May 17, 2021
For Immediate Release
(Austin, TX) – In the past two weeks, the Texas House of Representatives heard and passed multiple priority bills, including legislation that protects the unborn, prioritizes public safety, secures the elections process, and other meaningful reforms. Bills of note include:
SB 8 – This legislation, also known as the Heartbeat Bill, prohibits an abortion if a baby’s heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks. Current law permits abortion up to twenty weeks, which means that the Heartbeat Act will ensure we protect every innocent unborn life in the State of Texas.
HB 1280 – This legislation establishes an immediate prohibition on abortions in Texas should the Supreme Court rule to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision. It’s also known as a trigger ban on abortion.
SB 7 – This legislation seeks to prevent election fraud and preserve the purity of the ballot box with several key provisions. Those provisions include uniformity of the election process across the state, cracking down on mail in ballot harvesting – including prohibiting local governments from using tax dollars to solicit or distribute application for mail in ballots, and ensuring the legitimacy of voter registration.
HB 20 – This legislation, also known as the Damon Allen Act, takes on several key bail reform issues, such as adding transparency to the bail-setting process, creates a statewide framework for training and statutory guidelines, and ensures accountability in the process to keep violent criminals off of the streets.
HB 9 – This legislation creates a penalty for those preventing, or standing in the way of, the passage of emergency authorized vehicles. This bill will play a key role when those rioting block emergency vehicles.
HB 1900 – This legislation seeks to defund large municipalities who elect to defund the police and is aimed at preventing significant year-over-year decreases to their police budgets.
SJR 27 – This legislation proposes an amendment to the Texas Constitution, and now that it has been approved by the Legislature, Texas voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on whether prohibiting a church or place of worship from being closed by government edict should be allowed.
HB 525 – This legislation ensures that all houses of worship are considered essential businesses and are free from government interference.
HB 3979 – This legislation eliminates Critical Race Theory (CRT) from Texas classrooms. CRT teaches students that their only value is tied to their race and that all white people are bad.
HB 3 – This legislation is Texas’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic; it protects citizens from unnecessary government overreach during a pandemic by giving protections to places of worship, businesses, and private citizens.
This bill reinforces checks and balances by:
- Establishing the Pandemic Disaster Legislative Oversight Committee, which is made up of 16 members and is authorized to review any state of pandemic disaster declaration that has been in effect for more than 30 days.
- Requiring the governor to call a special session if the state of pandemic disaster has continued for over 120 days.
Jared Patterson represents House District 106, which encompasses the eastern portion of Denton County. During the 86th Legislative Session, Patterson authored and passed initiatives in policy areas such as transportation, education, property taxes, as well as eliminated unnecessary and burdensome government regulations. Patterson serves on the House Committees on Business & Industry, Urban Affairs, and Resolutions Calendars. He also serves on the House Interim Study Committee on Aggregate Production Operations, and the Texas Cybersecurity Council. His family resides in Frisco.
