Texas Catholic Voice: May 17

This is the final week of the Legislature in which committees can take action on bills, and next week is the final week for bills to pass for Governor Abbott's signature. The Texas Legislature closes "sine die" May 31.

It's that time of the session when the Senate must review bills from the House and vice versa. So without further ado, here's the Senate bills needing support from your Representative:

SB 394, which ensures safeguards for women seeking chemical abortions, needs support. Please call your Representative to support SB 394 being set on the calendar as soon as possible. You can find more information on our position on SB 394 here.

The House Public Education Committee needs to approve SB 1082, which allows parents to review all teaching materials, instructional materials, and other teaching aids used in the classroom for human sexuality instruction just as they are entitled to review the curriculum materials of every other subject taught to their children.

The House Public Health Committee needs to take action to approve SB 442, which requires local school health advisory council (SHAC) meetings to be open to the public and allow for public comment. It also requires the complete human sexuality curriculum be posted on the district website.

SB 1083 requires schools to obtain written consent from parents for their children to participate in human sexuality instruction rather than requiring parents to opt-out. This bill has been approved by the Senate and recommended to the House Local and Consent Calendar Committee.

Please contact your Senator and ask for support of these bills:

• HB 115/HB 249, by Representatives Craddick and Rodriguez, is a practical solution to enable churches and other faith-based organizations to address homelessness. It removes the requirement that the property be located "on or consists of a single campus" to be exempt from property taxes and to be used in providing housing and related services for the homeless.
• A bill giving young offenders a second chance, HB 686, has a Senate committee hearing this week and could use your support.

We are grateful the Family Educational Relief Act, which provides school choice, and a bill supporting home-schooling families' ability to participate in UIL sports (HB 547) are moving forward.

Please continue to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, as these last two weeks of the Legislature promise to be hectic!