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The Texas Report 4/26

The Texas Report 4/26

April 26, 2023

Happy Wednesday!

Written by: Jay Williamson

Statewide News Round-Up

Yesterday, the Texas House advanced legislation to add parental controls for social media and create disclosure requirements regarding advertising to children. House Bill (H.B.) 18 by Representative Shelby Slawson (R-Stephenville) is also known as the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act and seeks to prohibit digital service providers from entering into agreements with a minor without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian.

The bill establishes that, for these purposes, an agreement includes terms of service agreement, a user agreement, and the creation of an account for a digital service and further establishes that the following are acceptable methods for an online platform to obtain such consent from a known minor's parent or guardian:

providing a form for the parent or guardian to sign and return to the platform by common carrier, facsimile, or electronic scan;
providing a toll-free telephone number for the parent or guardian to call to consent;
coordinating a call with the parent or guardian over videoconferencing technology;
collecting information related to the parent's or guardian's government-issued identification and deleting that information after confirming the identity of the parent or guardian;

Some legislators raised concerns that this legislation would limit children's access to online educational resources when their parents are out of the House. Slawson said that should those websites require an online account, students may need to wait until their parents return home before accessing the resource. The legislation has significant bi-partisan support and is anticipated to pass the House today.

Yesterday, a letter from the Texas Department of Agriculture laid out employee dress policy. The April 13th memo, first reported on by the Texas Observer, mentions that employees are expected to comply with the dress code in a "manner consistent with their biological gender." Some organizations like the ACLU of Texas said this provision violates Title VII - which bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity - as well as the First Amendment's right to free expression. Some memos list appropriate business casual items, including Western business attire. (More here)

The letter adds, "For men, business attire includes a long-sleeved dress shirt, tie, and sport coat worn with trousers and dress shoes or boots," it says. "For women, business attire includes tailored pantsuits, business-like dresses, coordinated dressy separates worn with or without a blazer, and conservative, closed-toe shoes or boots." It specifically prohibits women from clothing allowing for "excessive cleavage" and skirts shorter than four inches from the knee.

The House also passed its priority school safety legislation which includes H.B. 3 by Representative Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), H.B. 11 by Representative Harold Dutton (D-Houston), and H.B. 13 by Representative Ken King (R-Canadian)

H.B. 3 would invest $15,000 of state dollars into every public school campus for school safety and security and require at least one armed employee to teach public school campuses across the state.

H.B. 11 is intended to help improve recruitment and retention strategies for teachers by allocation of over $500 million, which includes pay increases for certain educations and provides eligibility to access free public school pre-K. This legislation would waive all teacher and certification fees and set $100 million yearly stipends for teachers practicing a year-long residency.

H.B. 13 would increase the School Safety Allotment from $9.72 to $100 per student, create a stipend for armed personnel on campus, and require district employees to complete mental health first aid training programs.

Other education legislation recently passed:

H.B. 669 would require campuses to provide classrooms with silent panic alert technology.
H.B. 1605 Provides curricula for students and increases professional development tools for teachers.
H.B. 1615 would allow public-private pre-K partnerships between eligible providers, local public schools, and open-enrollment charter schools to provide free-PreK.

A recent poll by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin showed many Texans are weary of the possibility of a Biden-Trump rematch. The latest polling of likely voters showed 43% had a very unfavorable view of President Biden & 42% had a very unfavorable view of former President Trump. (Full poll)

Meanwhile, sixty-one percent of Texas voters said Biden should not run, while 58 percent said the same of Trump, according to the poll released in February. Regardless, Biden fared better in Texas in 2020 than any Democratic presidential candidate in years, losing the state to Trump by just 6 percentage points. Biden got a 2020 boost from independent voters with a negative view of Trump.

Now they have an even worse impression of Biden, with 54% of independents seeing him as very unfavorable, compared to 42% for Trump. The concern for many Republicans in Texas is the potential negative impact Trump may have on down-ballot races. Research director of the Texas Politics Project added that "I think a fair case could be made that GOP congressional and Texas legislative candidates might perform better with someone besides Trump and Cruz leading the ticket," Blank said. "Biden might find Texas a greater challenge facing a GOP candidate other than Trump who doesn't carry the same baggage as the former president — and someone who he hasn't already beaten, at least nationally." (More here)

The poll also had respondents say the country's most important problems today. The top six responses:

Inflation/rising prices (16%)
Political corruption/leadership (12%)
The economy (9%)
Gun control/gun violence (8%)
Environment/climate change (7%)
Border Security (6%)

Please let us know your thoughts and who you think should run for President in 2024!

We've routinely reported on the growing tension between Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. This took a somewhat unexpected turn yesterday, as Phelan posted a picture on Twitter of him shirtless at the beach, holding two surfboards with the caption "Stoked for some tasty waves on the Texas Coast this summer after #txlege hits its gnarly Sine Die!" This appears to be in response to a recent interview where Patrick referred to Speaker as "California Dade." Patrick has also made recent promises that he is willing to force a special session if his priorities on property taxes and grid reform don't pass.

The Texas Report 4/26

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