Texas House Passes Text Ban, Texas Senate Passes Bathroom Bill

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The Texas House is once again pushing for a statewide ban on texting while driving after efforts in previous years either fizzled out or were vetoed.

The latest proposal overwhelmingly won preliminary approval Wednesday in the House. Former Republican House speaker Tom Craddick is carrying the bill for a fourth consecutive session. Laws banning texting while driving are already in place in dozens of Texas cities and in all but four states. The bill would prohibit the use of hanGd-held phones to “read, write or send an electronic message” while driving.

The bill now goes to the Senate. A similar proposal cleared the Legislature in 2011 but was vetoed by former Gov. Rick Perry, who called it a “government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults.”

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The Texas Senate has passed a North Carolina-style “bathroom bill” that targets transgender people, but the proposal still faces big obstacles from becoming law.

The 21-10 final vote on Wednesday came over opposition from big business, the NFL and hundreds of people who packed the Texas Capitol last week during 13 hours of public testimony.

The measure would require people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate.

The hot-button issue was a Senate priority. But Republican House Speaker Joe Straus has publicly and repeatedly denounced the proposal as bad for business. He has stopped short of declaring the bill dead on arrival but his opposition is significant.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also hasn’t taken a clear public stance on the bill.

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