AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry says his late father taught him how to be a cowboy but “his real impact on my life was mentoring me in the art of politics.”
Perry, now U.S. energy secretary, appeared in the Texas Senate on Thursday for a ceremony honoring his father, James “Ray” Perry, a former longtime county commissioner who died late last month at age 92.
His voice cracking, Perry recalled his dad’s “snippets of wisdom.” One happened while Perry was first running for the state Legislature from West Texas, and it was suggested he take credit with would-be voters for an unusually heavy rains the area had then been having.
Perry remembered his father telling him not to because, if so, he’d later get blamed when drought inevitably returned.
_______________________________________________________
Texas pushes ahead with ‘bathroom bill’ as others shy away
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A push for a “bathroom bill” in Texas is coming down to the wire even as proposed restroom restrictions for transgender people have largely faltered in legislatures across the U.S.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday he’s hopeful that lawmakers will soon hatch a deal that would make Texas the first state to pass a bill reminiscent of North Carolina’s controversial 2016 law known as HB2.
The legislative session ends Monday.
House Republicans want to soften the Senate on requiring transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate. In March, North Carolina repealed similar restrictions following intense political and economic backlash.
So-called bathroom bills have stalled in other Republican-controlled states, including Kansas, where House lawmakers this week refused to debate the measure.
_______________________________________________________
Texas Legislature OKs expanded prohibitions on bestiality
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The Texas Legislature has approved expanded state penal codes prohibiting bestiality, sending them to Gov. Greg Abbott.
The Senate on Thursday approved changes the House made to bill originally approved by the Senate. It seeks to formally ban “sexual assault of an animal.”
Texas already prohibits bestiality. But the bill makes it a separate crime under the penal code, defining 10 categories of offenses. Those include “contact between” peoples’ mouths or genitals and an animal’s genitals or mouth.
It further bans possessing, selling or purchasing animals for bestiality.
The bill makes those offenses state felonies. Cases involving children, or an animal being injured or killed, could be second-degree felonies, punishable by 20 years maximum behind bars.
Abbott can sign or veto the bill, or allow it to become law automatically.
_______________________________________________________
Abbott signs improper teacher-student relationships law
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law a crackdown on inappropriate relationships between teachers and students.
The measure requires principals and superintendents to report inappropriate teacher-student relationships or face jail time and fines up to $10,000. The teacher’s family could also lose access to the teacher’s pension.
It further mandates that a teacher automatically lose his or her license if he or she has to register as a sex offender.
Teachers would also get training on how to properly handle personal boundaries and relationships with students.
The Texas Education Agency in 2016 opened 220-plus investigations involving inappropriate teacher-student relationships.
Abbott signed the bill Thursday during a ceremony in his office at the state Capitol saying, “Texas will protect its children from sexual predators in our classrooms.”