These are the winners as Texas lawmakers wrap up ‘greatest’ week for Republican bills
Texas lawmakers passed bills related to elections, critical race theory and the state’s bail system as they closed a special legislative session Thursday, wrapping up what Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick described as “one of the greatest weeks for Republican legislation in Texas, and perhaps, American history.”
Legislators began their second special session on Aug. 7, after the first was derailed when House Democrats broke quorum and traveled to Washington to block an election bill that was a priority of Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott. The House remained stalled until mid-August when enough lawmakers returned to conduct business, leaving legislators with limited time to pass items on Abbot’s agenda.
Lawmakers are expected to be called back for a special session on redistricting in the coming weeks. Here are some of the bills headed to Abbott’s desk and some that didn’t cross the finish line.
Abbott must sign the bills before they become law.
Bills headed to Abbott
In the final week of the special session, Republicans pushed a number priority bills to Abbott’s desk. Among them:
▪ An election bill that prohibits drive-thru and 24-hour voting, adds protections for partisan poll watchers and bars public officials from sending an application to vote by mail to a person who does not request one.
▪ A “Critical Race Theory” bill that requires teachers discussing an issue of public policy or social affairs to “explore that topic objectively and in a manner free from political bias.” The legislation limits how race will be taught in schools and lays out concepts that can’t be taught. An similar bill already signed into law included a list of documents related to the Chicano, suffrage and civil rights movements that need to be taught as part of social studies curriculum.
▪ On Wednesday — the same day a restrictive abortion law went into effect — the Legislature sent a bill to Abbott that bars a doctor from giving a woman who is more than seven weeks pregnant an abortion inducing-drug. It also prohibits a manufacturer, supplier, physician or any other person from sending a patient an abortion-inducing drug by mail, which has been allowed during the coronavirus pandemic. A doctor could face criminal penalties for violating the law.
▪ Changes to the state’s bail system. Among other provisions, it prohibits those accused of violent crimes from being released on personal bond, a type of bond that doesn’t require money for release. It adds training requirements for magistrates and creates a public safety report system to help inform bail decisions.
Bills that didn’t make it
Legislation that would have prevented transgender student athletes from competing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity didn’t pass out of the House Public Education Committee. Patrick, who has made the bill a priority, was quick to ask that the legislation be added to a third special session agenda. Only Abbott has say on what lawmakers take up in a special session.
“We still have unfinished business to complete on the Fair Sports for Women and Girls Act,” Patrick said. “The Senate has passed that bill 4 times, and it has failed in the House. I have asked Gov. Abbott to place it on the special session call later this month, and we will pass it again.”
The legislature also didn’t pass a bill dealing with the audit of election results. The legislation would have let party chairs request a review of the 2020 general election results for state and county officers. The bill would have also have set in place a procedure for candidates, party chairs, presiding judges and certain political committees to request a review of results and potentially an audit in future elections.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 3:41 PM.
