Texas Legislature: School vouchers, cannabis, the border and other key issues this session
AUSTIN, Texas - The new legislative session at the Texas capitol begins Tuesday and many key issues will be up for debate when lawmakers converge on the state house.
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Some issues carry over from the last legislative session, like school choice which was left in limbo after lawmakers were unable to pass a priority for Gov. Greg Abbott.
Other issues include the continued fight over abortions, sports betting and cannabis.
But, before those issues can be tackled, the Texas House must decide on a speaker.
The Race for House Speaker
AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 18: The exterior of the Texas State Capitol on February 18, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The race to become Texas House speaker is largely thought to be between two candidates, Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) and Rep. David Cook (R- Mansfield).
In a December meeting of the House Republican Caucus, Burrows emerged by declaring victory, citing the support of some in his party and most of the Democrats in the House.
It was Cook, however, that came out of the meeting with the nomination from his party.
The votes that took place at that meeting led to an increase of infighting between party members and saw several Republicans walk out of a third vote in an attempt to break quorum.
In recent days, the Dallas County Republican Party has threatened censure against two of its members, Reps. Angie Chen Button and Morgan Meyer after they walked out of the third vote and supported Burrows.
The party chair also threatened to set up primary challengers for the two.
Burrows left the meeting with Republicans and released a list of 76 Republicans and Democrats who he said would support his efforts to become speaker. Since then, several representatives have asked to be removed from that list, and it is unclear if Burrows still has the votes required to become speaker.
Cook, on the other hand, walked out of that December meeting with the party's support and a list of 56 Republicans supporting him.
Cook would need to sway more Republicans to his side, however, as he and others in the party have taken a hard-line stance against allowing the Democrats any say in the speaker race and in who chairs House committees.
Inside the race to become Texas Speaker of the House: FOX 7 Focus
The race to lead the Texas House of Representatives is far from over after a series of GOP votes last weekend left two Republicans predicting they would be the next House Speaker.
The dissent within the party came after Rep. Dade Phelan announced he would not seek a third term as speaker.
The Republican Party of Texas has even gone so far as to threaten to pull members of the party who vote for someone other than Cook off the ballot in two years and not allow them to run as Republicans.
School Vouchers
One of the biggest pieces of legislation that will make its way through the legislature this year is on the subject of school choice.
The legislation would allow public funds to be used to pay tuition at private schools in the state. The bill is a top priority for Abbott.
When the plan entered the Texas House during the last legislative session, many Republicans from rural districts sided with Democrats to vote down the issue, fearing the bill's passage would take money from public schools in their district.
Abbott made it a priority during the election season to find primary opponents for those representatives and all the Abbott-backed Republicans in the general election won their elections, seemingly giving enough votes to pass the bill.
School voucher legislation passed the Senate last year before it failed multiple times in the House.
Abbott has previously said he would not sign a school funding bill that didn't have vouchers attached.
Abbott has said the program would not take funding from public schools.
Opponents, however, said that the bill hurts rural districts where there are no private schools for parents to use the program and fear the program would divert money from public schools through decreased enrollment in public schools or through long-term impacts of the state committing more funding to the program.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said the bill will be a top priority in the Senate, where the lieutenant governor serves as the leader of the chamber.
Patrick said he would ask the governor to make the bill an "emergency item" and allow its passage early.
Under the Texas Constitution, lawmakers are only allowed to file bills in the first 60 days of a session unless it is declared an emergency item by the governor.
Typically, bills filed at the beginning of the session aren't heard until March, when they go to committees that determine if they are heard by the full chamber. Bills in the full chamber are considered to have passed the first reading.
Lawmakers can suggest and vote on amendments during the second reading of the bill.
Cannabis Ban
Last month, Patrick said he wanted to end the sale of all THC products in the Lone Star State, claiming businesses are abusing a state law that allows hemp products.
The push to end the commercialization of THC comes from a Lubbock senator who's planning on filing Senate Bill 3.
Lt. Gov Dan Patrick pushes to "ban all forms" of THC in Texas
This new push to end the commercialization of THC comes from a senator in Lubbock, who’s planning to file Senate Bill 3 for the 89th legislative session.
In 2019, lawmakers allowed for the commercialization of hemp, which includes products with THC under 0.3 percent. THC is the main psychoactive component of cannabis.
The bill would ban all forms of THC, ridding the state of these problems not outlined in the 2019 law.
If the bill becomes law, the only exception to it would be the state's Compassionate Use Program, which allows prescriptions of low-level THC.
Sports Betting and Gambling
Another issue that legislators could take up is the issue of sports betting and gambling.
Advocates for legalizing sports betting believe the issue could be gaining traction.
Scott Braddock, the editor of QuoromReport.com, spoke with FOX 7's John Krinjak last week and said he believes otherwise.
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"I think Lt. Gov. Patrick is doing a little dance on this," Braddock said. "He's not coming out and saying outright that he's against casino and sports betting. Instead, he does a little sidestep on this, and he'll say that it's not really gaining traction."
Braddock went on to say that legalizing gambling in the state would require an amendment to the Texas Constitution which would require a two-thirds vote in each chamber before it would come to a vote of the people.
Braddock said he believed if the people were allowed to vote for it that it would "pass overwhelmingly."
Still, Sen. Carol Alverado (D-Houston) filed Senate Joint Resolution 16 to add an amendment that would "foster economic development and job growth, provide tax relief and funding for education and public safety programs, and reform and support the horse racing industry by authorizing casino gaming at destination resorts, authorizing sports wagering, and creating the Texas Gaming Commission to regulate casino gaming and sports wagering; requiring a license to conduct casino gaming; requiring the imposition of a casino gaming tax, sports wagering tax, and license application fees."
Abortion
A bill filed by Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin) seeks to modify the limitations placed on abortion in the state.
Texas’ abortion ban was signed in 2022. Under the law in Texas, doctors who perform abortions risk life in prison and fines of up to $100,000. Opponents say that has left some women with providers who are unwilling to even discuss terminating a pregnancy.
The exceptions to the ban are limited to only cases where the life of the mother is at risk.
Howard’s bill, HB 395, looks to expand those exceptions to instances of sexual assault.
The bill would allow abortions for sexual assault victims without requiring a police report, the patient to provide forensic evidence or the prosecution of the offense.
An identical companion bill was filed in the Senate by Sen. Carol Alverado (D-Houston)
A similar bill, HB 965, was filed by Rep. Cassandra Hernandez (D-Addison).
On the other hand, HB 991, introduced by Rep. Steve Toth (R-Montgomery) would make it a crime to mail or transport abortion-inducing drugs to Texas. The bill would also seek to hold internet providers accountable for the purchase and sale of those drugs.
READ MORE: Texas bill would reclassify abortion drugs as controlled substances
Then there’s HB 1145, introduced by Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress), the bill would allow the State Preservation Board to collect funds to build a "memorial monument to unborn children" on the state capitol grounds.
Rep. Mihaela Plesa (D-Collin) filed HB 1220 which would make exceptions to the abortion ban for women over the age of 35 with a "high-risk" pregnancy and those who become pregnant through in vitro fertilization.
HB 1578, filed by Rep. Penny Morales Shaw (D-Houston), would add an exception to the abortion ban for victims of sexual assault and in instances where the risk of serious harm exists. The bill would require the Texas Medical Board to publish a list of conditions that constitute serious harm on a yearly basis.
Democratic Rep. Vikki Goodwin filed joint resolution HJR 33 calling for an amendment to the state constitution which grants Texans the right to body autonomy.
Immigration and Border Security
As Texas continues Operation Lone Star and its efforts to build a wall along the Texas-Mexico border, several bills and resolutions have been filed to aid those efforts.
Rep. Ryan Guillen (R-Rio Grande City) filed House Joint Resolution 34 calling for an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would prevent taxes on a person's property if it were used by the state to build border security infrastructure.
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Nate Schatzline, a Republican representative from Fort Worth, filed HB 1491. The bill would force counties to enter an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs officials allowing officers and county employees to enforce federal immigration laws. The bill would allow the attorney general to file lawsuits against the counties that did not enter into those agreements.
Additionally, Schatzline filed HB 1072 which would allow for the creation of a database of children who did not enter the country legally.
The bill would allow children under the age of 18 to be detained in order to be interviewed and fingerprinted. The interview would be used to determine that the child was safe and not a victim of human trafficking.
The bill states the fingerprint records would be used to determine how often the child has crossed the border.
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HB 354 would establish a Border Protection Unit within the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The bill was filed by Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park).
It would establish a new division inside DPS and would create new leadership positions and an Inspector General for the agency.
The Source: Information in this article comes from bills filed in the Texas legislature and previous FOX reporting.