The Texas Report 5/12

The Texas Report 5/12

What’s Happening:

• Texas House expels Legislator for the first time in nearly 100 years (More here)

• End of Title 42 (More here)

• Texas Legislative Update

• Army Sergeant promised pardon by Governor Abbott gets 25 years (More here)

• Voucher Bills up for Committee Hearing

Texas House expels Representative Bryan Slaton

On Tuesday of this week, the Texas House voted to expel Representative Bryan Slaton (R - Royse City) after he committed sexual misconduct with an aide under the age of twenty-one, to who he also provided alcohol. Slaton submitted his resignation on Monday following an internal investigation by the House General Investigating Committee.

The Committee released a sixteen-page report detailing the actions taken by Slaton in providing the young woman with a significant amount of alcohol and subsequent actions to try and manipulate the staffer.

The report was based on the findings of an independent former criminal court judge from Houston, and the House Speaker added, "Expulsion of a member of this body is rare. Mr. Slaton's predatory behavior merits such a consequence. I am proud of my colleagues for holding each of us accountable."

Slaton is the first person to be expelled since 1927.

Members of the Committee told the House that Slaton didn't dispute the allegations and had expressed no remorse or regret. Chairman Murr added that Slaton had likely committed multiple crimes, including providing alcohol to a minor. Had Slaton not been expelled, he would have remained an officeholder and kept his pay until a successor was elected through a special election.

House leadership expressed their support for the witnesses brave enough to step up, and the Speaker made a point to mention that in the Texas House, it just takes one person's voice to make a difference. (More here)

End of Title 42

Title 42 has officially come to an end. Title 42 was a border policy initiated by President Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic to stem the spread of coronavirus from crowded detention settings.

The restriction had been used to expel migrants over 2.7 million times by both the Trump and Biden administrations.

Following the end of Title 42, a federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S.) from implementing a new Biden administration policy, releasing some migrants in the U.S. without court dates or the ability to track them down.

The restraining order will expire within fourteen days, with a court hearing set for May 19.

The new Biden administration plan is similar to a process that began in 20201, where the administration released migrants without court dates to help alleviate overcrowding. Migrants were subsequently enrolled into a program called "Alternatives to Detention," which requires checking a mobile app to eventually set a court date. The new policy differs by:

• Allowing D.H.S. to release migrants and place them on parole with a notice to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office eventually. But they are not forced to enroll in the program to set a date for that meeting.

• This week there were over 11,000 border apprehensions in a single day, and many expectations of a 10,000 per day rolling average.

One senior D.H.S. official told N.B.C., "We're already breaking, and we haven't hit the starting line."

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz estimates 60-65,000 migrants are currently waiting in northern Mexico to enter the U.S., and the new program to not track migrants is supposed to only migrants who have been carefully vetted.

Cities across Texas continue to feel the effects of the border crisis, and judging by current trends; those resources are expected to be further tested as we move into summer. (More here)

TEXAS LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

One of the major voucher bills of the Texas Legislative session is up Monday in the House of Public Education. S.B. 8 by Senator Creighton is one of the most contentious pieces of legislation this session and has allied Democrats and Rural Republicans against the majority of the Republican party.

House Public Education will consider the legislation on Monday. While this isn't the first voucher bill to be heard in this session, it may even be more contentious for various reasons.

The bill has been significantly changed and went from about fifty-six pages long to over eighty. Many of these changes have previously been heard in other bills; however, now they are all in one major piece of legislation.

The Chair of House Public Education (Brad Buckley) tried to schedule a committee meeting this week to vote out the new version of the bill but was prevented from doing so by Representative Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd), who protested that the Committee should take public input before voting out a bill of such magnitude. Buckley dissented because most of the new additions to the bill had been previously heard in other hearings.

The issue came up for a vote, which Bailes and his allies won, delaying a committee vote on the legislation until after a public hearing. S.B. 8 is now scheduled for a hearing on Monday, but only for invited testimony, meaning the public won't be able to come and speak on the legislation unless given an "invited by the chair."

Lots of eyes on this legislation that would fundamentally change Texas public schools; however, the Texas House still seems unlikely to pass any legislation seen as diverting money from Texas public schools.

Yesterday was the last day for the Texas House to consider new legislation. From now until the end of the legislative session, each chamber will only consider bills from the other chamber.

Several major votes and legislation were considered over the week, and below, we've highlighted some of the biggest bills Texans should be aware of.

House Bill (H.B.) 7 & H.B. 20 by Representatives Ryan Guillen and Matt Schaefer were the House's two priority border security bills and were considered on Tuesday.

• H.B. 7 seeks to address funding shortages in Texas border communities, establish a mechanism to compensate property owners for damages caused by crossings between ports of entry and incentivize the homeland security workforce pipeline.

• H.B. 20 would establish a new division known as the border protection unit, consisting of commissioned and noncommissioned officers authorized by the legislature. The unit would oversee constructing and maintaining walls, fences, and other physical barriers along the Texas-Mexico border.

• H.B. 7 passed out of the House by a margin of 88-56, with an amendment added that would create a new "border protection unit" made up of licensed peace officers under the Texas Department of Public Safety. H.B. 20 died on the point of order and was killed for this legislative session.

The odds of Sports Gambling being legalized in Texas took a big step forward after H.J.R. 102 by Representative Jeff Leach (R-Allen) secured the necessary 101 votes to advance out of the House. Should the H.J.R. get the required votes in the Senate (unlikely), the question of legalizing sports betting would be put to the voters of Texas to ultimately approve the measure.

Today, the House will again consider legislation prohibiting gender modification for minors.

• This is the third time the House has attempted to debate S.B. 14, which is seen as prohibiting gender modification treatments for minors and by Democrats as an attack on the Transgender community by limiting access to "gender-affirming care."

• Previously the legislation had been knocked off the calendar twice due to parliamentary procedure violations, a strategy the Democrats will likely continue to pursue.

The Senate will consider H.B. 19 by Representative Andrew Murr (R-Kerrville) and Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) this morning, which would establish a new specific trial court with members appointed by the Governor to hear certain cases dealing with business disputes.

Also considered this week in House Higher Education were S.B. 17 & S.B. 18, both by Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe).

• S.B. 17 is intended to prevent Higher Education Institutions from establishing or maintaining Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D.E.I.) offices.

• S.B. 18 would add new requirements for reviewing existing tenure policies and prevent higher education institutions from granting employee tenure after September 1, 2023.

Most legislation has now died, so many members will attempt to find other bills currently moving through the process and stick their legislation in those bills through amendments.

Legislation increasing the age to buy a semi-automatic rifle from 18-21 was voted out of Committee on Monday, with two Republicans voting with Democrats.

However, the bill didn't have enough time to make it to the floor. Representative Joe Moody (D-El Paso) attempted to add the legislation to another bill dealing with firearms. However, Republican Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) stopped the amendment with a point of order.

Army Sergeant promised Pardon by Governor Sentenced to 25 years

U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry, who fatally shot an armed protester at a Black Lives Matter march in Texas, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after prosecutors used his social media history and text messages to depict him as a racist who may commit violence again.

This makes things even more complicated for Governor Greg Abbott, who requested the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to send him a pardon recommendation for Perry shortly after he was convicted in April for the killing of Garrett Foster.

Governor Abbott also appoints the members of the Boards of Pardons and Paroles. The Board has started reviewing the case, and state law require their recommendation before a Governor can pardon someone.

In speaking about the issue, Travis County District Attorney said, "The entire history of the Board, the Board has been a careful steward of the power of clemency in this state. Our criminal justice system is not perfect, but in this case, it worked exactly as it should. The Travis County District Attorney's office is not done fighting for Garrett and the integrity of that process here."

The District Judge over the trial also released a brief statement saying Perry received a fair trial.

Here is a little bit more background on the situation:

• Perry was stationed at Fort Hood (north of Austin) when the shooting happened. He was an Uber driver and had just dropped off a customer when he turned onto a street filled with protesters.

• Foster, a 28-year-old Air Force veteran, was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle.

• Perry said he acted in self-defense, claiming that he was trying to drive past the crowd and fired his pistol when Foster pointed a rifle at him. Witnesses testified that they did not see Foster raise his weapon, and prosecutors argued that Perry could have driven away without shooting. (More here)

Voucher Legislation in House Committee on Monday

One of the major voucher bills of the Texas Legislative session is up Monday in House Public Education. S.B. 8 by Senator Creighton is one of the most contentious pieces of legislation this session and has allied Democrats and Rural Republicans against the majority of the Republican party.

House Public Education will consider the legislation on Monday. While this isn't the first voucher bill to be heard this session, it may even be more contentious for various factors.

The bill has been significantly changed and went from about fifty-six pages long to over eighty. Many of these changes have previously been heard in other bills. However, now they are all in one major piece of legislation.

The Chair of House Public Education (Brad Buckley) tried to schedule a committee meeting this week to vote out the new version of the bill. Still, it was prevented by Representative Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd), who protested that the Committee should take public input before voting out a bill of such magnitude. Buckley dissented because most of the new additions to the bill had been previously heard in other hearings.

The issue came up for a vote, which Bailes and his allies won, delaying a committee vote on the legislation until after a public hearing. S.B. 8 is scheduled for a hearing on Monday, but only for invited testimony, meaning the public won't be able to come and speak on the legislation unless given an "invited by the chair."

Lots of eyes on this legislation that would fundamentally change Texas public schools. However, the Texas House still seems unlikely to pass any legislation seen as diverting money from Texas public schools.