Latest news with #SenateBill18
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Texas House kills drag story time bill again
AUSTIN (KXAN) — For the second consecutive session, legislation targeting drag story time events died in the Texas House of Representatives. Senate Bill 18 missed a key deadline this week to be fully considered on the House floor, effectively ending its chances of becoming state law. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick identified the legislation as a priority this session after a similar measure died in the House in 2023. Before stalling in Texas Senate, 'homosexual conduct' bill made legislative history The bill called for stripping public funding for any library that hosted a children's reading event led by a drag performer. Supporters argued it was needed to protect kids from the confusion of seeing someone dressed in drag and concerns about them being exposed to inappropriate content. However, opponents accused lawmakers of using this to crack down further on the LGBTQ+ community and said it would do nothing to actually protect Texas children. The legislation passed the Texas Senate in February along a party line vote, and a House committee then took up the legislation in May and recommended it for consideration in the full chamber. Even though SB 18 made it onto the intent calendar Tuesday, the House took no action on it in the rush of the final few days of the session. Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, reintroduced the bill this year after the previous iteration of it met a similar fate in the lower chamber two years ago. The legislation advanced further than it did then because a House committee actually debated the bill, which never happened in 2023. KXAN reached out Thursday to Hughes' office for comment about SB 18 dying this session and asked whether he would file it again when lawmakers reconvene in 2027. This story will be updated whenever Hughes shares a response. Reporting about his previous proposal, Senate Bill 1601, was featured in a KXAN investigative project called 'OutLaw: A Half-Century Criminalizing LGBTQ+ Texans.' It looked in-depth at the historic number of bills filed in the 2023 session impacting the state's LGBTQ+ community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
After college students protested Israel-Hamas war, Texas Senate votes to restrict time, place and manner of future events
The Texas Senate on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would restrict protesting on college campuses in reaction to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year. The bill's author, Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said he wants to prevent disruption and unsafe behavior, but opponents have said it contradicts the Legislature's previous commitment to campus free speech, championed by conservative lawmakers six years ago. Senate Bill 2972 would give university systems' governing boards the power to limit where protests can take place on campus and more tools to police them. Lawmakers voted 21-10 to advance the bill without debate. Under the legislation, students and staff would not be allowed to use microphones or any other device to amplify sound while protesting during class hours. The bill largely prohibits them from protesting at all overnight and during the last two weeks of a semester. They'd also be barred from erecting encampments, taking down an institution's U.S. flag to put up another nation's or organization's and wearing masks, facial coverings or other disguises to avoid being identified while protesting or to intimidate others. Finally, students and university employees at a protest would be required to present a valid ID when asked by law enforcement. In 2019, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 18, which required colleges and universities to ensure that all outdoor common areas of campus were traditional public forums. This meant anyone could protest there as long as they weren't breaking the law or disrupting the function of the college or university. SB 18 also said any restrictions institutions placed on protesting had to be 'narrowly tailored to serve a significant institutional interest.' SB 2972 would walk those provisions back, allowing governing boards to designate which areas on campus are traditional public forums and allowing them to restrict protests in these areas as long as it is 'reasonable in light of the purpose of the area.' Cate Byrne, a third-year law student at the University of Texas at Austin, said during a Senate K-16 Education Hearing last month that because the bill doesn't define what is 'reasonable,' it could lead to administrators discriminating against protesters based on their viewpoint. Other current and former UT-Austin students pointed out that some protesters must wear masks because they are immunocompromised and that this legislation would also impede conservative speech — which lawmakers sought to protect when they passed SB 18 in 2019. They pointed out that candlelight vigils for the unborn would not be allowed under this proposal because they would occur at night, for example. 'These restrictions create an impossible situation,' said Sameeha Rizvi, Texas policy and advocacy coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a UT-Austin graduate. 'Protest silently during the daytime or don't protest at all after hours. Whether students are advocating for human rights or religious freedom, all speech across the political spectrum will be constrained.' Following Hama's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, students across the country demanded their universities divest from Israel or manufacturers supplying Israel with weapons in its strikes on Gaza. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the Hillel International also reported a sharp uptick in antisemitic incidents on campus, which lawmakers vowed to address this session. When students protested at UT-Austin, administrators called in armed state troopers, who arrested more than a hundred people over several days. Several colleges across the country have since imposed limits on protesting that clamped down on pro-Palestinian encampments. The Indiana University board of trustees adopted a policy similar to the bill the Texas Legislature is considering that prohibits camping unless it is part of a university-approved event, protesting overnight and amplified noise that 'materially or substantially' disrupts university life. The Trump administration has also demanded that Columbia and Harvard universities ban masks at campus protests. Columbia agreed. The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. 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
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Drag story time bill heard for first time in Texas House committee
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Members of a Texas House committee debated legislation for the first time that would penalize public libraries for hosting a drag story time event for children. The chamber never took up similar legislation just two years ago, effectively killing it during the previous session, so Monday's hearing could revive an item identified as a priority by some Texas Republicans. The House Committee on State Affairs took no action Monday morning on Senate Bill 18, which would strip public funding for any library that hosts a kids' reading event led by a drag performer. The committee left it pending after hearing from several witnesses who mostly spoke in opposition to the proposal, though one member suggested Monday it's likely to pass the committee and potentially go to the House floor for an official vote. Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Spring Branch, introduced the bill at Monday's committee hearing, the next step in the legislative process after it landed in the House's lap following approval earlier this year in the Texas Senate. The legislation, authored by Republican Sen. Bryan Hughes of Mineola, passed along party lines in the upper chamber and proposes that a 'municipal library may not receive state or other public funds if the library hosts an event at which a man presenting as a woman or a woman presenting as a man reads a book or a story to a minor for entertainment and the person being dressed as the opposite gender is a primary component of the entertainment.' Additionally, that funding freeze would take effect during the fiscal year that follows whenever the drag story time event happened. Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, first asked Hull whether this proposed law would require libraries to check the genitals of any speakers who read to children to confirm their sex so that they're not in violation. 'I believe that would be up to the library to decide that,' Hull responded, offering no further explanation. A total of 14 witnesses signed up Monday to speak publicly about the legislation, with only three of those people doing so in support of it. Megan Benton, who works with the conservative advocacy group Texas Values, said the bill is needed to protect children from the confusion of seeing someone dressed in drag and concerns about them being exposed to inappropriate content. 'If libraries allow events inappropriate for children, yet marketed to them, to take place, public libraries stop being a safe place for children,' Benton said. 'When men dress as women and vice versa in front of children, it creates confusion of their ever-growing minds.' The other 11 speakers who said they opposed the measure included Brigitte Bandit, an Austin-based drag performer who sometimes hosts reading events for kids and their families. She came to the Capitol in 2023 to decry the previous version of this legislation, Senate Bill 1601, which passed the Senate but failed to be considered in the House. At Monday's hearing, she wore a dress with the Texas flag and a list of the names of church leaders who she said had been accused of abusing children in the last year. 'Drag story times promote inclusivity, acceptance, kindness, empathy, compassion and literacy, which Texas lacks in,' Bandit said. 'Why are we attacking drag queens? These bills do nothing to protect children. If you truly cared about protecting children, maybe you'd do something about the many pastors who have been exposed for harming children, whose names I wear on the front of my dress.' The House state affairs committee could take up SB 18 again at a later date. If it's approved there, then that would set it up potentially for discussion and an eventual vote on the House floor before the session ends on June 2. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas Senate passes bill penalizing libraries for hosting drag story time
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Senate approved legislation that would strip public funding for any library that hosts a children's reading event led by a drag performer. Senate Bill 18 passed Wednesday along a strictly party line vote of 20-11. The measure is similar to one that sailed through the Senate during the last regular legislative session in 2023, but it failed to get a vote in the House. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released a statement expressing hope that this time could be different. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Texas Senate revives library cuts for hosting drag story times 'SB 18 puts an end to the practice of using taxpayer dollars for drag time story hours,' Patrick wrote in his statement. 'Libraries should not be used to advance radical ideology at the expense of children. This is the second consecutive session the Texas Senate passed this bill. I am optimistic that our new speaker, Dustin Burrows, will finally pass this important bill so it becomes law.' Now that SB 18 has cleared this hurdle, it will head to consideration in the House, where it's unclear whether lawmakers will take up the measure there. The bill, introduced by Republican Sen. Bryan Hughes of Mineola, proposes that a 'municipal library may not receive state or other public funds if the library hosts an event at which a man presenting as a woman or a woman presenting as a man reads a book or a story to a minor for entertainment and the person being dressed as the opposite gender is a primary component of the entertainment.' Additionally, that funding freeze would take effect during the fiscal year that follows whenever the drag story time event happened. Before the final vote in the Senate happened Wednesday, Hughes said this legislation is necessary to protect children, noting that Texas public libraries hosting a drag story time for kids would result in a loss of taxpayer funding. 'We recognize that adults have great liberty to express themselves in many ways, as they see fit. It's always going to be that way in America,' Hughes said. 'Where children are involved, there's a proper, necessary and essential role of the society, of the people, of the government to step in.' However, Sen. Molly Cook, a Houston Democrat and the first openly LGBTQ+ state senator, called the legislation a 'painful attack' on the state's LGBTQ+ community as well as unconstitutional. 'It is bad policy to take resources away from our communities and libraries as a punishment. Personal preferences do not and cannot strip away First Amendment protection. This is government overreach,' Cook said Wednesday. 'The government has no business telling people what clothes they should wear, and as the federal courts have shown, drag shows are a form of constitutionally-protected speech, and government cannot unconstitutionally censor expression based on its message, ideas or content. By moving legislation like this, we are shaving away the rights and culture of the LGBTQ+ community. By vilifying drag, we are mischaracterizing the gay community and putting us at risk. We are not a threat, and we deserve the same rights as everyone else.' Hughes' previous proposal that aimed to penalize libraries for holding drag story time events, Senate Bill 1601, got passed by the Texas Senate two years ago, garnering support from all the Republican lawmakers at that time. However, no committee in the House ever took up the bill, which led to the legislation dying in the 88th regular legislative session and not becoming law. During that session, state lawmakers put forward a historic number of bills impacting the LGBTQ+ community, which the KXAN Investigates team examined closely for the Catalyst project entitled 'OutLaw: A Half-Century Criminalizing LGBTQ+ Texans.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas Senate revives library cuts for hosting drag story times
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Lawmakers are bringing back an effort to create consequences for any public library in Texas that hosts a children's reading event led by a drag performer, reviving legislation that failed to pass during the last legislative session. The Senate Committee on State Affairs will hold a hearing Thursday at 9 a.m. to consider Senate Bill 18, introduced by Republican Sen. Bryan Hughes of Mineola. The proposal's wording closely mirrors a similar piece of legislation he brought forward during the 2023 session. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Texas almost stopped library drag story time. Will it try again? The new bill proposes that a 'municipal library may not receive state or other public funds if the library hosts an event at which a man presenting as a woman or a woman presenting as a man reads a book or a story to a minor for entertainment and the person being dressed as the opposite gender is a primary component of the entertainment.' Additionally, that funding freeze would take effect during the fiscal year that follows whenever the drag story time event happened. Hughes' previous proposal, Senate Bill 1601, sailed through the Texas Senate two years ago, garnering support from all the Republican lawmakers at that time. However, no committee in the House ever took up the bill, which led to the legislation dying in the 88th regular legislative session and not becoming law. During that session, state lawmakers put forward a historic number of bills impacting the LGBTQ+ community, which the KXAN Investigates team examined closely for the Catalyst project entitled 'OutLaw: A Half-Century Criminalizing LGBTQ+ Texans.' The debate at Thursday's committee hearing comes during the 60-day window where lawmakers can begin the session by only considering legislation related to Gov. Greg Abbott's emergency items. Those seven priorities he laid out earlier this month do not include anything related to drag story time events. However, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick named this as one of his Senate priority bills for this session, which explains why the state affairs committee may be taking up the legislation now. Every Republican senator has signed on now as a co-author of SB 18, raising the chances that it will once again gain approval and move quickly through the GOP-controlled chamber. However, just as it did two years ago, the legislation is likely to draw loud opposition among Democratic lawmakers as well as LGBTQ+ advocates in the state. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
