While millions of Texans worry about the continued threat of COVID and their February electric bills, the Legislature spent last week pandering to the whims of around 1 million Texans who they expect to participate in the Republican primary election less than 11 months from now. Bills that bully LGBTQ children; allow the public carry of firearms without a license; and disenfranchise voters in the name of “security” all advanced.
On Monday, the Senate State Affairs committee heard SB 1646 by Senator Charles Perry. SB 1646 would make it a felony for the parents of a child that identifies as transgender to consent to medical care for the purpose of gender transitioning or reassignment. Under that legislation, the state could remove the child from those parents, and place the child in foster care. On Wednesday, the Senate passed SB 29, also by Senator Perry, which would require transgender children to play sports on the team associated with the biological sex on the child’s birth certificate. SB29 passed the Senate on a party line vote.
On Wednesday, the House Public Health Committee heard HB 1399 by Rep. Matt Krause, which would prohibit doctors from performing medical care related to gender transitioning or reassignment. Despite waiting all day to testify, LGBTQ persons and their families were prevented from testifying when the chair cut off public testimony; several hours later on Thursday the committee reported HB 1399 favorably on a vote of 6-4.
While police were killing a mass shooter at the San Antonio airport, the Texas House was passing HB 1927 by Rep. Matt Schaefer, which would allow the unlicensed carry of firearms. While driving a car would require a license, passing a driving test, carrying insurance, and a background check into one’s driving record, HB 1927 would eliminate the need for any of those things for individuals wanting to carry firearms in public. HB 1927 passed 87-58 on 3rd reading.
HB 6 and SB 7 have gotten the most public attention among the voter suppression legislation being considered, but there are dozens of other voter suppression bills—and several advanced last week. In the Senate, SB 1340 by Sen. Dawn Buckingham, which would centralize voter registration functions and enable periodic voter purges, passed the Senate on a party line vote. In the House, two voter suppression bills were voted out of committee on party line votes. HB 1725 by Rep. Dennis Paul, which would prohibit the hand delivery of a mail-in ballot even in cases where the U.S. Postal Service caused the ballot to arrive late, was reported favorably. HB 4331 by Rep. Jacey Jetton, which would criminalize nonprofits if they distribute applications for ballots by mail and have a position on a ballot measure, also was reported favorably.
If you’ve made it this far through this week’s update, you might ask, “but other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” Two small healthcare bills did clear the House chamber last week. HB 133 by Rep. Toni Rose would extend Medicaid eligibility to women for twelve months after pregnancy, and HB 290 by Rep. Philip Cortez would provide children continuous eligibility for Medicaid for a one year period instead of making the parents renew every six months.
Texas Impact had the opportunity to help advance two incremental but meaningful legislative proposals. First, we testified for HB 3015 by Rep. Ana Hernandez, which would create better enforcement mechanisms in the Texas Public Information Act. Second, we recommended an amendment to HB 2478 by Rep. Cody Harris, which would create a voter ID requirement for ballots by mail. We are pleased that the number of voters disenfranchised by this legislation would be drastically reduced due to the positive amendment, which would allow voters to handwrite the last four digits of their social security number on their ballot in lieu of providing a photocopy of their driver’s license or state-issued ID card.