hurts rural school districts, while Creighton said the bill would help rural Texas schools, saying school choice raises the bar for all schools.

Sen. Royce West said the bill was not truly for low income students, arguing that the poorest students had the same chance as more middle class families had when it comes to the lottery to determine who has access to those accounts.

Gutierrez also expressed concern over private schools not being held to the same security and safety standards that public schools have.

Texas House

The bill moves to the Texas House, where it was shot down during the last session.

The Texas Senate passed a version of a school choice bill during the last legislative session.

When the plan entered the Texas House during the last legislative session, many Republicans from rural districts sided with Democrats to vote down the issue, fearing the bill's passage would take money from public schools in their district.

Gov. Greg Abbott made it a priority during the election season to find primary opponents for those representatives and all the Abbott-backed Republicans in the general election won their elections, seemingly giving enough votes to pass the bill.

What they're saying:

"The Texas House must now pass School Choice to deliver a gigantic Victory for Texas students and parents. I will be watching them closely. I've made School Choice a priority of my Administration. We need School Choice passed in every State," Trump said.

What's next:

The bill now heads to the Texas House to be read and voted on. If it passes it would then head to the governor's desk.