Another Busy Week: TX Education Bill, Arkansas 2026, and ESG
Information you need to seem interesting.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge how much I feel for the folks who are most impacted by government destabilizing actions – meant to invoke fear, discomfort, and unhealthy reliance on bad actors. To be pawns in #47’s game, must be painful. Playing hot potato with people’s lives, mostly unchecked, is atrocious. I have no actions to put forth aside from love thy neighbor as thyself. (Scarily enough, words from religious texts have become more and more relevant and this isn’t even my religion)
What’s interesting this week?
A bill was passed by the Texas House of Representatives that would establish a universal education savings account. In the first two years, it sets a $1B spending cap for education savings accounts, starting in the 2026-2027 school year. Provides funding to families to use for approved educational alternatives like private schools, online education, open-enrollment charter schools, higher education, and educational material. Additionally, it provides up to $30K/year for participating special education students and up to $2K/year for homeschooled students. I appreciate the prioritization of students at certain income thresholds.
Maybe parents wouldn’t advocate so hard for more education choices if we valued public education and quality education and not simply our own, often narrow, views. (That was harsh!) I wonder what scenario planning could be done to understand the likely and unlikely experiences of students and family and any consequences that might arise.
Check out how school choices are looking in the US.
Read more here.
Arkansas put out four statewide ballot measures for 2026:
Citizenship Requirement for Voting Amendment: exactly as it sounds -- provide that only U.S. citizens can vote in state or local elections.
Creation of Economic Development Districts Amendment: issue bonds for financing projects within these districts and exempt property in these districts from taxation except for taxes levied by the district.
Natural Resources Commission Bond Measure: issue up to $500M in general obligation bonds to fund water-related infrastructure. Sounds good to me from an environmental standpoint. Can’t speak to the fiscal perspective.
Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment: beyond a right to bear arms, ensure no limitation on the possession and use of ammunition, firearm accessories, or firearm components. So, while your water is cleaner and you may enjoy reduced taxes, you can experience a gun at any moment.
Ballotpedia launched the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Tracker as ESG continues to evolve, advance, and take hits in the US. Highlights include:
Approaching halfway through 2025, states have enacted 15 bills on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. 34 such states laws were approved in 2024, 45 in 2023, 17 in 2022, 13 in 2021, and 3 in 2020.
What I’m Reading
The New York Times: “An Age of Extinction Is Coming. Here’s How to Survive.” by Ross Douthat
A well written and thought-provoking piece on why we should… “Have the child. Practice the religion. Found the school. Support the local theater, the museum, the opera or concert hall, even if you can see it all on YouTube. Pick up the paintbrush, the ball, the instrument. Learn the language — even if there’s an app for it. Learn to drive, even if you think soon Waymo or Tesla will drive for you. Put up headstones, don’t just burn your dead. Sit with the child, open the book, and read.”
On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization by Douglas Murray
This is a firsthand and secondary sourced account of what happened on, around, and after the massacre in the south of Israel on October 7th, 2025 and how it shapes what we know about the West and democratic values.
Cheers to a mix of necessary and unnecessary information and another week wading through the madness!