The ceremony marked a major moment for Gov. Greg Abbott, who threw his full political weight and millions of campaign dollars into a push for school choice.

Abbott tapped into a powerful national conservative movement and his own campaign war chest to turn turned legislative races into multimillion-dollar affairs.

Gov. Greg Abbott has signed the $1 billion controversial school choice bill into law, allowing for taxpayer money to be used to help qualifying students pay for private school tuition. "Today is the culmination of a movement that has swept across the state and our country," Abbott said Saturday.