Wins, Losses, and the Road Ahead in Texas House

As the clock struck midnight on Thursday, the Texas House reached the critical deadline to pass House Bills over to the Texas Senate—a huge deadline that marks a turning point each legislative session. This year it came with triumphs and frustrations.

Unfortunately, due to the House leadership’s delayed start—taking far too long to assign committees and begin hearings—a significant amount of meaningful, conservative legislation never made it to the House floor.  This tactic, commonly referred to as “running out the clock,” is a well-known method in Austin to quietly kill bills without putting members on the record. And this session, this strategy claimed many strong bills. 

Thankfully, this was one of the most publicized legislative sessions ever. This allowed Texas voters to gain insight into these deceptive practices. 

Among the casualties was Representative Steve Toth’s (R-The Woodlands) important bill to end social transitioning in minors, a necessary step in protecting children from radical gender ideology. Texas Family Project was in full support of the passage of House Bill 2258. This legislation didn’t even have the chance to be heard in committee before ultimately being killed. That, along with several other solid conservative proposals, will now have to wait until next session. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but we’re not backing down. The fight continues.

However, not all is lost. In a major win for Texas families and the sanctity of parental rights, House Bill 4553—a deceptive and dangerous bill that could have undermined midwifery and birth freedom—was successfully killed. We went down to testify against this legislation. Despite the opposition from both us and the midwives, this bill passed through the House Public Health Committee. Thanks to a strong, coordinated push led by Texas Family Project and the action taken by thousands of Texans like you, this bill never even came to a vote. That’s a victory worth celebrating!

We also saw a few last-minute wins on the floor. Representative Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth) passed two notable bills. House Bill 5302, establishing a post-adoption assistance program, is a commendable effort to support Texas families who open their hearts and homes to children in need. The adoption process in Texas is entirely too expensive and too challenging. Anything we can do to help families who are willing to go through the long and tedious process, we will support. Equally noteworthy is House Bill 1443, which cracks down on disturbingly realistic child-like sex dolls, sending a clear message that we will not tolerate anything that feeds into the culture of exploitation. It’s insane we are at a point where this needs to be legislated, but we are thankful for Representative Schatzline’s dedication to protecting families this session. We were proud to testify in Austin in support of both bills.

We have officially entered the final push of the legislative session. Strong pro-family bills that have passed the Texas Senate still have time to pass the Texas House! Our last opportunity to make our voices heard is upon us. We will continue to advocate for key pieces of legislation that have passed to continue until they’re at the Governor’s desk to be signed.

We will continue to keep you informed of all the developments in Austin. This session still has the opportunity to produce good fruits, and with your help, we can still see several victories through!