Taxpayer-funded lobbying ban, protecting women’s sports, and social media censorship bills were killed on the House deadline.
Taxpayer-funded lobbying ban, protecting women’s sports, and social media censorship bills were killed on the House deadline.
The bill would cap the growth of state spending to that of population plus inflation.
Senate Bill 1311 is dead. However, late activity in the House has confused some activists, leading them to believe the bill is still alive.
The Senate sponsor of the Texas Pandemic Response Act substituted the bill with his own approach to emergency powers reform, which further speaks to the different approaches of the two chambers on the issue.
The bill still includes provisions that some say essentially codify federal health guidelines.
“I think that this program is run amok and it’s time to start over with an absolute clean slate.” – State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst
The committee substitute that passed the House State Affairs Committee last week is curiously different from the version that passed the overall Senate.
This deadline however meant more than just another date on the calendar, it sealed the legislative fate for hundreds of bills still languishing in the legislative process to include priorities of the Republican Party of Texas.
Both chambers have appointed members to a conference committee to reconcile the differences between their versions of the bill.
A legislative priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the bill is an attempt to address the continued discriminatory practices of the Obama administration’s Operation Choke Point.