Just a couple of headlines to ponder, now that the redistricting bill has been signed.
Texas House greenlights ‘bounty hunter’ abortion pill ban
Texas House OKs transgender bathroom ban after years of GOP attempts
Yep, definitely doing the hard work to deal with the serious issues that the people face. This is pretty much all the Republicans care about these days.
Oh, and this too: Bill giving attorney general authority to prosecute election crimes heads to Abbott’s desk. At last report, this was considered a Constitutional matter and not a legislative one, but those clever kids think they’ve found a way around that. You can expect this will land before the Court of Criminal Appeals again.
What about bills related to the Hill Country floods? They did do some things.
Emergency plans for youth camps
House Bill 1 requires sleepaway youth camps to create detailed plans – including evacuation, shelter-in-place and first-responder communication protocols – for natural disasters and other emergencies, and establishes civil penalties for noncompliance.
It also prohibits the state from issuing or renewing a license for a youth camp that operates a cabin in the 100-year floodplain. Several of the camps where girls died, including Camp Mystic, had cabins located in areas deemed “extremely hazardous” by local officials, the Houston Chronicle found.
The measure passed the full House but could still be changed by the Senate before heading to Gov. Greg Abbott.
Disaster preparedness
Senate Bill 2 expands rapid response training for local officials, creates a tiered licensing system for emergency managers and establishes a statewide volunteer database managed by the Texas Department of Emergency Management. The measure has passed both chambers and is being finalized in a conference committee.
Radio communication
House Bill 3, a version of which narrowly failed during the regular session earlier this year, establishes the Texas Interoperability Council to address issues with communication among first responders from different jurisdictions, which may use incompatible devices and infrastructure.
Reporting by the Houston Chronicle found numerous examples of emergency situations across the state – from the Panhandle wirefires last year to the mass shooting in Uvalde in 2022 – when first responders were unable to effectively communicate.
The measure passed the full House and awaits passage by the Senate.
Emergency warning sirens
Senate Bill 3 requires areas prone to flash floods to install emergency siren systems and instructs the governor’s office to create a grant program to assist local governments with the costs of installing outdoor siren systems. Flash-flood areas required to have outdoor sirens will be identified by the Texas Water Development Board.
The bill has passed both chambers and now heads to the governor’s desk for final approval.
All of those things could have been done in the first session before redistricting was prioritized, but they weren’t. Because their actual priorities always come first.
Also:
Although experts praised the measures, some said lawmakers didn’t go far enough to mitigate future disasters.
“In a way, those are the easy issues,” said Jim Blackburn, an environmental law professor at Rice University. “The harder issues have to do with flood planning and floodplain regulation and getting accurate information and keeping up with climate change. All of which are issues that the state hadn’t been particularly interested in.”
He said the legislature ought to give counties explicit authority to regulate land use and development in floodplains — and the ability to raise local funds for flood mitigation and management. Of the 1,450 cities and counties in Texas, only 150 collect a dedicated drainage fee, which can be used for projects that reduce flood risk.
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the Legislature created a Flood Infrastructure Fund to help local communities finance flood control and mitigation projects. Lawmakers have allocated roughly $1.4 billion to the fund.
That’s a fraction of what’s needed: In 2024, the first statewide flood plan recommended thousands of specific projects for flood risk reduction, flood mitigation and floodplain management, for a total cost of $54.5 billion.
Most of those projects remain unfunded. In a February report, the TWDB found that the Flood Infrastructure Fund had far more demand than what was available to spend – more than $2 billion in applications for $375 million in available funds.
But as the story notes, some $51 billion has been allocated for property tax cuts. Because priorities.
Here’s one thing that hasn’t happened, and at this point seems unlikely to happen.
After several months of fiery debate and tearful testimonies over the prospect of banning THC statewide, proposed measures to do so have stalled in the Texas House.
Senate Bill 6, which would have created a blanket ban on products containing any “detectable amount of any cannabinoid” other than cannabidiol and cannabigerol, better known as CBD and CBG, non-intoxicating components of cannabis, hasn’t been heard in a House committee after the Senate passed it Aug. 19. The House’s version of the bill hasn’t been heard in its chamber’s committee either.
Ten days might not be long for a bill to sit dormant during a regular legislative session, but with state leadership suggesting that the current special legislative session could wind down in the coming days, lawmakers would have to move fast on THC upon reconvening after Monday’s holiday.
Without further regulations or a ban being discussed by lawmakers in the House, the most likely scenario is that hemp-derived THC remains legal in Texas, but with more enforcement of current laws restricting the drug.
“It seems like a lot of people don’t want anything to do with it,” said Lukas Gilkey, chief executive of Hometown Hero, an Austin-based manufacturer of hemp-derived THC products. “It’s a hot potato.”
You may recall that Abbott’s veto was the original impetus for our special session-infested summer. Abbott then went all squishy on the “allow but regulate” front, but with his typical lack of attention to detail, any legislation that might have done something (good or Dan Patrick-level bad) has languished. Probably just as well, to be honest.
I’ll leave you with two items. One is this press release from Equality Texas about the bathroom bill:
Today, the Texas House passed SB8, the latest version of Texas’ trans bathroom ban. The only amendment accepted during the House floor debate raised the civil penalties to $25,000 for the first offense and $125,000 for the second offense (amendment language attached). Because the House version was amended, the bill will return to the Texas Senate, where the chamber will have the opportunity to concur with changes or create a bi-cameral conference committee. That is the last step before going to the Governor’s desk.
The first bathroom ban was proposed in 2017, and failed to pass after overwhelming opposition from the business community and Texans of all walks of life. No Texas bathroom ban has ever reached this stage in the process.
During the regular session, advocates testified in the Senate against the bathroom ban, but the House did not hold a hearing. During the first special session, yet again, the Senate held a hearing, but the House did not. After some House Democrats broke quorum, the Governor called a second special session, and the Senate suspended the rules to push through SB8 on its own terms at a breakneck speed. Last Friday, the House State Affairs committee held a hearing on the ban. Despite threats of violence against trans people, opposition to the ban far outnumbered support.
Statement from Brad Pritchett, Interim CEO of Equality Texas:
“We judge a society by how it treats those at the margins, and we judge people with power by the choices they make with that power. Today, with the passage of the bathroom bill, Texas lawmakers have failed their constituents on both counts. This bill continues a crusade designed to exclude transgender Texans from participation in public life—but ultimately it will fail. Transgender Texans have always been here and always will be. We’re going to keep fighting until every Texan is free and safe.”
Statement from Ash Hall (they/them), policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights at the ACLU of Texas:
“It is unconscionable and unconstitutional to pass this bathroom ban.
Texans, including the transgender community, should be able to safely use public facilities that align with our gender identities as a basic matter of respect, safety, and privacy. Instead, S.B. 8 will encourage ‘gender policing’ by bad actors who seek to harass or harm transgender people — or anyone who may not conform to stereotypical gender roles in public spaces. This law puts anyone at risk who doesn’t seem masculine or feminine enough to a random stranger, including the cisgender girls and women this bill purports to protect. Some people might forgo using public restrooms entirely out of fear for their safety, even if it endangers their health.
“This bill is bad for trans and intersex people, bad for cisgender people, bad for business, bad for public health and safety, and bad for Texas. Transgender people have always been here and always will be.”
Statement from Lambda Legal: Regional Director, Shelly Skeen:
“Texas has launched another cruel and unconstitutional attack in its relentless effort to erase a vulnerable and very small percentage of Texans–who will not and cannot be erased,” said Lambda Legal South Central Regional Director Shelly Skeen. “This is not the first such attack on the transgender community, and sadly, it will likely not be the last. It is reprehensible that anti-transgender state legislators in Texas — indeed nationwide — keep singling out transgender people to exclude them from participating fully in society simply because of who they are. We join with our allies across Texas in condemning this bill. It is harmful, discriminatory and cruel, especially when there are so many real issues confronting Texas and Texans–to focus instead on restrooms, not to mention the fact that it also bans transgender students across Texas from using the same restrooms as their peers, turning them into outsiders in their own communities.”
Statement from HRC President Kelley Robinson:
“Everyone deserves to be safe in the most private of spaces. But this latest attack from anti-equality lawmakers will put all Texans at risk. It represents a dangerous government overreach and is impossible to enforce without exposing people to humiliating inspections and questioning. For transgender Texans in particular, this will make it that much harder to go about their daily lives without fear of violence or harassment. For the bullies in Austin, everything they are doing in this special session is about exerting control simply because they can: control over who represents the people of Texas in Congress, control over the legislators’ ability to leave the legislative chamber, and control over who can safely use the restroom. All Texans deserve better. That’s why we won’t back down. We will organize, mobilize, and fight until every Texan can live freely, authentically, and without fear.”
Statement from Texas Freedom Network Political Director Rocío Fierro-Pérez:
“Government overreach into how we use the bathroom is unacceptable. Texans are worth more than lawmakers who spend their time stripping away the safety and dignity of transgender Texans while weaponizing fear to deny people the basic freedom to exist safely in public life. Regulating bathroom access not only hurts transgender people, but it also opens the door for invasive gender tests at every public restroom. Texas Freedom Network will continue to fight alongside transgender Texans and families until they are fairly represented in our state.”
And from the ACLU, on a bill from the regular session:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Transgender Law Center, and Baker McKenzie filed a lawsuit Thursday evening in federal court challenging key aspects of Senate Bill 12 on behalf of the Genders & Sexualities Alliance (GSA) Network, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), a teacher, an individual student, and her parent.
S.B. 12 bans programs and discussions relating to race, gender identity, and sexual orientation in all public and charter schools in Texas from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. It eliminates a wide range of activities that foster inclusion and promote equal opportunity, including events celebrating Black, Latine, Asian, and Indigenous history; trainings on cultural awareness and inclusion; and critical conversations between students, parents, and educators about topics relating to race, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
“Senate Bill 12 is a blatant attempt to erase students’ identities and silence the stories that make Texas strong,” said Brian Klosterboer (he/him), senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Every student — no matter their race, gender, or background — deserves to feel seen, safe, and supported in school. Programs and activities relating to race, gender identity, and sexual orientation not only provide vital support for students and educators of color and the LGBTQIA+ community — they allow all students to encounter a wider range of perspectives and experiences that deepen their understanding of the world around them.
“S.B. 12 is one of the most extreme education censorship laws in the country, undermining the free speech rights of Texas students, parents, and educators. We’re challenging this law in court because our schools should be places of truth, inclusion, and opportunity — not fear and erasure.”
Other components of S.B. 12 threaten the safety and privacy of transgender and nonbinary students in Texas schools by making it much more difficult for educators to support them. The law entirely bans clubs such as Genders & Sexualities Alliances (formerly known as Gay-Straight Alliances, GSAs), which foster a safe, welcoming, and accepting on-campus school environment for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Our mission remains true – we know that trans, queer, and Two Spirit youth exist in Texas, belong in Texas, and have the right to self-determine their futures in Texas,” said J. Gia Loving (she/hers), and Maya LaFlamme (she/hers), co-executive directors at Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network. “No matter the ongoing efforts of state legislators to outlaw and ostracize their own people; we know that we cannot be legislated out of existence. GSAs are here to stay.”
“Across races, backgrounds, and genders, we all share the same hope: that our kids can learn freely, be themselves, and grow up healthy and safe. Yet some politicians are trying to further their careers by silencing teachers and depriving students of educational opportunities,” said Shawn Thomas Meerkamper (they/them), managing attorney at Transgender Law Center. “Schools must be welcoming spaces for all students — places where every young person has an equal chance to learn, form friendships, and thrive in clubs, activities, and events that affirm who they are.”
Additionally, S.B. 12 stops students from receiving information about gender identity or sexual orientation in every grade level. The law’s restrictions apply not just to classroom learning, but to after-school programs, field trips, and informal guidance provided by parents, volunteers, and school employees.
“This law isn’t about improving education — it’s about weaponizing it,” said Cameron Samuels (they/them), executive director at SEAT. “S.B. 12 seeks to erase students’ identities and make it impossible for teachers, parents, and volunteers to tell the truth about the history and diversity of our state. The law also guts vital support systems for Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, and LGBTQIA+ students and educators. We’re suing on behalf of students across Texas to ensure that our schools remain places where all students are safe, supported, and given the best opportunity to thrive.”
S.B. 12 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June and has already started being implemented and causing harm across the state.
The plaintiffs also filed a motion for preliminary injunction seeking to block the enforcement of unconstitutional aspects of the law while this case makes its way through the courts. The plaintiffs are challenging S.B. 12’s restrictions as unconstitutional in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments and as violating the federal Equal Access Act.
Access a video statement from Azeemah Sadiq (she/her), an Alief ISD student and senior policy associate at SEAT: https://aclutx.dash.app/sharing/type/asset/5342a3cc-5ff0-48fc-8ed9-78fdd179021e
Access more information about the lawsuit here: https://www.aclutx.org/en/cases/gsa-v-morath
To access resources on how you can defend students’ rights in Texas, visit: https://www.aclutx.org/en/students-rights-hub
If you or someone you know are impacted by S.B. 12, contact: https://intake.aclutx.org/
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources or support, visit:
Here’s the Trib story about this lawsuit. You can be sure there will be more litigation to come.
