Legislative Updates

Find summaries of legislative activity here.

UPDATE FROM ANDY HOPPER

If you are on Facebook, check out the latest video from Rep. Hopper here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18asNXQg6n/?mibextid=wwXIfr

New Legislation Blocks School Library Books Deemed Too Explicit for Prisons

• A new measure targeting children’s access to sexually explicit materials in schools was filed last week. The legislation, authored by State Rep. Andy Hopper (R-Decatur), would prohibit public schools from purchasing or possessing any books listed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s register of books prohibited to prisoners. Will Biagini has the details.
• The TDCJ lists more than 10,000 books with enough sexually explicit content as to make them unsuitable for prison inmates.
• Llano activist Bonnie Wallace has led the drive to protect children from such content in school libraries. “My question to school boards, superintendents, principals, teachers, and librarians all across Texas is ‘Why are the minds of hardened criminals better protected in Texas than the minds of our innocent children in Texas schools?'”

Texas Congressman Proposes Ban on Foreign Adversaries Buying US Farmland

• U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Flower Mound) has proposed legislation prohibiting certain foreign adversaries, like China, from purchasing farmland nationwide. Luca Cacciatore reports on the Land and National Defense Act, which was filed on Friday.
•  Individuals, companies, and governmental entities would not be allowed to purchase U.S. land if their own countries do not allow Americans to do likewise.
• Gill wants the Department of Agriculture to notify members of Congress of any land acquired by a foreign purchaser, whether from a hostile or friendly country.
• “The Chinese Communist Party is one of the biggest offenders,” said Gill. “The CCP has no place on our nation’s soil. My Land and National Defense Act is a commonsense solution to keep our adversaries from owning our farmland.”

From Texas Scorecard:

The Texas legislative session has reached another key milestone: the deadline for lawmakers to file bills. With the session lasting 140 days, legislators have had the first 60 days to introduce their proposals, and as of 6 p.m. on Friday, that window has officially closed.

In total, 5,646 bills were filed in the Texas House and 3,028 in the Senate, excluding resolutions. From this point forward, new bills can only be introduced if a lawmaker secures a four-fifths majority vote in their respective chamber to suspend the rule—a high hurdle that ensures only the most urgent or widely supported measures can still be considered.

The 60-day mark also signals another major shift: all filed legislation is now eligible for debate and votes. Until now, lawmakers could only take action on bills designated as emergency priorities by Gov. Greg Abbott or those that received the rare four-fifths approval to bypass the restriction.

So far, the Senate has wasted little time advancing Abbott’s legislative priorities, including property tax relief, school choice, increased teacher pay, and bail reform. In contrast, the House has yet to pass a single bill.

With the bill-filing deadline now behind them, lawmakers will turn their attention to committee hearings and floor debates before the regular session adjourns on June 2.