With just 27 days until the session ends on May 29, legislators are beginning to run up against the clock as they seek to move bills through the process. Only a few of the 37 bills TLA is tracking have moved out of committee:
HB 540 gives TSLAC the authority to award competitive grants for library construction. Currently, the agency is statutorily prohibited from awarding grants for construction. The bill does not appropriate any funds for library construction grants.
- Passed by the House on April 18
- Received by the Senate on April 19
- Referred to the Senate Business & Commerce Committee on April 19
HB 900 requires library material vendors to rate any materials that are sexually explicit or sexually relevant as defined by the bill; schools may not purchase sexually explicit rated material and parental consent is required for students to access sexually relevant materials.
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Passed by the House as amended on April 20; 998 emails sent to House members via our OneClick email campaign
- Received by the Senate on April 24
- Referred to Senate Education committee on May 2
HB 2177 creates an institutional grant program to fund digital textbook subscriptions at public state, junior and technical colleges and directs the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to undergo a competitive bidding process to select the subscription program.
- Passed by House Higher Education Committee on April 20
- Placed on Local, Consent and Resolution Calendar for May 2
SB13 establishes Local School Library Advisory Councils at each school district which will recommend policies and procedures for purchasing library materials, library materials appropriate for each grade, removal of any library materials determined to be harmful or inconsistent with local values, actions to be taken by districts in response to challenges to library materials; school boards must approve all library material purchases taking the council recommendations into consideration.
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Passed as amended by the Senate April 13, 623 emails sent to Senate members via our OneClick email campaign
- Received by the House on April 14
- Referred to House State Affairs Committee on April 24
SB 18 prohibits public institutions of higher education from offering tenure.
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Passed Senate as amended on April 20
- Received by the House on April 21
- Referred to House Higher Education Committee on April 28
SB 1601 prohibits a municipal library that 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 from receiving state or local funds for the year following the year in which the event was hosted.
- Passed by the Senate on April 5
- Received by the House on April 6
- Referred to House State Affairs Committee on April 17
Deadlines
The House must pass Senate bills out of committee by May 20; and May 23 is the last day for the House to consider/debate Senate bills. The Senate does not have the same hard deadlines for passing House bills out of committee or considering them on the floor.
We expect HB 900 and SB 13 to be heard in committee within the next two weeks, and then voted on by the full House and Senate. It is likely that these two bills will pass. It is less clear when SB 18 and SB 1601 might move through the House.
Thank you for responding to calls for action, contacting elected officials, testifying in support of libraries, providing supporting resources and information, and sharing insights into how specific bills could affect Texas libraries. You are making a difference!
