News / Articles

Prevent the Exploitation of Vulnerable Children!

Say YES to HB 451! *NEW*

The House Committee on Human Services will meet on Tuesday, March 18th to discuss HB 451, which would require screenings for the risk of commercial sexual exploitation for children entering DFPS conservatorship. HB 451 attempts to address the pervasive problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children in Texas– a problem disproportionately impacting children in foster care. Contact the members of the House Committee on Human Services and urge them to say YES to HB 451!

Prevent Separation of Families Facing Financial Difficulties! Say YES to HB 1155! *NEW*

The House Committee on Human Services will meet on Tuesday, March 18th to discuss HB 1155, which would provide for the distribution of monetary assistance to families pursuing reunification. Parents who struggle with unemployment, housing costs, food insecurity, medical care costs, and other financial burdens, but are committed to ensuring safe and stable environments for their child(ren), should not be punished for experiencing poverty. Contact the members of the House Committee on Human Services to urge them to say YES to HB 1155!

Say Yes to Supporting Relative Caregivers!

Say Yes to HB 215! *UPDATED*

The House Committee on Human Services met on Tuesday, March 11th to discuss HB 215, a crucial bill supporting relative caregivers of Texas foster children. This legislation aims to ensure that over 200,000 foster children living with relatives receive appropriate benefits and support, empowering caregivers to create safe and stable environments. Contact the House Human Services Committee members now, and urge them to vote YES on HB 215!

Keep Public Funds in Public Schools! Oppose HB 3!

The Texas Senate passed SB 2, which establishes Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs), and the Texas House Public Education Committee held a hearing for its companion bill, HB 3on Mar. 11th. ESAs are welfare for the wealthy. Texas already has school choice and needs to protect and fully fund its public schools. Contact the members of the House Public Education Committee to urge them to say NO to HB 3!

Tell Your Members of Congress to Oppose the SAVE Act!

Congress has introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require citizenship documentation to register to vote even though voters in every state are already required to affirm or verify their citizenship status when registering. Americans do not need MORE obstacles to vote. Tell your representatives to say NO to the SAVE Act!

Voting Rights and Election Law

SB 16 is an attempt to thread a complex needle. Based on the history of laws like this in Arizona and Kansas, there are a few things to know:

• These laws only impact citizens because noncitizens are not voting, all the misinformation to the contrary.
• The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) is a barrier to these laws.
• The only way to get around the NVRA is to bifurcate the voter registration rolls into state and federal and federal only. SB16 interprets the Elections Clause of the Constitution literally to mean that federal elections apply to members of Congress only, not the President.
• As a practical and legal matter, the law must apply to all registered voters because to apply them to new registrants only violates the Equal Protection Clause and is an admission by the authors of the bill that noncitizens are not registered and voting in meaningful numbers.

SB 16 calls for documentary proof of citizenship at registration and for all currently registered voters. The only documents that prove citizenship are a birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate or the equivalent for citizens born abroad. The documents must be presented to election officials in person, by mail, or, quaintly, by FAX. For voters registering through the Department of Motor Vehicles, election administrators will do what they are currently doing, which is to check with the DMV as to whether the voter presented their documents at the DMV.

The 18 million Texans already on the rolls registered at different times and under different laws. Recent changes to voter registration applications and the expiration of the final state waivers of the Real ID law mean that an unknown number of voters registered before it was necessary to either present proof of citizenship to get or renew a driver’s license or before a driver’s license and/or social security number was required on a voter registration application. In Arizona, that resulted in over 200,000 registered voters without proof of citizenship as recently as the 2024 election.

This is a bad bill.

Financing Public Education

The marathon hearing on HB 3by the House Committee on Public Education ended early last Wednesday morning, almost 24 hours after it started. The majority of those testifying were in opposition to the proposed voucher bill. The bill was left pending in committee. We continue to encourage League members to contact members of the committee as well as their own representatives to record opposition to this bill that would divert taxpayer dollars to private, unaccountable, religious institutions.

Water Infrastructure

On March 5th, the House Natural Resources heard invited testimony from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), water managers for major Texas cities, river authorities, and other stakeholders. Critical funding needs for water infrastructure was the recurrent theme. Despite the initial $1B allocated to the Texas Water Fund, programs supported by the fund are oversubscribed by 9-10 times. If the extended drought in much of the state continues, Texas towns and cities will begin running out of water by 2030.

SJR 66 (Perry) proposes a constitutional amendment dedicating a portion of state sales taxes and insurance premium taxes to the Texas Water Fund. SJR 66 would earmark at least 80% of these funds to the New Water Supply for Texas Fund (SB 7-Perry), which includes desalination projects, re-use of produced water from oil and gas extraction, and water conveyed by proposed pipelines from outside the state. This leaves only 20% to address needs throughout the state such as water loss mitigation, upgrading aging water infrastructure, flood mitigation, water re-use projects, and conservation education.

HJR 7 (Harris) also proposes dedicating a portion of state sales taxes for the Texas Water Fund. Both constitutional amendments would generate annual funding of about $1B for water infrastructure. However, the House proposal would allow more flexible disbursement of the funds to address needs and programs administered by the TWDB, rather than designating the majority of the funds to New Water Supply. SJR 66 is currently in the Senate Finance Committee, and HJR 7 is in the House Natural Resources Committee.

SB 1145 (Birdwell) authorizes the TCEQ to issue permits for land application of produced water from oil and gas extraction. It has passed the Senate and been referred to the House. Sierra Club and other environmental organizations have raised concerns regarding significant potential environmental harm as a result.

SB 480 (Cook) has also passed the Senate and been referred to the House. This bill would allow local government entities to enter into contracts with another local government, the state, or the federal government to jointly participate in research or planning activities related to water resources.

Children's Issues

• SB 569- Expanding Access to Public Education and Extracurriculars via Virtual or Hybrid Learning Programs
• HB 499- Promoting Healthy Childhood Development in the Digital Age By Increasing Awareness of the Mental Health Impacts of Social Media on Minors
• HB 1151- The Texas Legislature’s Prevailing Priority of Preserving Parental Rights. Is There an Impact on Children’s Best Interests?
• HB 1536- Texas Takes On Foster Care Reform As Senate Discusses Expanding Community-Based Care
• HB 213- Understanding Chronic Absenteeism as a Risk for Dropping Out Among Public School Students
• HB 27- Financial Literacy for High School Students and Setting Texas Kids Up for Financial Success!
• HB 36- Improvements to Address Ongoing Issue of Family Violence in Texas

Read the full children's issues update here.