The Potential New Laws Of Texas

The Texas Legislature is set to reconvene on January 14. And when that new session arrives, Texans can expect even more rightward shifts on several issues including immigration, abortion, and education.

Perhaps no issue is going to dominate the session as much as vouchers that would allow parents to send their children to private or for-profit schools. Texas is the largest red state without school choice legislation, and it’s been a huge priority for Governor Greg Abbott. 

In fact, two years ago he called four special sessions trying to pass a voucher bill. He met stiff opposition from several rural Republicans, who resisted passing legislation that could take away funds from public schools, which are usually the biggest employers in rural Texas. But after a grueling primary season where many of those Republicans who opposed vouchers lost, Abbott and his allies appear to have the votes to pass a school choice bill. 

It has been about three weeks since lawmakers in Texas have been able to pre-file bills. There have already been over a thousand. One bill would stop universities from providing in-state tuition to undocumented students in the state. There is also a bill further criminalizing drag performers, opening them up to civil lawsuits up to ten years after a performance a child might have seen. And there is even a bill that would introduce covenant marriage into Texas. Currently there are only three states that allow for covenant marriage, which makes divorce nearly impossible. 

And while Texas is already under a near-total abortion ban, many Republicans want to go even farther. A pre-filed bill HB 991, which the author State Rep. Toth says will be known as "The Women and Child Safety Act," would not only target abortion funds, but also any organization or website that promotes or sends abortion pills.

There is also another bill that has been filed that would reclassify the drugs that comprise the abortion pill (mifepristone and misoprostol) as controlled and dangerous substances. Louisiana already passed similar legislation. Mifepristone and misoprostol are used to terminate pregnancies, but they are also used for miscarriage care and even to induce childbirth.