Abbott said to hold nose at bathroom bill
Behind the scenes, support waned for anti-business plan
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott didn't want the bathroom bill to reach his desk despite his fiery public statements of support, the chairman of a select House committee said Tuesday.
“The bottom line was, they did not want this bill on the governor’s desk,” Rep. Byron Cook, RCorsicana, who heads the House Select Committee on Economic Competitiveness, said in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News. “We had been hearing this also from industry leaders, which corroborated the same thing we were told directly.”
Cook said the revelation came during a meeting in his office that included then-Abbott Chief of Staff Daniel Hodge during last year’s regular legislative session.
The chairman made his comments as his commitee released a report freshly slamming the bathroom bill and warning against efforts to revive the measure.
Abbott’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, and neither did Hodge.
State business ‘threatened’
Cook, as chairman of the State Affairs Committee, refused to have a hearing on the bathroom bill during the special session called by Abbott when the bathroom bill and other measures failed in the regular session.
The report by the select committee ranged far beyond the bathroom bill but said business has to vigorously fight such proposals, rather than being afraid of retribution from powerful officials.
The bathroom bill, which would have restricted the public restrooms that transgender people can use, was opposed by House Speaker Joe Straus, a business-aligned Republican from San Antonio, who appointed the economic competitiveness committee. Cook and Straus opted against running for reelection, potentially paving the way for a version of the measure to pass in next year’s legislative session if it’s again pushed by Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
The state faced the prospect of boycotts if lawmakers had approved the measure last year, since it was widely criticized as discriminating against a vulnerable population.
Texas’ success “was seriously threatened” by the proposal, according to the report.
“By making this and other unnecessary social issues a priority, lawmakers were forced to divert their attention from critical topics like education, property taxes, the state’s budget and infrastructure,” the report said.
The special committee also took aim at the anti-sanctuary cities measure championed and signed into law by Abbott, saying multiple people testified that it is “an excessive regulation that completely hinders development.”
Critics of the sanctuary cities law, which is being challenged in court, said it would lead to profiling because it ensures officers can ask people they detain about their immigration status, regardless of what their police chiefs desire.
“Many workers, documented and undocumented, have refused to go to Texas construction sites following the passage of the law, fearing local police will detain them,” says the report.
‘Refocus on real matters’
Committee members are Reps. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, vice chair; Angie Chen Button, R-Richardson; Sarah Davis, R-West University Place; Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth; Joe Moody, D-El Paso; and René Oliveira, DBrownsville. Abbott unsuccessfully targeted Davis in the GOP primary. All signed the report except Geren and Chen Button, according to Cook’s office.
In making its recommendations, the committee urged business to take a strong, unified position against legislation “that could harm the state’s economy.”
“If the business community does not have the courage to defy and work against counterproductive legislation because of the fear of retribution, this state is at risk,” said the committee report.
It expressed the hope that the opposition that arose after Abbott added the bathroom bill to the special session — including “an extraordinary amount of effort and resources” from large and small businesses — would “encourage future legislatures to refocus on the real matters important to taxpayers.”
The committee’s recommendations include “avoiding legislation that distracts from critical priorities and is viewed by many as enabling discrimination against certain groups or classes of Texans.”
“Texas policymakers must acknowledge warnings from leaders in the business community, academicians and law enforcement officials about the consequences of such discriminatory legislation to avoid endangering the state’s successful economy,” says the report.
The committee also recommended prioritizing funding for public education, saying the dollars should be regularly adjusted to reflect population growth and inflation. It said policymakers should closely examine expenditures to ensure they are used “to maximize student success,” and added that the state’s academic accountability system should be studied to ensure it increases performance.