(Texas Scorecard) – Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows sided with Democrats to kill a Republican amendment that would have ensured taxpayer-funded scholarships only go to U.S. citizens.
The amendment came during debate over House Bill 2249 by State Rep. Diego Bernal (D–San Antonio), which creates the Texas Teacher Recruitment Scholarship Program. The program would offer up to $40,000 to individuals pursuing teacher certification. But nothing in the bill requires those recipients to be citizens.
State Rep. Mike Olcott (R–Aledo) offered an amendment requiring scholarship recipients to be U.S. citizens.
That proposal didn’t sit well with Democrats.
Democrat State Rep. Armando Walle (Houston) raised a point of order, arguing the amendment was “not germane” to the bill.
Burrows sustained the objection, stating, “the amendment’s proponents were unable to show that the restriction was related to the purpose of the bill or was the same type of class as the conditions proposed by the bill, which are related solely to academic fitness and ability.”
In other words, Burrows ruled that ensuring scholarships go to citizens had nothing to do with a taxpayer-funded scholarship bill.
The citizenship amendment wasn’t the only one Burrows killed.
Two more conservative amendments—one protecting student teachers from vaccine mandates and another barring recipients from engaging in anti-Semitic protests—were similarly struck down after Democrats raised points of order.
All three times, Burrows sided with Democrats.
The bill ultimately advanced to third reading, where it is expected to be approved and sent to the Senate tomorrow.
