Texting bill has added support, Craddick says, but concerns remain,

The no-texting-while-driving bill has picked up another Senate commitment, accord- ing to its House author Rep. Tom Craddick, and could come up on the Senate floor as early as Friday.

And Craddick, a Midland Republican, said Thursday that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has “come off” his position of recent days that House Bill 62 would need 25 supporters in the 31-member Senate to come up for debate and passage, meaning that the 22 senators now on board could be enough to move the legislation forward. But Craddick said he has a new concern.

Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Pearland, plans to intro- duce an amendment, Craddick said, requiring that texting-while-driving be con- sidered an offense only if it happens in conjunction with another moving violation, such as speeding or running a stop sign. And Craddick, reflecting the words earlier this week of HB 62 Senate sponsor Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said having such a change would “gut the bill” and make it unacceptable to the House.

Craddick said the members of each party tend to support amendments offered by colleagues from their own party, so he is concerned the Taylor measure could pass if offered.

Craddick said that Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, now supports HB 62, which would make it illegal statewide to read or send an electronic message on a hand-held phone while driving a moving vehicle, with a few exceptions. That would mean Craddick and Zaffirini, who have been trying for several sessions to pass a statewide texting-behind-the-wheel ban, have 11 Republicans and all of the Senate’s 11 Democrats on board. The indictment and arrest earlier this week of Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, throws into question his availability to vote on the bill. But that would still leave HB 62 with 21 votes, above the 19 needed under Senate rules for a bill to come up for debate.

Passage requires a simply majority.