Reporternews.com John C. Moritz, USA Today Network Austin Bureau 3/14/2017
AUSTIN – The most divisive issue so far of the 2017 legislative session won preliminary passage in the Texas Senate on Tuesday, placing it one step away from being sent to the House, where its future remains uncertain.
Senators in the Republican-dominated upper chamber were solid in their support of Senate Bill 6, nicknamed the “bathroom bill” because it would limit the restroom options of transgender people. They were joined by one Democrat, Brownsville’s Eddie Lucio.
The bill’s author, Brenham Republican Lois Kolkhorst, fended off sometimes hostile questions from Democrats and beat back efforts to make it more accommodating to people who are transitioning from one gender to another. She rejected several assertions that transgender people would be marginalized by the bill and that she was needlessly extending the reach of state government.
“I don't in any way think we are going to have the policing of bathrooms or restrooms," Kolkhorst said during debate on the bill that lasted nearly five hours.
Kolkhorst’s legislation is among the top priorities of the Senate’s presiding officer, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who since last year has said it is needed to protect the privacy of women. But the bill, which still requires one more Senate vote before being sent to the House, only applies to multistall restrooms in buildings operated by governments and public schools and colleges.
The bill would not dictate restroom policy for private businesses and it would allow private entities that rent government buildings for their own use to also set their own policies on restroom use.
The bill would, however, prevent local governments from setting restroom policies that allow opposite-gender use.
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http://www.reporternews.com/story/news/local/texas/2017/03/14/bathroom-bill-clears-its-first-hurdle-texas-senate/99190524/
