Was your elected official a champion or enemy of reproductive rights, LGBTQ equality, voting rights and criminal justice reform in 2019?
The Texas Legislature meets every two years for 140-day regular sessions that begin in January. By conducting an analysis of proposed legislation and voting records, Texas Rising has compiled this legislative scorecard to give young Texans a clear picture of whether state lawmakers did — or didn’t — represent their values during the 2019 legislative session. This scorecard covers important legislation related to reproductive rights, LGBTQ equality, voting rights and criminal justice reform
You can also download region specific scorecards:
Bills we tracked for this scorecard.
House Amendment 53 on HB 1 [Bad Bill] – A budget amendment handing an additional $52 million to the Alternatives to Abortion program, which funds religiously affiliated crisis pregnancy centers that often pose as clinics without providing actual medical services. Instead, the centers offer misleading medical information to women or shame them if they want to seek an abortion.
House Amendment 72 on HB 1 [Good Bill] – A proposed budget amendment that would have expanded Medicaid in Texas.
HB 744 [Good Bill] – Would have extended Medicaid for a full year after pregnancy to help address the state’s maternal mortality crisis.
SB 22 [Bad Bill] – Bars local governments and other government entities from entering into any sort of agreement with a health care provider that also offers abortion care services. The intent of this legislation is to target Planned Parenthood.
SB 24 [Bad Bill] – Requires doctors to provide a pamphlet containing misleading medical information to anyone seeking an abortion. Previously, the information could be given verbally or by directing a patient to a website.
SB 1978 [Bad Bill] – Stripped of its discriminatory provisions, the final version of this legislation simply reaffirms that religious freedom is protected under the U.S. Constitution and state law. However, this law has been used to attack and stigmaztize LGBTQ people.
House Amendment 2 on SB 1978 [Good Bill] – Amendment that would have barred discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Senate Amendment 5 on SB 1978 [Good Bill] – Amendment that would have barred discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
SB 17 [Bad Bill] – Would have allowed holders of state occupational licenses to discriminate against LGBTQ people based on the personal religious beliefs of the license-holder.
Senate Amendment 2 on SB 17 [Good Bill] – Would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
HB 1888 [Bad Bill] – Requires all early voting locations to be open for at least eight hours every weekday during the early voting period, thus limiting many temporary early voting locations which helped distribute polling locations more equitably throughout the community.
SB 9 [Bad Bill] – Omnibus voter suppression bill that would have criminalized basic mistakes when registering to vote, created unnecessary barriers to voter assistance, given law enforcement sweeping powers, and more.
HB 2048 [Bad Bill] – Repealed the Driver Responsibility Program, which assessed additional fees for certain traffic related offenses. It propelled people into debt and resulted in suspension of their licenses, disproportionately impacting low-income people and young people.
