For lack of a quorum, time ran out on anti-voter SB 7 last night! The League of Women Voters of Texas partnered with local, state, and national organizations to provide support to legislators who understood the negative impact of this bill. Heroic legislators, voting rights organizations, and individual Texans spoke up and shed light on how SB 7 would restrict voting in Texas. Almost 18,000 League members and supporters sent close to 139,000 emails to their Texas legislators.
While Governor Abbott has already indicated that voting and election legislation will be added to the special session agenda, you know we will persist.
For now, we take the win and celebrate! Thank you!
SB 7 Stalled in the House!
The demise of SB7 in the Texas House last night was precipitated by the bill authors' manipulation of the democratic process; waiting to make changes to the bill behind closed doors with just a few legislators. The bill went from 27 pages to 61 pages without ANY public hearing or legislative debate regarding the impact on Texas voters.
As you know, SB7 would suppress voting in Texas by complicating many facets of the voting process, being overbroad in its language, and adding offenses that subject voters, those assisting voters, and public officials to criminal penalties.
Read LWVTX Issue Chair Cinde Weatherby's blog for details. Three cheers for Cinde Weatherby and her awesome volunteer voting rights and election law team! Thank you!
Update on Other Key Issues:
Education:
HB 3979, the bill to restrict how teachers can teach America’s historical treatment of people of color, was passed by the Senate after they dropped the amendments they had made, and passed the House version. We will report on the final version. This bill was opposed by the League and by educators. See the
press release from the Texas Council for Social Studies. The League is considering litigation on this issue.
Gun Safety:
HB 1927, to allow handguns to be purchased and carried without a license or training, also passed and the conference committee report was approved by both chambers. The bill was signed by the governor
Women’s/Children’s Health:
SB 8, the “Heartbeat” bill which bans abortion as early as six weeks, passed and was signed by the governor. It will take effect on Sept. 1, 2021.
However, a good bill, HB 133, giving Medicaid coverage to new mothers, passed the Senate at the last minute. The governor’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee recommended 12 months of coverage, as in the House version but the Senate amended it to six months and this version passed in the conference committee.
Unfortunately, HB 290, to make healthcare for children more secure, ran out of time in the Senate despite strong bipartisan support.
Transgender Children:
All bills were stopped! SB 29, to restrict these children from playing school sports, died on the last day! (but could be revived by amending it to another bill.)
SB 1646 and SB 1311, which defined transgender care as child abuse and penalized doctors who cared for these children, both died in House Public Health Committee without a hearing.
Your League in the News!