It's TEXAS TIME
No, really, they're gonna call it "Texas Time"
I’ve definitely spent too much time writing about Rep. Stan Gerdes stupid FURRIES Act, so I’ll be brief: the bill hearing late last night was as silly as you’d imagine. It was basically Rep. James Talarico taking Gerdes to task for writing bills based on internet rumors, Gerdes offering no proof that furries are invading our public schools, then Rep. Jeff Leach going after Talarico for accusing both of them (rightly) of trying to defund public schools.
This hearing apparently went on until 6 a.m., wherein many bills were discussed, including one to replace the STAAR test with three shorter tests throughout the school year. I don’t have a dog in that hunt, but I worry that three tests won’t relieve the pressure of the one test, it’ll just make life worse for everyone throughout the school year? But you guys let me know.
A bill passed the Senate yesterday to crack down on abortion pills.
Anyone who manufactures, mails or delivers abortion pills to someone in Texas could be sued for $100,000 under a bill that preliminarily passed the Senate on Tuesday. The bill, considered the most wide-ranging crackdown on abortion-inducing drugs in the country, is expected to face a harder road in the House.
…
Johnson questioned Hughes for almost 40 minutes, not on abortion, but on the bill’s impact on the state’s jurisprudence. The bill, as written, cannot be challenged in state court before it goes into effect, and would allow someone to sue a state court judge for $100,000 if they rule that the law is unconstitutional.
“If there is a judge who is having to defend herself or himself under this provision, they may not receive or obtain legal representation from the attorney general,” Johnson noted. “Now that's not very nice, is it?”
“Ignoring the law is not very nice when the Legislature specifically sets it out in a way that's clear and unequivocal,” Hughes retorted.
The bill also restricts access to certain information online to keep people from learning about abortion drugs, or even knowing that they exist.
Thursday hearings of note:
House Culture, Recreation & Tourism, 8 a.m.:
HB 370 Swanson | et al.
Relating to eligibility of certain events under the Events Trust Fund. — Would you believe it, it’s another anti-trans bill.
HB 3227 Gerdes | et al.
Relating to the removal, relocation, alteration, or construction of certain monuments or memorials located on public property; authorizing a civil penalty. — I can’t tell because the bill is so long, but I imagine this is a bill that bans taking down confederate statues.
HCR 59 Isaac | et al.
Designating April as Promise Month for a 10-year period ending in 2035. — What? Oh:
“WHEREAS, God keeps His promises, and the Lord your God is God and is faithful to keep His promises for all time to come; and WHEREAS, The promises of God are stated thusly in the Gospel of John: "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand"; and WHEREAS, God has given to us His great and precious promises of love, hope, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, wisdom,” BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.
HCR 135 Tepper
Designating Slaton as the official Banana Pudding Capital of Texas for a 10-year period ending in 2035. — Never been to Slaton, a suburb of Lubbock, but this sounds fine to me.
Senate State Affairs, 9 a.m.:
HB 1393 Metcalf | et al. SP: Bettencourt
Relating to daylight saving time. — “This state, acting as authorized under federal law, shall observe daylight saving time year-round. This subsection applies to both the portion of this state using central standard time as the official standard time and the portion of this state using mountain standard time as the official standard time. The standard time in this state shall be referred to as Texas Time.”
You know, I feel *kinda* sorry for Dade Phelan. Not enough to ever forgive him for what he did in 2021, but you do have to feel some empathy for Texas’ most-bullied Republican. Lone Star Left wrote about what happened today with Phelan’s bill to disclose the use of AI-generated images on political ads:
During his election, constant lies, some generated by AI, circulated. There was a picture of Phelan shaking hands with Nancy Pelosi, as well as another of him standing next to Xi Jinping. And the boomer voters in his district believed they were real photos (no offense to boomers). And a lot of these AI-generated photos came from anonymous sources and unidentified PACs.
So, Phelan’s bill requires political ads using fake or altered media, such as AI-generated images, audio, or video of a candidate, to include a clear disclosure that the content did not occur in reality. Violating this requirement is a Class A misdemeanor.
The far-right weirdos argued that Phelan is trying to ban political memes. But whatever, they lost and the bill passed the House. Not sure where it will land in the Senate, but I think we can all agree that it’s a reasonable bill. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a reasonable state. We live in a state where this kind of stuff happens in our statehouse:
Just another reminder that this man is a Democrat. We really don’t need more Democrats like Rep. Raymond.
Three. Good. Things.
It’s been cloudy the past two days. I appreciate that.
My husband made some pretty good chicken tendies tonight.
Former foster dog Papa has two meet-and-greets scheduled with families this weekend! Getting in touch with his foster in Denver has been so fun, I get to keep seeing him all cozy and happy.
