A vote in the Texas House this week is likely the death knell for a public school voucher system that was a priority of the Governor Greg Abbott.
It is the first major piece of legislation to die in the current session of the Texas Legislature.
Bills in the state legislature this session pushed for the creation of Education Savings Accounts. Parents who pull their kids from public schools get cash they can use for either private school or home schooling. The catch is that there needs to be a funding mechanism.
A budget amendment that would prohibit using taxpayer cash for school choice programs was approved 103-44, which was so lopsided it even shocked the Texas State Teachers Association.
"We were a little surprised that it was as large as it was," spokesman Clay Robison told Newsradio 1200 WOAI. "We expected it to carry and it did."
The vote was yet another defeat for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Texas Senate, which easily passed the voucher bill.
“We do not support the siphoning of public funds to be used for any sort of voucher scheme," State Rep. Abel Herrero (D-Corpus Christi) said on the House floor this week.
And it's another signal about the divisions between the two divisions. Along with the hotly-debated vouchers, the Senate has also approved the so-called bathroom bill, which has languished in the House.
Robison hopes the vote sends a clear message to the state legislature about what should be the priorities.
"We hope that when the dust finally settles on the budget later this summer, the legislature will increase funding for public schools."