Texas Gov. Greg Abbott met with House Republicans for a pep talk hours before the vote on a school choice bill that would spend $1 billion in taxpayer money to send students to private schools. After the meeting,

The Texas House of Representatives passed a $1 billion school voucher program, a key victory in Governor Greg Abbott’s long quest to establish school choice.

In a historic vote following hours of debate, the Texas House of Representatives has given initial approval to legislation that would allocate taxpayer money toward private education, effectively ending a legislative policy battle years in the making and delivering a victory to Governor Greg Abbott.