Despite A Flurry Of Vetoes, Some Bills Gain Abbott’s Approval

This week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune.

By Rhonda FanningJune 16, 2017 1:54 pm,

It’s time to talk about the week that was in Texas politics. Texas Tribune Multimedia Reporter Alana Rocha spoke with the Standard about what’s been going on across the state.

House Speaker Joe Straus took some jabs at Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick when he spoke to educators at the Texas Association of School Boards’ annual summer leadership institute in San Antonio on June 14.

Rocha says Straus said that because schools have been handling the issue of bathrooms just fine on their own, there is no need for the state to address it.

Gov. Abbott made headlines for vetoing 50 pieces of legislation, overshadowing the bills he did sign into law.

Rocha says one bill, HB 3859, is especially controversial because it allows Texas child welfare providers to deny adoptions based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

“If any organization has religious objections to placing a child, they are required by this law to find them some other placement,” she says.

Abbott also signed a bill that seeks to end “lunch shaming,” an issue that gained a lot of attention during the legislative session.

“This would create a grace period [for kids without lunch money], where the school contacts the parent,” she says. “A lot of parents that commented on the story on our site, said ‘you, know I forgot to pay.’ It’s not always parents who can’t pay, it’s sometimes parents who are busy.”

A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll that came out this week found that Texas Republicans remain strongly supportive of President Donald Trump, despite his overall approval rating of 43 percent in Texas.

“One questions of his temperament to serve, his ability to serve, [he received] all high marks from Republicans,” Rocha says.

 

Written by Molly Smith.