News from the South - Texas News Feed
TRS: Voucher bill won’t hurt Texas teacher retirement fund
Texas Teacher Retirement System leader says Senate voucher proposal would not harm retirement funds
“Texas Teacher Retirement System leader says Senate voucher proposal would not harm retirement funds” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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The head of Texas’ Teacher Retirement System on Wednesday sought to assure lawmakers that a Senate proposal to create a school voucher program would not harm the state’s teacher retirement fund as suggested in a recent legislative analysis.
During a House Appropriations Committee meeting, lawmakers who help oversee the state budget questioned Brian Guthrie, executive director of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, on how Senate Bill 2 could affect the stability of funds reserved for retired teachers.
Under SB 2, families could receive public tax dollars through state-managed education savings accounts to pay for their children’s tuition at an accredited private school and other expenses like textbooks, transportation and therapy.
Texas budget experts recently concluded in their analysis of SB 2 that public schools, which receive money based on attendance, may experience a decrease in funding due to students leaving the public education system to participate in the voucher program.
The analysis, which relies on estimates provided by the Texas Education Agency, projects that roughly 24,500 students would leave public schools for private schools starting in the 2026-27 school year, increasing to 98,000 by 2030. Public school administrators and education advocates have long opposed the creation of a voucher program in Texas, saying it would deal a significant blow to public school funding.
But a different part of the bill analysis, based on information provided by the Teacher Retirement System, raised worries among public education advocates and state lawmakers in recent weeks. The analysis noted that a decrease in the number of teachers paying into the state’s teacher retirement fund — which could happen if a voucher program leads students and teachers to exit public schools for private schools — could affect the fund’s long-term stability. Lawmakers on Wednesday said they have received concerns from their constituents about the stability of the retirement funds.
Guthrie apologized to House lawmakers for the commotion the SB 2 analysis has caused. Based on the content of the bill and the education agency estimates his organization has reviewed, Guthrie clarified that he does not believe the legislation would harm Texas’ teacher retirement fund. The Teacher Retirement System executive director said his agency intended to offer the scenario in the bill analysis as a hypothetical, adding that “it would be very difficult for SB 2” as it currently exists and with current projections to hurt the fund’s stability. The analysis also states that the retirement system can currently withstand “some outflow of teacher employment from public schools to private schools.”
“That’s just the bottom line,” Guthrie said.
That explanation did not appear to fully settle Rep. Mary E. González’s concerns. The Clint Democrat noted that the SB 2 analysis does not account for changes to population growth, public school enrollment or birth rates, for example. She suggested those factors, combined with a voucher program, could also affect the number of students and teachers in public schools and the fund’s stability.
“We can all have different opinions about SB 2,” González said. “But I do want our retired teachers to have all the accurate information, and I think that’s really critical.”
The SB 2 analysis noted that the number of teachers paying into the retirement fund in the future will “ultimately depend on Texas’ population growth.” The number of teachers contributing to the retirement fund has consistently gone up in recent years, the analysis shows.
During the Senate floor debate over the legislation earlier this month, Sen. Brandon Creighton, the Conroe Republican who authored the bill, sought to reassure his colleagues that the proposal would not affect the Teacher Retirement System, stating that “we would never design a program that would put TRS at risk.”
He made those comments in response to questions from Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, who also said she has seen no evidence from other states that voucher programs harm teacher retirement funds. In a finance committee meeting last week, Huffman again attempted to dismiss those concerns.
“Of course we are committed to not doing anything to hurt our retired” teachers, she said. “It would be stupid to do.”
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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/19/texas-teacher-retirement-school-vouchers/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
The post TRS: Voucher bill won’t hurt Texas teacher retirement fund appeared first on feeds.texastribune.org
News from the South - Texas News Feed
Rain has ended and it'll be a cool & windy weekend ~ Sarah Spivey
SUMMARY: Meteorologist Sarah Spivey reports a cool and windy weekend following recent rain. Today’s high in San Antonio will be 69°F with northwest winds at 20 mph, gusting higher. This evening will be chilly, around the low 60s. For those attending the March Madness Music Fest, a jacket is advised. Tomorrow morning temperatures will drop to 42°F in San Antonio and the 30s in the Hill Country, with wind chills feeling like the 30s and 20s due to gusts up to 35 mph. Sunday will see a high of 62°F, and Monday will start in the 30s. Humidity will remain low.

Rain has ended and it’ll be a cool & windy weekend. DETAILS: https://www.ksat.com/weather/2025/04/05/watch-live-tracking-developing-storms/
News from the South - Texas News Feed
Ken Paxton’s former aides win $6.6M in whistleblower case
“Attorney General Ken Paxton’s former aides win $6.6 million in whistleblower case” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
A Travis County district court judge on Friday awarded $6.6 million to four former senior aides to Attorney General Ken Paxton who said they were improperly fired after reporting Paxton to the FBI.
Judge Catherine Mauzy stated in her judgment that the plaintiffs — Blake Brickman, Mark Penley, David Maxwell and Ryan Vassar — had proven by a “preponderance of the evidence” that Paxton’s office had violated the Texas Whistleblower Act. Each of the four were awarded between $1.1 and $2.1 million for wages lost, compensation for emotional pain, attorney’s fees and various other costs as a result of the trial.
The judgment also said Paxton’s office did not dispute any issue of fact in the case, which stopped the Attorney General’s office from further contesting their liability. Tom Nesbitt, the attorney for Brickman and Maxwell, said in a statement that Paxton “admitted” to breaking the law to avoid being questioned under oath.
“It should shock all Texans that their chief law enforcement officer, Ken Paxton, admitted to violating the law, but that is exactly what happened in this case,” Nesbitt said in the statement.
In a statement to the Tribune from his office, Paxton called the ruling “a ridiculous judgment that is not based on the facts or the law” and pointed blame at former Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, who led the Texas House effort to impeach him in 2023. “We will appeal this bogus ruling as we continue to clean up Dade Phelan’s mess,” Paxton said in the statement.
The judgment also ordered that the plaintiffs are entitled to additional attorney’s fees if they successfully defend or prosecute appeals, including up to $20,000 per plaintiff for various stages of review at the Supreme Court of Texas.
Late Friday, Brickman criticized Paxton’s intent to appeal the judgment in a post on X, calling the attorney general “ lawless and shameless” and claiming the judgment came because Paxton was avoiding a deposition.
“Paxton now wants to appeal? He literally already admitted he broke the law to @SupremeCourt_TX and the Travis County District Court — all to stop his own deposition,” Brickman wrote.
The case was sparked when eight former aides, including the four plaintiffs, reported Paxton to federal authorities in September 2020 over his relations with Nate Paul, a friend and Austin real estate investor. The whistleblowers accused Paxton of abusing his office to do favors for Paul, including by hiring an outside lawyer to investigate claims made by Paul and providing him confidential law enforcement documents.
In the days and weeks after the whistleblowers met with federal agents — a development they reported to Paxton — the attorney general fired them. Four of them sued Paxton in November 2020, alleging their dismissals were illegal under state law.
Paxton disagreed but offered to settle the suit and pay the whistleblowers $3.3 million. But when Paxton asked the Texas House for the money in 2023, lawmakers wanted him to publicly answer questions about why Texas taxpayers should foot the bill. The House’s ethics committee began investigating Paxton, and in May that year, the chamber impeached him on corruption and bribery charges based heavily on the whistleblowers’ testimony.
House investigators claimed that, in return for favors from Paxton, Paul paid for renovations at an Austin home owned by Paxton and his wife and also employed a woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair.
After a two-week, high-profile trial, the Texas Senate acquitted Paxton of 16 charges and dismissed the remaining four. That trial cost the state roughly $5.1 million, according to a State Auditor’s Office report released in March that was requested by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Months later, in the still-pending whistleblower case in state court, Paxton said he would no longer contest the facts of the case — despite the fact that the allegations by the whistleblowers were similar to the ones his lawyers had vigorously disputed during the impeachment trial.
In November 2024, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Paxton and three of his top deputies did not have to sit for depositions under oath, because Paxton’s agreement not to contest the lawsuit made the sworn testimony unnecessary.
Paxton also dodged a federal lawsuit, the Associated Press reported Thursday, when the Department of Justice declined to prosecute him in the final days of former President Joe Biden’s administration. Still, Paxton levied culpability on Biden in his statement to the Tribune on Friday night, claiming the House’s impeachment efforts were “in collusion with Joe Biden’s corrupt DOJ.”
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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/04/ken-paxton-whistleblower-case-judgment/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
The post Ken Paxton’s former aides win $6.6M in whistleblower case appeared first on feeds.texastribune.org
News from the South - Texas News Feed
Bad quarter bites Texas Longhorns again, South Carolina moves to national title game 74-57
SUMMARY: South Carolina defeated Texas 74-57 in the Final Four, outscoring the Longhorns 20-9 in the third quarter. Texas took an early 12-4 lead, but foul trouble for Madison Booker and poor shooting in the second half hindered their comeback. South Carolina extended their lead with an 11-0 run, and Texas struggled with a scoring drought in the fourth quarter. Te-Hina Paopao led South Carolina with 14 points, while Joyce Edwards had a double-double. Texas was led by Jordan Lee with 16 points. South Carolina, the defending champions, will face UConn or UCLA for the national title.
The post Bad quarter bites Texas Longhorns again, South Carolina moves to national title game 74-57 appeared first on www.kxan.com
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