Texas House Democrats took their slim victories on Tuesday night and ran with them as the clock ticked down the final moments for legislation to pass the chamber on second reading. Dems talked a number of minor bills to death – often called “chubbing” – as the clock ticked down to midnight, thus blocking the House from taking action on two higher-priority, controversial bills farther down the calendar: one that would bar transgender athletes from playing on school sports teams based on gender identity (Senate Bill 29) and another that nixed local jurisdictions using taxpayer funds to pay for lobbying (SB 10).
The latter has an infamous pedigree, having been weaponized by toppled House Speaker Dennis Bonnen in the secretly taped recording in 2019 that led to his downfall, but SB 29 attracted more attention from opponents on Tuesday (see “Qmmunity: Anti-Trans SB 29 Almost Dead“). To make sure it never came to the floor, House Democrats (mostly women, as well as Texas House LGBTQ Caucus members) talked one final bill to death (SB 518, involving wage statistics) as colleagues waved small pink-and-blue Transgender Pride flags. As a handful of spectators stood and cheered, House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, warned, “There are no demonstrations in the gallery,” before recessing for the night.
Across the building, in the Senate – where the chamber faced no such legislative deadline Tuesday night – Democrats stood to recognize the first anniversary of the death of Houston native George Floyd. The two African American members – Royce West and Borris Miles – both spoke of Floyd. “We’re living in a country that’s more polarized than ever,” said West, D-Dallas. “But we leave problems that fit our generation, that generations in this chamber should be solving.”
Miles represents Houston’s Third Ward neighborhood where Floyd grew up, and, like Floyd, graduated from Yates High School. Miles’ bills to ban police chokeholds (SB 69) and to require police officers to intervene when colleagues use excessive force (SB 68) passed the House on Tuesday, the anniversary of Floyd’s death, though significantly watered down in the estimation of criminal justice reform advocates.
“I’ve sponsored many events and gatherings and rallies for George Floyd. And at all these events, I’ve said the same thing. ‘He shook the world, Royce, and his death must not be in vain,'” said Miles, thanking his colleagues for the unanimous vote on both bills in the Senate. “I want to thank you on behalf of the Floyd family and for our community.”
The dignified unity of the Senate was short-lived; on Wednesday morning, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tweeted his displeasure at the deaths of SB 10 and 29, along with SB 12, targeting social media platforms for “censoring” right-wing voices, and called on Gov. Greg Abbott to call a June special session to clear the decks on conservative priorities. “The TxHouse killed these conservative bills that majority of Texans in both parties support,” Patrick tweeted on Wednesday.
Only Abbott can call a special session. Already, lawmakers expect to return to the Capitol this fall, both to address redistricting and to deal with disbursing COVID-19 funding. Observers had surmised that Patrick would focus his call for an immediate special (a special special?) session on matters relating to the state electric grid, where he sustained a high-profile defeat earlier in the session but is actually aligned with many Democratic lawmakers. He did not, yet.
This article appears in May 28 • 2021.