Texas ‘bathroom bill’ fading as legislative session wraps up

Dan Patrick‘s primary leverage to get a special session on bills that would give voters more say on their property tax bills and regulate the use of bathrooms by transgender people.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas said that the party has been “talking about this nonstop between ourselves”, and that staff experts should have legislative language ready for review by June 5, when the Senate returns from recess.

The bill requires the state to set up a special judicial security division and allows personal security for state judges who have been threatened or attacked.

And Patrick is banking on Abbott also telling lawmakers to work on the bathroom bill and property tax reform in a special session.

However, Patrick said not allowing this bill to pass is morally wrong. He can only grandstand so much.

Tinderholt then asked for information on the process for selecting a new speaker if the current leader were to resign his House seat.

The last big filibuster we saw was in In 2013, Senator Wendy Davis talked for 11-plus hours in the Senate.

Senate Republicans, likewise, were able to state their position – although the governor, a Democrat, and Senate Republicans have been working together on a plan since the regular legislative session ended.

“It’s on them. The ball is in their court”, an incensed Gonzales said while flanked by members of the Sunset commission.

Governor Greg Abbott wants those measures approved, too, but has also said lawmakers can accomplish all of their work on time. At midnight, a key deadline passed and he killed a bill that makes it harder for some cities to annex surrounding territory.

“Frankly some of the other threats in other states rang pretty hollow in a state like Texas”, Republican Sen.

“This is a fight that has nothing to do with the physicians or with the Texas Medical Board, and everyone at the Capitol knows that”, said Texas Medical Association President Carlos J. Cardenas, MD. He said the amendment continues the agencies but not laws undergirding them.

This would leave the the state without an agency whose job it is to police doctors who practice in the state.

The inevitable bottom line as the session sputters towards its Monday conclusion is that we’re probably headed for a special session.

If the Legislature succeeds “in forcing discrimination into Texas law, you can bet that Lambda Legal will be on the case before the next school bell rings”, Jennifer C. Pizer, senior counsel and director of law and policy at the national gay rights group, said in a statement.