🚰 Should Texas get water from Louisiana?

📓 Historic Voucher Bill Advances

After years of trying, Texas lawmakers have approved legislation to create a program that would allow families to use tax money for private school tuition. It’s a major win for Gov. Greg Abbott, who still needs to sign the bill into law once details are ironed out. [The Texas Tribune]

• Lawmakers also approved $7.7 billion in funding for public schools, but is that enough? [City Cast Austin 🎧]

👮 APD Hiring is Just Vibes

The Austin Police Department has pointed to labor contracts and shrinking funds for its increasing staffing shortages, but city auditors say the department’s lack of a strategic hiring plan is largely to blame. Chief Lisa Davis is promising to present a cohesive hiring plan to City Council, though she has not yet provided a timeline. [KUT]

• Chief Davis shared her recruitment strategies with us last year, most interestingly: Billboards. [Hey Austin 📰]

🚰 Texas’ Water Supply Pipe Dream

State Sen. Charles Perry, a Republican from Lubbock, is leading a proposed revival of a failed 1968 plan to build a statewide “water grid”. The new iteration of the Texas Water Plan would cost an estimated $162 billion and would pipe in water from the Gulf and neighboring states. [Texas Monthly]

🚢 Local Startup Building Giant Warships

Austin-based defense company Saronic has purchased a Louisiana shipyard, where it plans to produce Marauder, a 150-foot-long unmanned ship capable of transporting 40 metric tons across 3,500 nautical miles. Along with defense applications, some officials hope the drone boats can be used commercially to bolster U.S. supply chains. [Axios Austin]