Texas Senate Democrats kill GOP bill on library restrictions

AUSTIN – The Austin American-Statesman reports that a Republican-backed bill aimed at restricting minors’ access to public library books was derailed in the Texas Senate in a rare victory for the chamber’s Democratic minority. House Bill 3225 would have made books that “describe, depict or portray” sexual conduct off-limits to underage library visitors. To comply, city and county libraries would have been required to verify the ages of patrons checking out adult books. Parents could opt their children out of the restrictions under the measure, which passed the state House along a mostly party-line vote May 10. The bill was on the upper chamber’s intent calendar, a list of items that are eligible for a floor vote. Hours before a Senate deadline to pass bills on Wednesday night, Texas Republican Party Chair Abraham George called the library proposal a top priority and said it “must pass.”

The bill, however, never came to the Senate floor after a procedural snafu gave Democrats a rare window to block the bill, according to several senators and staff members. Understanding the bill’s collapse requires understanding how Lt. Gov. Patrick, as the Senate’s president, can bend the rules of time and the Texas Constitution in his and his chamber’s favor. Texas’ founders established that all legislation must be read on “three several days,” meaning lawmakers must introduce a bill one day, then vote on it twice over two different legislative days before it can pass. In legislative language, “several” means “separate or distinct from one another,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The Senate can only bypass that provision with the assent of four-fifths of the members, as per the chamber’s Rule 16.04. That would require all 20 Republicans and five Democrats to sign on.