When Clock clashes with the June 2nd final postponement of the 2025 legislative meeting, lawmakers are trying to pass or kill bills that have been piled up for weeks. This is part of the action at the Capitol on Wednesday.
Texas welcomes out-of-state handgun licenses
The House eventually passed and sent to Greg Abbott’s government legislation to formally recognize handgun licenses issued in other states in Texas.
Senate Bill 706 ends the requirement that the governor negotiate agreements with other states before Texas accepts his license. Abbott, a three-term Republican who has signed numerous laws expanding gun rights, is expected to sign the bill.
Count up cryptocurrency
The House has given final approval to the Senate law to establish a Bitcoin Reserve in Texas. This will be governed by the Texas Secretary. The fund includes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of at least $500 billion.
Lt. Col. Dan Patrick followed up President Donald Trump’s pledge to prioritize SB 21 in the room above and make the United States the “cryptocurrency capital of the world.”
The measure will return to the Senate to consider changes made to the House bill.
Housing protection for migrant workers
The bill provided more protection for migrant workers who could otherwise be forced to live in substandard housing was sent to the governor’s desk.
According to an analysis of Congress’s SB 243, the Texas Department of Housing and Regional Affairs historically lacked the resources to investigate substandard housing claims. Complicating the issue is that, the analysis shows, “million workers are often reluctant to report violations or collect damages related to substandard housing conditions.”
The legislation “seeks to address this issue by strengthening the TDHCA penalty structure for violations of provisions governing migrant labor housing facilities and strengthening the accountability and enforcement of those provisions,” the analysis said.
Enforcement of child sexual abuse materials generated by AI
The bill banning AI-generated child sexual abuse material passed the home without opposition in a move that lawmakers said they would give police more effective tools to crack down on child exploitation.
SB 20 by Senator Pete Flores of R-Pleasanton said, “We will criminalize the possession of indecent material depicting a child, whether the depiction is an actual child, cartoon or animation, or an image of an image created using an artificial intelligence application or other computer software. Under the proposal, the crime becomes a felony in a state prison, but the charges can be upgraded against a previous conviction.
The Senate must agree to the House amendment of the bill before heading to the governor’s desk for signing.
Access to Veterans’ Cemetery Spaces
The Senate was sent to the Governor’s Desk Act to assess whether veterans face irrational obstacles in securing burial space in the system of national cemeteries for veterans.
House Bill 1875 requires a panel of senators and state representatives to study the issue and make recommendations to eliminate such barriers. The Texas General Land office manages five veteran cemeteries in the state.
The 10 Commandments Bill is delayed and likely to continue
A bill that requires Texas public schools to display 10 commandments in all classrooms suffered a procedural setback when it stopped debating orders over proposals in the House.
SB 10 is one of the latest fights in the pursuit of religion in schools, to confront longstanding principles of separation between church and state. The bill is a priority for Patrick, who passed it in March along the strict party boundaries.
The point of order came from Democrats Austin. James Tarico is a Christian and a former teacher who is an outspoken critic of Christian nationalism. He had found a procedural flaw that was delayed but probably did not derail the bill.
SB 10 will return to the House Committee on Public Education for amendments, but may be considered again in future floor sessions.
