The Last Lege Lowdown

Well, heck, y’all, we made it! Sine Die was on Monday, June 2, and that doozy of an 89th Texas Legislative Session is finally over. This is the Last Lege Lowdown!

It was quite the whirlwind, but we couldn’t be more proud of the folks at Texas Freedom Network and beyond who kept on ridin’ and rallyin’ for the freedoms of their fellow Texans.

Saying this session was smooth sailing would be a downright fib! On the road to Sine Die, the legislature’s right-wing ringleaders put dang politics over people till the cows came home.

But their shenanigans didn’t stop us from showing up, stopping the bad bills we could, and getting our fellow Texans riled up about the issues that matter to them most. 

One of our proudest moments at the end of these messy 140 days was the Read-In we held on Memorial Day, when anti-freedom legislators tried to pass a book-banning bill, SB 13, on the holiday. 

We mobilized over 100 folks to the Capitol to celebrate our freedom to read, and we’re so grateful to the folks who helped make our Read-In protesting SB 13 possible. Our book donors: Birdhouse Books, BookPeople (who showed up with even more books at the Read-In!), Equality Texas, and People’s Book, as well as organizations who helped mobilize folks to the Capitol and spread the word: Texas Freedom to Read Project, Authors Against Book Bans, SEAT, and Equality Texas.

Without further ado, here’s your Last Lege Lowdown: We’ll give you an overview of where the key bills we focused on landed related to our issue areas: public education, religious freedom, LGBTQIA+ equality, reproductive rights, and any big happenings in immigration and voting rights.

The bill establishes “an education savings account program,” AKA voucher program. The $10,000 voucher proposed in the bill is unlikely to cover the full cost of most private schools in Texas. Families would also enter a “lottery” to receive the voucher. Studies in other states with vouchers have shown that 75% of the students receiving a school voucher were already enrolled in private schools—it’s clear this legislation is meant to serve wealthy families already sending their children to private schools.

This legislation opens the door for book banning through subjective standards like vendor ratings and broad terms like “pervasively vulgar” and “indecent” content that are up to a politician’s interpretation – not librarians’ educational expertise. It also creates an unnecessary “catalog” of library materials that parents can already access, empowers virtually anyone in the community to “challenge” any material in a school library and have it removed from circulation pending review, and allows school districts to establish “library advisory councils” that could easily be infiltrated by bad actors seeking to censor materials about LGBTQIA+, Black, and brown people. This advisory board would then have the power to approve or deny all library material purchases. Parents already have the right to choose what their kids read in school—this bill is book banning, plain and simple.

This bill takes aim at DEI initiatives and prohibits “instruction” regarding gender identity and sexual orientation in K-12 public schools. While most Texas public schools do not have DEI offices, this bill would prohibit something as simple as providing staff training on working with diverse student populations. It includes “Don’t Say Gay” provisions banning instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, prohibits GSAs, and prevents schools from recognizing transgender students’ chosen names or pronouns even with parental consent.

It’s worth noting that during his State of the State, Gov. Abbott threatened to fire “on the spot” any teachers who affirm their LGBTQIA+ students.

HB 3225 would’ve banned “sexually explicit material” in municipal libraries for minors, opening the door to vague and discriminatory policies that bar kids from accessing their freedom to read and stories that reflect their experience and expand their worldview. This legislation could easily be weaponized by bad actors seeking to censor materials about LGBTQIA+, Black, and brown people.

HB 1773 would’ve authorized certain local school districts to appoint a nonvoting student trustee to their boards. The trustee could have participated in open meetings and discussions but would have lacked voting power and would not have counted toward quorum.

HB 178 would’ve allowed students to use an ethnic studies course for their social studies credits, instead of just taking it as an elective. This legislation would have been a huge win in creating accurate, honest curricula for our public schools that teach the truth and tell the story of our diverse communities.

SB 202, introduced by Sen. José Menéndez, proposed allowing each member of the State Board of Education (SBOE) to employ one staff member to assist in performing their official duties. A dedicated staff member could make a significant difference in understanding the nuanced needs of Texas students, teachers, and school districts.

This bill requires every public school classroom to display a “durable” poster of the Ten Commandments that’s at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall.

This bill, which establishes “prayer time” in schools, is a solution in search of a problem. All school boards must vote on adopting such a policy within six months of the bill’s enactment, which applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

Students and school employees already have and exercise the constitutionally protected right to pray and to read the Bible or other religious texts while at school. Rather than trying to fuel the culture wars, lawmakers should focus on providing the state’s schools with the resources they need to ensure students get a quality education.

SB 1257 effectively creates a discriminatory “Trans Tax” by requiring insurance companies to cover unlimited liability for “all possible adverse consequences” related to gender transition-related care. This bill would make insurance coverage for essential transgender healthcare prohibitively expensive or entirely unavailable, forcing transgender Texans to pay substantially more for basic medical services than their neighbors or go without vital care altogether. 

HB 1106 amends the family code to say that refusing to affirm your child’s gender identity or sexual orientation is not child abuse.

HB 229 is a blatant attack on our trans community, forcing a narrow, unchangeable, and exclusive definition of “sex,” “male,” “female,” “man,” and “woman” into every government usage of the terms. In addition to restricting access to crucial resources, HB 229 would block queer and transgender Texans from updating their identity documents with gender markers that reflect who they truly are.

HB 3990 would’ve banned Pride flags, as well as any other flag that does not represent a branch of the government, in all government-owned buildings.

SB240 would have required all government entities (including schools, state agencies, and local governments) to designate multiple-occupancy private spaces like restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms based on biological sex as determined by sex organs, chromosomes, and original birth certificates. 

A first violation would have cost $5,000, with subsequent violations costing $25,000.

SB 406 would’ve blocked queer and transgender Texans from updating their birth certificates with gender markers that reflect who they truly are.

SB 18 would have prohibited municipal libraries from receiving state or other public funding if they host events where a person “presenting as” the opposite gender reads books or stories to minors for entertainment.

SB 33 will further erode local control by prohibiting municipalities and counties from using public funds for practical support services related to abortion, even when such support does not directly fund abortion procedures. This includes essential services such as travel, lodging, meals, and childcare. These are critical resources that help individuals access reproductive healthcare outside of Texas. Given that abortion is now completely banned in the state, SB 33 serves as an additional barrier, targeting Texans who must leave the state for legal medical care.

Read Texas Freedom Network’s testimony against Senate Bill 33

SB 31 aims to provide clarification for doctors in emergencies, something pregnant people and doctors have been asking for since Texas banned abortion. However, SB 31 does not go far enough to protect people needing abortions, according to our partners in the reproductive rights movement.

SB 2880 would have criminalized all forms of support for abortion care, including sharing information, mailing of abortion pills, providing travel assistance, or financial support, even if the abortion is conducted in a state where this healthcare is legal.

HB 2442 is a GOOD bill that would’ve allowed voters to receive a ballot by mail for runoff elections.

SB 16 would’ve required proof of citizenship to vote, creating more barriers for Texas voters and encouraging racial profiling at the polls.

SB 76 would’ve eliminated countywide polling places, making it even more difficult for Texas voters to make time to vote and causing even more confusion for folks about where and when they can cast their ballots. 

As we circle the wagons on the 89th Legislative Session, we want to extend a Texas-sized THANK YOU to everyone who showed up and showed out for Texans this session. We hope you enjoyed the Last Lege Lowdown!

In closing, here’s a message from Texas Freedom Network’s Executive Director, Felicia Martin:

“Texans deserve elected leaders who choose to spend the precious months of the legislative session fighting for our freedoms—but when they refuse to do so, it is up to us, the people, to boldly advocate for our friends, neighbors, and loved ones across the state who are so often targeted by lawmakers instead of uplifted. While we can’t deny that this session held many devastating losses for our communities, I am endlessly proud of how the Texas Freedom Network, the advocates we mobilized, our partners, and lawmakers who support our freedoms fiercely fought for Texans these past 140 days.”

We’ll see you at the ballot box to hold these lawmakers accountable—come hell or high water!