Latest news with #Schatzline
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas House advances bill that would prohibit land sales to people and entities from certain countries
The Texas House agreed late Thursday to let the governor determine the countries whose residents, governments and other entities could be banned from buying property here. Members granted the governor such power when they amended Senate Bill 17, whose real estate sales restrictions were limited to countries that the U.S. national director of intelligence has designated as national security threats. Currently, that list includes only China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. After giving the governor the ability to expand the list of restricted countries, the House then gave SB 17 preliminary approval in a 85-60 vote. The bill now heads back to the Senate. State Rep. Nate Schatzline, the Republican from Fort Worth who introduced the amendment, said the goal was to make sure that any threats to Texas could quickly be addressed. "Our governor can act swiftly rather than waiting for a year for that to be added into the [director of national intelligence's] designated country list," he said. That amendment drew rebuke from Democrats. 'This gives the governor unfettered power to add whatever county he wants to in this bill," said state Rep. Gene Wu, chair of House Democratic Caucus. "It's kind of dangerous to say one person can decide whatever country he or she wants to add to this without any oversight, without any controls — this is the definition of overreach.' Schatzline's amendment also allows the governor to bar people "transnational criminal organizations" to the list of entities barred from buying Texas property. Schatzline pointed to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as an example. State Rep. Cole Hefner, the Mt. Pleasant Republican carrying SB 17 in the lower chamber, described the bill during Thursday's hourslong debate as 'securing Texas land and natural resources and making sure that this precious resource does not fall prey to adversarial nations and oppressive regimes that wish to do us harm.' The bill's advancement came over opposition from Democrats who are concerned that it could be used to potentially discriminate against Asian Americans. The bill will need one more House vote before it goes back to the Senate. The upper chamber previously approved a version of the bill, but House members amended several key portions of it Thursday. The Senate's previous version would have exempted anyone or any entity that leased the property to someone else for under 100 years. The House limited that exemption to property leased to someone else for one year or less. Rep. Mitch Little called the 100-year lease exemption 'a loophole that you could drive a Mack truck through.' The House also previously amended the bill to exempt lawful permanent residents. But Democrats failed to make changes to the bill several times Thursday. Their failed amendments included provisions that would have exempted visa holders such as medical students and researchers, performers and athletes. They also raised concerns that the law could hurt the Texas economy. SB 17 is Brenham Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst's second attempt at limiting who can buy property in Texas. Similar legislation she authored in 2023 died in the House. In committee hearings this year, she described the legislation as protecting Texas' assets from 'hostile nations.' 'This is a matter of national security,' she said in March. 'Texas must act now to protect our land, food sources, water, and natural resources.' A batch of new, more conservative lawmakers were elected to the House last year, giving new life to legislation that struggled in previous sessions. Chief among those measures are the creation of school vouchers. If passed, the bill goes into effect Sept. 1 and would only apply to purchases or acquisitions after that date. It would require the attorney general's office to create a process to investigate possible violations and refer the matter to a district court. If the court finds a violation, it would be authorized to order the purchaser to divest from the property either by selling it or terminating the lease, according to the House Research Organization's most recent analysis of the bill. The court also would be required to refer the matter for potential criminal offenses. The amount of Texas property owned by entities from outside the U.S. is not tracked in detail, aside from agricultural land. But Joshua Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law, said it is likely a very small fraction. In the U.S. overall, Chinese investors own less than 1% of total foreign-held acreage, according to 2021 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Investors from Russia, Iran and North Korea collectively own less than 3,000 acres. But to Abraham George, chair of the Texas Republican Party, 1% is too much — which is why the bill was a party priority. Rep. Angie Chen Button, who was only the second Asian American woman to serve in the Legislature and whose parents fled from China, also spoke in support of the bill Thursday night, saying the bill aims to 'protect our freedom, liberty and national security.' She introduced a similar bill last session. Some Asian Texans are concerned the bill would create animosity and 'state-sanctioned racial profiling,' said Lily Trieu, executive director of the civic engagement group Asian Texans for Justice. The bill doesn't prohibit purchases of land based on national origin, which would violate federal civil rights laws. Instead, it prohibits people based on their permanent residence. Wu, who immigrated to the United States from China as a child, said the bill could impact not just Chinese people in Texas, but members of all Asian communities in the state. 'Nobody knows the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean, right? Nobody knows what your immigration status is,' he said in an interview. 'When they discriminate against you … when they look for people to assault, they don't really care what you are. They care that you have Asian face.' Trieu said the group's No. 1 concern is that individuals shouldn't be conflated with governments. 'Just like how no one here would want to travel to another country and be held individually accountable for what Governor Abbott does or what President Donald Trump does,' she said. 'These individuals should not be held accountable for what the government of their national origin does, or what their ideology is, or what, you know, the government does as an entity.' Trieu said the group was formed to engage Asian Texans in civic participation such as voting, but this bill galvanized people into getting involved in legislation. Wu expects the bill is just the start of that. And even with its passage, he sees it as a loss for the Republican Party because it could push Asian American voters to shift to the Democratic Party in the 2026 midterm elections. 'I think the Republicans are heading into gale force winds in 2026 if they want to alienate and make enemies of an entire community who for a large part has stayed out of politics,' he said in an interview. 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!
New York Post
07-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Texas weighs fining schools for using students' preferred pronouns
Texas public schools could face fines if teachers use preferred pronouns for students, or 'assist' with 'social transitioning' their gender, if a new bill in the legislature passes. The bill would force school districts to ban teachers from helping students to change their pronouns, clothing or hairstyles to deviate from their biological sex, according to a draft of the proposed legislation. 'We must make it unmistakably clear: Schools are not places for secret agendas or social experiments on our kids,' said Republican Texas Rep. Nathan Schatzline. Instagram/Rep Nate Schatzline Republican state Rep. Nathan Schatzline, who is spearheading the bill, said during a Texas House Public Education Committee hearing Tuesday that the measure would prevent children from going down a path that he believes leads to 'irreversible harm.' Advertisement 'We must make it unmistakably clear: Schools are not places for secret agendas or social experiments on our kids,' Schatzline said. 'This bill simply bans the most harmful aspects of teaching gender identity to children, the social transitioning of our most vulnerable.' Schatzline said he believes that 'gender-affirming care' only affirms 'confusion' and 'not truth.' Advertisement 'In some cases, teachers have been encouraged to withhold information from moms and dads. This is not compassion, it's deception and it's anti-parental rights and it's perpetuation of mental illness,' he said. The bill aims to keep gender issues out of schools and up to parents, according to Schatzline. LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS – A north Texas couple testified to the committee that they learned over email that their adopted teenage daughter's teachers were calling her 'Apollo,' according to The Dallas Morning News. They said their daughter has special needs and isn't transitioning or knows what it means to do so. They argued she merely liked to be called 'Apollo' at school, but that the school should have told them. Advertisement 'Look, this is just simply giving the facts to a child,' Schatzline said. 'If a child goes home and a parent wants to say that they are not the biological sex that they were born into, that's the parent's right to do so.' 'We do not believe that teachers or counselors should be forced into doing that at the same time inside the classroom,' he added. Critics say if the bill is made law, it will further isolate kids who identify as LGBTQ. Advertisement One activist claimed the language in the bill could even punish teachers for calling kids by nicknames. Mandy Giles, the founder of Parents of Trans Youth, told lawmakers that her legal name is Amanda — and many of them have a preferred nickname they ask people to use. 'You'd probably be pretty offended if someone just said, 'No, I'm not going to do that,'' she said, according to the Dallas Morning News. 'Or worse, 'I'd like to, but if I did, my employer would lose a huge amount of money and I'd probably be fired.''
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas bill would cut school funding over teacher support for gender transitions
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas House Education Committee heard a bill to prohibit public and charter school teachers from assisting in the social gender transition of a student. House Bill 1655 would require all school districts to implement their own policies prohibiting teachers from assisting. If those policies are violated, the state would remove funding for the entire school district. 'That means not changing names or pronouns, not hiding information from parents and no perpetuating mental illness,' the bill's author State Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, said. 'We must make it unmistakably clear, schools are not places for secret agendas or social experiments on our kids.' Schatzline argued the issue comes down to parental rights in the classroom. 'Taxpayer dollars should never be used to sever the sacred bond between parent and child,' he said. His Democratic colleagues felt his parental rights argument fell flat, because parents don't have the right to tell the teachers to help the transition. 'If the parent disagrees with your ideology, then the parent's opinion is no longer primary,' State Rep. John Bryant, D-Dallas, said. 'So let's don't talk a whole bunch about how important and sacred it is to listen to the parents if you're not going to listen to the parents.' 'Well, I do not believe that we should tell lies to children or perpetuate lies in the classroom,' Schatzline responded. 'If we're telling lies to children, then at what point does it end… If a child goes home and a parent wants to say that they are not the biological sex that they were born into, that's a parent's right to do so.' HB 1655 was left pending in committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Newsweek
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Texas Moves to Punish Bookstores That Sell 'Obscene' Books
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. A bill has been introduced to the Texas Legislature that could result in bookstores facing fines and legal costs if they place material deemed "obscene" within access of a minor. House Bill 1375 was proposed by state Representative Nate Schatzline, a Republican, who said it is needed to keep "harmful material" away from children. Critics argue it would force bookshops to self-sensor or risk potentially devastating lawsuits. Newsweek contacted Schatzline for comment via email on Friday. Why It Matters In recent years, a number of Republican-controlled states have passed laws banning school libraries from holding certain books that they regard as inappropriate. The Texas Legislature in 2023 passed a bill forbidding school libraries from having any book among its stacks that "describes or portrays sexual conduct" in a "patently offensive way" that are not required by the curriculum. PEN America recorded 3,362 instances of what it classified as book bans across the U.S. in the 2022-23 academic year, a 33 percent rise from the previous year. What To Know House Bill 1375 would make commercial enterprises, such as bookstores, liable for "damages arising from the distribution, transmission, or display of harmful material to a minor." This would include when such material is "readily accessible to minors" or "includes a minor's visual image, audio voice, or participation in any manner." Any business found to have broken this law could have to pay damages and would be liable for associated court costs and legal fees. A book is pulled out on a shelf at a Barnes & Noble on January 11, 2024, in Austin, Texas. A book is pulled out on a shelf at a Barnes & Noble on January 11, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell/GETTY The legislation also specifies that a business could face multiple lawsuits over the same piece of material deemed obscene if more than one person decides to launch a case. Such material could be reported by either minors or their parents/guardians. The bill does contain protections for media organizations including newspapers, magazines and TV stations. What People Are Saying Speaking to local television network KTBS, Schatzline said: "This bill also holds commercial entities accountable if they are knowingly distributing, transmitting or displaying harmful material to minors in a way that is readily accessible or includes a minor's image, voice and participation. "If a business is used to engage in an obscenity for the personal benefit of its owner, those people can be held liable." Charley Rejsek, who runs BookPeople in Austin, Texas, commented: "HB 1375 threatens to no longer allow those young readers in our bookstores and ultimately could cause some bookstores to close their doors." In a post on X, the Texas Freedom to Read Project, which campaigns against book bans, said: "HB 1375, authored by Representative Schatzline, makes it easier for book banners and other bad actors to raise frivolous claims against local bookshops, big box stores, and online retailers over books they will falsely claim are 'harmful to minors.' "The increased risk of lawsuits will make it harder for retailers to do business in our local communities and in Texas as a whole. What school district is going to work with a bookseller accused (falsely or not!) of distributing 'harmful materials to minors?'" Speaking to news outlet Chron, Texas Freedom to Read Project co-founder Anne Russey said: "We've been told by people trying to ban books, 'don't worry, it's not a book ban, you can buy whatever books you want at a private bookstore. "This bill is potentially making it harder for private booksellers to shelve and offer the kind of books that we've seen banned or challenged in public schools and libraries." What Happens Next The Lone Star State's House Bill 1375 awaits a committee appearance. A similar bill failed to pass during the last legislative session. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is a Republican and the GOP has a strong majority in both chambers of the state Legislature.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Keller ISD may not be splitting, but area lawmakers still want a vote on future divides
The Keller school board isn't moving forward with a plan to split the district in half, but North Texas lawmakers still want to ensure the public has a say in future divides. The proposal would have cut the district in half along U.S. 377, creating what has been nicknamed the 'Alliance Independent School District' in far north Fort Worth. The idea drew an outpouring of opposition from residents. Some local officials also spoke out against the plan, including State Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Fort Worth Republican, whose legislative district includes the Keller school district. He praised the district's March 14 announcement that it is abandoning the proposed split. 'I'm incredibly grateful that Keller ISD is doing the right thing here and is putting students first, because I believe that splitting the district is not in the best interest of the students,' Schatzline said. As the district mulled a split, there was debate over whether state law allows a district to divide — a process called detachment — without taking the proposal to a vote. Texas Rep. David Lowe, a North Richland Hills Republican whose district includes part of the Keller school district, filed a bill on March 10 requiring that the decision be left up to registered voters. State Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican, will now carry the corresponding legislation. Geren, a more senior member of the Tarrant County delegation, filed a bill identical to Lowe's bill on March 13. March 14 is the deadline for lawmakers to file bills. 'I'm glad that they are pausing the pursuit of splitting,' Lowe said. 'We want to ensure that there is a bill that adds clarity to the process, so we are still going to pursue our legislation.' Geren did not immediately return a request for comment. Schatzline said he will sign on as a co-author of the legislation. The bill needs to be passed to ensure that people have the right to vote on a split, he said. The legislation would make sure a community is in support of a detachment before such a massive decision is made, he said. 'There are scenarios in which diving a district can be beneficial to a community,' Schatzline said. 'In the case of Keller ISD, I do not believe that is the case. However, we want to create an avenue where if the community feels like they're not being properly represented, they can divide and they can create a new school district when it's absolutely necessary.' School board President Charles Randklev and interim superintendent Cory Wilson announced that the district is not moving forward with a split in an email. They said the district lacks the resources to continue the plan due to the 'tens of millions in additional funding' that it would take to distribute $700 million worth of bond debt among the two districts.' Lowe, who said he first found out about the plan through constituents, attributed the halting of the proposed split to 'a culmination of public outcry, legislation and lawsuits being filed.' School districts as a whole have been reckless when it comes to bond debt, Lowe said, noting that he's filed a bill that would require a two-third majority vote in order to pass future bonds. Schatzline said he's grateful for the parents who spoke out about their disagreement, sharing their thoughts on how the plan could impact property values and the school district. Schatzline said he's also grateful to the school board for listening and responding 'the right way.' North Fort Worth does not want the Keller ISD split, he said. 'We love our school board and we love our school district, and so I'm excited that this split is not going to happen.' Staff writer Matthew Adams contributed to this report.
