HOUSTON, Texas — On Tuesday night, the Texas House of Representatives failed to vote on several Senate priority bills, killing resident hopes for crucial public safety reforms. The bills which died included bail, immigration, judges and school safety proposals.
The Texas Senate and House of Representatives have disagreed for several years on matters like property taxes and public-school policies, but the disparity among the two chambers has become increasingly brutal.
House Democrats fought the bills with technical and stalling procedures, and “RINO” Republicans postponed bills past the midnight deadline to pass Senate legislation. One murdered bill was an immigration reform which would have made it a crime to enter the country’s Texas border outside of a designated port of entry.
Another bill the House failed to vote on was SB 1318, a safety bill which would have put an end to personal recognizance (PR) bonds for felons possessing firearms (FPW-Gun), and expanded the circumstances by which a judge can deny bail.
Countless Texans are angered by the House of Representatives for allowing these bills to die, dealing a devastating blow to basic public safety.
“Someone needs to explain to the people of Texas why a bi-partisan supported Bill, which would have eliminated defendants charged with Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Prohibited Weapons, like Machine Guns, from being released on PR Bonds. Explain why the House failed to vote,” Andy Kahan, Victim Services and Advocacy Director for Crime Stoppers of Houston wrote in a tweet.
“Now I know what a boxer feels like when they get sucker punched. Not a good day for those who fought so hard to enhance public safety and eliminate defendants charged with FPW-GUN from being released back to the community on PR Bonds. We should all be outraged,” Kahan tweeted.
Lawmakers, police officers, senators and judges spent years warring to bring these bills to the Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday, only to have their aspirations for a better and safer state obliterated. We’ll see when, and if, these measures ever make it back to the floor.