Latest news with #HouseBill168
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas lawmakers move to abolish child marriage: 'The practice should be ended completely'
The Texas Legislature is poised to end the controversial practice of child marriage in the Lone Star State with a bill the House passed Wednesday. House Bill 168, authored by Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, would eliminate a loophole in the current statute that lets 16- to 17-year-olds get married if a judge allows it. The bill passed the House by an 87-48 vote and will now head to the Senate. The bill would essentially bar county clerks from issuing a marriage license to anyone under 18 years old for any reason, notwithstanding a court order that would allow the person to marry. Further, it would effectively nullify any marriage involving a minor in Texas, including those who are legally married in another state. "We have a few instances a year where 40- to 50-year-old men are marrying 16- to 17-year-old girls in the state of Texas," Rosenthal said while initially laying out his bill Tuesday. "I hope that something we all agree must be ended." Generally speaking, child marriage is not legal in Texas. A state law passed in 2017 limited underage marriages to teenagers who are at least 16 years old, emancipated from their parents and have legal permission from a court to wed. Child marriage rates in the state have dropped drastically since then. In 2016, Texas saw nearly 400 marriages involving at least one minor, according to an American-Statesman analysis of data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. In 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, there were just 10. All 10 of the 2021 cases involved a minor female — the youngest of whom was 15 — marrying an adult male. In one case, a 37-year-old man married a 17-year-old girl. "Child marriage is too dangerous to be permitted," Rosenthal said. "The practice should be ended completely in Texas with no exceptions to abuse or exploit. House Bill 168 will accomplish this." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas proposal could end child marriage in state
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tax breaks for Louisiana college athletes on NIL money punted under budget pressure
The new video display scoreboard in Tiger Stadium's north side as seen from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Sept. 13, 2024. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator) Louisiana lawmakers have pumped the brakes on exempting college athletes' name, image and likeness compensation from income taxes as they work to approve a lean state budget. Two legislators who filed bills to exempt NIL payments from income taxes have said they will not pursue votes on their legislation, citing perception issues with giving well-paid student-athletes a tax break while tightening the belt on critical state services. 'It didn't seem like there was an appetite for creating a new deduction,' Rep. Rashid Young, D-Homer, said. 'It's partly perception and then partly real dollars.' Young's House Bill 168 would have exempted the first $12,500 of student-athletes' NIL income from state taxes. It would have aligned the exemption with the standardized deduction offered to every other Louisiana resident. It's not clear if this legislation is necessary for the athletes to receive the deduction, but Young said he wanted to make sure they get it. House Bill 166 by Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, would have exempted the entirety of an athlete's NIL income from state taxes. Both lawmakers said they would consider bringing back the legislation depending on the outcome of a study on name, image and likeness deals that lawmakers will undertake. Young's House Resolution 15 will create an NIL task force that will bring together lawmakers, college athletics officials, student-athletes and private business to discuss related issues and make recommendations to the legislature. Additional proposals are expected next year. Young said he hoped to get more transparency on athletes' NIL compensation. Louisiana laws exempt information related to NIL deals from public disclosure. Fiscal analyses for the two bills note that Louisiana's four higher education systems have 427 athletes with NIL deals worth a combined $17 million for the 2024-25 school year. Athletes are only required to report deals worth more than $600, meaning this is not a full picture of NIL compensation for Louisiana athletes. Though legislators are not taking action this year, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order Tuesday that aims to give colleges and universities legal cover to directly pay college athletes. The order purports to prohibit the NCAA, an athletic conference or another organization with oversight of college athletics from taking action against Louisiana schools that directly compensate athletes or facilitate NIL deals for them. NCAA rules currently prohibit the paying of players, but athletes are allowed to make money through NIL endorsement deals. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to ban child marriages in Texas advances in the House
The Texas House brought the state one step closer to eliminating a legal loophole that permits child marriages. House Bill 168, by Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat, tentatively passed 83-51 on Tuesday and will be up for a final vote this week before advancing to the Senate. If passed, the bill would prohibit counties from issuing marriage licenses to minors, even if they are emancipated, and would effectively end any current marriage involving a minor. Marriage involving teens is rare after lawmakers in 2017 took steps to curb the practice, but the loophole has still allowed some cases involving minors to move forward. 'I brought this bill, originally to protect our Texas children from a loophole in the law that allows trafficking of these kids. And that is certainly still my goal,' Rosenthal told lawmakers from the floor Tuesday. Lawmakers also tentatively approved a provision in the bill on Tuesday that would give survivors of child marriage a pathway for legal recourse when their marriage is dissolved. Advocates for survivors worried that the bill would leave survivors with nothing by voiding their marriages. The bill faced some questions from representatives on the house floor. Rosenthal clarified that Texas laws already say people must be 18 to marry, even though the age of sexual consent is 17, and the bill would not change that age limit. Rep. Linda Garcia, a Mesquite Democrat, asked what the bill would mean for teens protected by so-called Romeo and Juliet laws, which allow for relationships between adults and minors if there is an age gap of three years or less. 'I think there's just some concern that in a Romeo and Juliet relationship, that this would stop them from being able to legally get married,' Garcia said, adding that teens in such relationships can still live as common law spouses. Rosenthal agreed that the bill would not affect common law marriages and would only affect those that go through the courthouse. He told The Texas Tribune that he is concerned that some lawmakers might try to insert into his bill a Romeo and Juliet provision. 'If it manages to get on there, I'm going to withdraw the bill,' Rosenthal told The Texas Tribune. The provision faces a high threshold for passage, since he doesn't support it and it is being proposed after the House already tentatively approved the bill without it on Tuesday, he said. It would need at least 100 votes, which would require Democrats to buy-in to it as well. If the bill passes in the House, it would head to the Senate where it will have to go through a committee and face another three votes on the Senate floor. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana governor signs order to allow schools to pay college athletes
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier looks to throw downfield against the Oklahoma Sooners at Tiger Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024, in Baton Rouge. () Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order Tuesday that aims to give colleges and universities legal cover to directly pay college athletes. The order purports to prohibit the NCAA, an athletic conference or another organization with oversight of college athletics from taking action against Louisiana schools that directly compensate athletes, pay them for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) or facilitate NIL deals for the athlete. The order, similar to one Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed last year, would not allow schools to use state money to pay athletes. Athletic directors at LSU and Southern University praised the governor's order. 'This will afford all higher education institutions in the state of Louisiana the ability to remain nimble and at the forefront of the ever-changing college athletics landscape,' LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward said in the governor's news release. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX While NCAA rules currently prohibit the paying of players, athletes are allowed to make money through NIL endorsement deals. Landry's order would become moot if Congress approves legislation to regulate NIL deals or if a settlement is finalized in a lawsuit against the NCAA over compensation owed to former college athletes who weren't paid for use of their name, image or likeness. The settlement is expected to set the stage for revenue sharing with college athletes — and possibly pave the way for direct payments to them. The Louisiana Legislature is considering new proposals on name, image and likeness, including two bills that would exempt athletes' NIL money from state income tax. House Bill 166 by Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, would exempt the entirety of athletes' NIL income from the state taxes. McMakin, an LSU alum whose father played baseball for the Tigers in the 1970s, said he proposed the legislation because LSU is competing for athletes against states like Texas that don't have an income tax. House Bill 168 by Rep. Rashid Young, D-Homer, would exempt the first $12,500 of athletes' NIL income from state taxes. That aligns the exemption with the standardized deduction offered to every other Louisiana resident. It's not clear if this legislation is necessary for the athletes to receive the deduction, but Young said he wanted to make sure they get it. Young has also proposed a resolution to create a task force to study the need for increased transparency on name, image and likeness along with related issues. This is a developing story
Newsweek
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Texas Child Marriages Could End This Year
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Texas legislators are considering a bill that would eliminate the remaining legal pathway for minors to marry in the state. House Bill 168, introduced by Democrat Representative Jon Rosenthal, aims to prohibit all marriages involving individuals under 18, including those who are legally emancipated. Newsweek contacted Rosenthal on Saturday via email for comment outside of usual working hours. Why It Matters Texas enacted reforms to restrict child marriage in 2017, setting the minimum age at 18 but allowing emancipated 16- and 17-year-olds to wed. HB 168 seeks to remove this exception, declaring any marriage involving a person under 18 as void, regardless of emancipation status. The proposed legislation would also invalidate existing underage marriages, including those involving minors who move into Texas after being married elsewhere. If approved, the legislation would go into effect on September 1, 2025. File photo: Advocates and child marriage survivors gather on the steps of Massachusetts' State House to call for an end to child marriages in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 22, 2021. File photo: Advocates and child marriage survivors gather on the steps of Massachusetts' State House to call for an end to child marriages in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 22, 2021. Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images)/Getty Images What To Know As reported by Newsweek, child marriage remains legal in most states, many of which allow children as young as 15 or 16 years old to get married. A handful of states have no age requirements at all for marriage. About 300,000 children have been married between 2000 and 2018, according to Unchained at Last, an organization that fights for laws banning child marriage. Between those years, over 40,000 minors were legally married in Texas, more than in any other state. Advocates argue that eliminating all exceptions is necessary to protect minors from potential coercion and abuse. The proposed bill states: "According to the Journal of Adolescent Health, between 2000 and 2018, nearly 300,000 girls and boys under the age of 18 were legally married in the United States and 41,774 of those marriages were in Texas. "Although child marriage is generally prohibited in Texas, there is still an exception to this prohibition for children who have the disabilities of minority removed by a court order," the bill adds. "H.B. 168 seeks to prohibit the issuance of a marriage license if either applicant is under the age of 18, regardless of whether the applicant had the disabilities of minority for general purposes removed by a court. "Further, the bill seeks to establish that a marriage where one of the parties is under the age of 18 is void," the bill concludes. What People Are Saying Houston Democrat Representative Jon Rosenthal said, as reported by The Texas Tribune: "My first concern was with a handful of marriages that we have in this state over the last few years where 40- to 50-year-old men are marrying 16- to 17-year-old girls. While it was only a couple or a few cases a year, I just saw that as horribly egregious." What Happens Next The bill is currently under debate in the Texas Legislature. If enacted, the state would join a growing number that have banned child marriage without exceptions. If passed, the law would take effect in September, applying only to marriage license applications filed and marriages entered into on or after that date.
