Attor­ney Gen­er­al Pax­ton Issues Opin­ion Con­firm­ing the Comp­trol­ler Office’s Full Author­i­ty to Stop Tax­pay­er Funds from Going to Schools Ille­gal­ly Tied to[...]

Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued an opinion in response to a request regarding the authority of the Texas Education Freedom Accounts ("TEFA") administrator, Kelly Hancock. The opinion raises the question of the administrator's authority to determine eligibility of certain private schools to participate in the TEFA program.

The requester notes: "The people of Texas deserve the highest assurance that no taxpayer dollars will be used, directly or indirectly, to support institutions with ties to a foreign terrorist organization, a transnational criminal network, or any adversarial foreign government." This is without question. To that end, Attorney General Paxton has now issued a legal opinion confirming the full, exclusive statutory authority of the Comptroller's Office to prohibit schools from TEFA participation under the "other relevant law[s]" provision of Senate Bill 2. For example, any educational institution violating laws barring it from providing material support to a designated terrorist organization would be ineligible for the program under the "other relevant law[s]" provision.

"Let me be crystal clear: Texans' tax dollars should never fund Islamic terrorists or America's enemies," said Attorney General Paxton. "The Comptroller's Office has always possessed exclusive authority under the TEFA framework to stop any school illegally tied to terrorists or foreign adversaries from accessing taxpayer dollars, and this opinion affirms that authority. There is no question that the Comptroller's Office is statutorily charged with ensuring that our school choice program is protected from abuse by terrorists or the Chinese Communist Party."

Attorney General Paxton stands ready to vigorously defend legal challenges to any lawful determination by the Comptroller's Office aimed at preventing terrorists or our Nation's enemies from abusing the TEFA program. Public reporting has also noted that the approval for eligibility for certain Christian and private schools that are unrelated to this opinion has been delayed. The statutory authority to make such determinations, including on the timing of the approval process, rests solely with the Comptroller's Office-not the Office of the Attorney General.

To read the full opinion, click here.