Texas Scorecard by Erin Anderson August 25, 2021
A swapped-out version of Senate Bill 1 is scheduled for a vote by the full House on Thursday.
With enough Democrats finally present to conduct business, Texas House lawmakers will once again consider comprehensive election reform legislation—a top priority for Republicans that Democrats have actively opposed all year.
The controversial election integrity measure known as Senate Bill 1 is scheduled for consideration by the full House on Thursday.
In a public hearing Monday, House Republicans advanced their own version of the bill out of committee.
Repeating a maneuver from the regular session, House committee members swapped their major election integrity bill for a similar bill already passed by the Senate, replacing the contents of Senate Bill 1 with the language in House Bill 3.
House Bill 3 author State Rep. Andrew Murr (R–Junction) said the committee substitute of SB 1 advanced Monday by the House Select Committee on Constitutional Rights and Remedies was “identical” to the version of HB 3 heard in a 14-hour hearing during the first special session.
“We’re picking up right where we left off,” Murr said, noting that all the prior testimony is part of the public record on the bill.
But HB 3 is not identical to the version of SB 1 passed by the Senate last week.
Those differences will have to be reconciled before a final bill can be approved by the Legislature and sent to the governor.
The bill swap also created some confusion among citizens who showed up to testify on SB 1.
Multiple election integrity advocates told House members they want the Senate bill’s stronger penalties for election officials who unlawfully exclude poll watchers, a problem experienced by watchers across the state, according to testimony Monday and in previous hearings.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/texas-election-integrity-bill-heads-to-house-floor/
