The Texas Senate has passed bills that would infuse religion in public schools, expand parental control over the books children read, and prohibit K-12 diversity initiatives.

Why it matters: The effort to give parents public money for private school tuition, a legislative priority of Gov. Greg Abbott, has commanded much attention this session, but other education bills would change the values Texas public-school children are taught.

• The education bills moving through the Legislature reflect a conservative push for parental rights and more Christianity in schools.

Driving the news: The Texas House will now consider the four bills passed out of the Texas Senate last week with strong Republican support.

Here are the details:

Library book selection

Senate Bill 13 would give parents the option to see what their children are checking out of the school library.

• The bill, filed by Sen. Angela Paxton of McKinney, would also require school boards to create library advisory councils to recommend which books should be added or removed from libraries.

The big picture: Book bans have been increasing nationwide over the past few years.

• Texas leads the nation in challenging book titles.

Ten Commandments and prayer

SB 10 would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in classrooms, and SB 11 would allow school boards to require periods for prayer and reading "the Bible or other religious text."

The big picture: Louisiana was the first state to mandate schools display the Ten Commandments, but a federal judge ruled it was unconstitutional.

Diversity, equity and inclusion

Texas already prohibits DEI initiatives at public universities, and state senators have passed a bill that would do the same for grades K-12.

State of play: The DEI ban at colleges took effect last year, eliminating offices and programs that support people of color or members of the LGBTQ community.

• SB 12 would bar school districts from considering DEI in hiring decisions and would prohibit schools from creating policies or training programs that reference race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.

How lawmakers are voting

Texas could lose more than 67,500 jobs and about $1.7 billion in economic output under potential Medicaid and food aid cuts, according to a new analysis from the Commonwealth Fund and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Driving the news: The House of Representatives' latest budget resolution calls for more than $1 trillion in combined cuts to government programs including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

• The details of any such cuts would need to be sorted out in Congress; the Senate has not yet worked out its own budget blueprint.

What they did: The researchers' estimates assume $880 billion and $230 billion in broad Medicaid and SNAP cuts over 10 years, respectively, spread out evenly over the decade and proportionately among states.

What they found: In 2026 alone, such cuts could cost more than 1 million jobs nationally, cause a $113 billion drop in combined state GDPs and result in nearly $9 billion in lost state and local tax revenue, the researchers estimate.

• The hit to state GDPs would exceed the estimated $95 billion in federal savings achieved through such cuts, the report finds.

Go deeper on potential nationwide impacts

💰 A draft study found that burying Austin Energy's network of overhead power lines would cost $50 billion. (KUT)

🏠 Local tenants rights group BASTA found that eviction filings increased 36% in Travis County last year, despite falling rents. (Austin American-Statesman 🔒)

👎 A Texas House committee unanimously rejected a Republican bill to dissolve Austin's city government and replace it with a state-controlled "District of Austin." (CBS Austin)

🐂 Professional Bull Riders will hold its rider draft on May 20 at ACL Live at Moody Theater, followed by a concert by Shane Smith & The Saints. (Sports Illustrated)

🔙 Following backlash, a GOP state lawmaker from Waco withdrew a bill that would have dismantled the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. (Chron)

Here's what's on deck this weekend.

Friday

🩰 Celebrate the magic of the season at the world premiere of Ballet Austin's "Love's Gentle Spring." Tickets for Friday's 7:30 performance start at $20, and shows run through Sunday.

🎺 Listen to street and brass bands at The Jackalope South Shore 5-10pm, part of Honk!TX.

• The free festival continues through Sunday, with 27 local and national bands at Mueller Lake Park and Pan Am Park.

Saturday

🌱 Find plants to fill your home at Austin Cactus & Succulent Society's spring show and sale 10am-5pm Saturday and Sunday at Zilker Botanical Garden.

• Admission to Zilker Botanical Garden gets you into the sale.

Sunday

🎨 Catch a conversation between Raven Halfmoon, an internationally acclaimed Indigenous artist, and the Forge Project's Candice Hopkins 2-3:30pm at the Laguna Gloria Amphitheater to mark Halfmoon's newly installed sculpture at Laguna Gloria, "Flagbearer." $10.

🌷 Head to Pease Park Conservancy's spring fling 4-6pm, with cocktails, a celebration for the conservancy's retiring chief operating officer Chuck Smith, and live music. $25.

The Jonas Brothers are celebrating 20 years of music with the "JONAS10: Living the Dream" tour this fall.

• The stadium tour will feature sets from Nick and Joe's solo career and guest appearances by Marshmello and The All-American Rejects in select cities.

🎟️ What's next: See them perform in Austin on Oct. 17 at the Moody Center. Ticket sales begin at 10am Friday. Presales begin at 10am today.