Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says the Texas Senate will approve a bill next Wednesday to allocate $1 billion in taxpayer money for thousands of students to attend private schools. The bill, SB 2, has already passed the Senate Education K-16 Committee.

There's also about $6.5 billion in additional money for property tax relief on top of what was passed two years ago. That may include what the Senate has proposed, which is an increase in the homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000 for most homeowners. For seniors, the exemption would rise from $110,000 to $150,000.