The Legislative Session moves very quickly; before you know it, time is running short. Many of the
bills filed will not get past the first step of having a committee hearing. Grassroots activist Tom Glass has put together an excellent
timeline demonstrating our current urgency.
Last week, HB 900 by Rep. Jared Patterson, known as the READER Act, which would ban sexually explicit and violent books from public schools, was passed out of committee with bipartisan support. We look forward to this bill coming to the House floor and its swift passage. This week, we have several bills protecting children moving in the Senate. SB 14, Sen. Campbell’s bill to ban gender modification for children, is on the intent calendar, meaning it will be heard on the floor in the coming days. Also, SB 12 by Senator Hughes restricts drag shows on public property and in front of minors. Unlike some of the early bills filed, Hughes has done an excellent job defining what a sexually oriented performance is as it relates to drag. It has strong enforcement, including both civil and criminal penalties. It was easily voted out of the Senate State Affairs Committee last week and is currently on the intent calendar. SB 1562 by Senators Hancock and Huffman creates a criminal offense of child sexual grooming in the Texas penal code. It will become a felony to knowingly persuade, induce, entice, or coerce, or attempt to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce a child younger than 18 years of age to engage in specific sexual conduct that violates existing penal codes related to the sexual exploitation of children. This bill has a hearing on Tuesday in Criminal Justice. Action Steps: 1. Contact your Senator and ask them to vote yes on SB 12. 2. Contact members of the Senate Criminal Justice committee and ask them to pass SB 1562 out of committee on Tuesday: Chair: John Whitmire D 512-463-0115Vice Chair: Pete Flores R 512-463-0124 Paul Bettencourt R 512-463-0107 Juan Hinojosa D 512-463-0120 Joan Huffman R 512-463-0117 Phil King R 512-463-0110 Boris L. Miles D 512-463-0113 3. Last week, we asked you to call and submit public comments on HB 1686, which would ban the gender modification of children. We have heard from a capitol insider that over 8,000 public comments were submitted, with roughly 80% in favor of the bill! While the bill was heard in committee, it has not been passed out yet. Please call the committee members and ask them to pass the bill out of committee quickly. Chair: Stephanie Klick 512-463-0599 Vice Chair: Liz Campos 512-463-0452 Nicole Collier 512-463-0716 Jacey Jetton 512-463-0710 Ann Johnson 512-463-0389 Jolanda Jones 512-463-0524 Venton Jones 512-463-0586 Tom Oliverson [email protected] (email Rep. Oliverson and thank him for authoring the bill) Four Price 512-463-0470 Reggie Smith 512-463-0297 Tony Tinderholt 512-463-0624 |
For God and Texas, Jill Glover SREC, SD 12 Chair, SREC Legislative Priorities Committee |
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