Regulation of Abortion:

House Bill 15 (78R) by Corte et al.

Sponsor - Williams

• House Bill 15 made a range of reforms to the state's regulation of abortion, including establishing that an abortion cannot be performed without the voluntary and informed consent of the pregnant mother, and that only a medical center licensed to perform abortions may perform an abortion on a fetus aged 16 weeks or older.
• The bill required women seeking an abortion to be provided with information concerning the particular medical risks associated with abortion and indicating the availability of resources such as medical assistance, child support, and counseling, as well as printed information related to the abortion procedure and alternatives to abortion.
• The bill prohibits a medical practitioner from performing an abortion until receiving confirmation that the standards for informed consent have been met.
• HB 15 also made changes to the licensing required to permit a medical center to carry out abortions. Previous law stated that an office of a physician that performed less than 300 abortions in any twelve-month period was exempt from licensure requirements; HB 15 tightened this requirement so that a facility that performs at least 10 abortions per month or 100 abortions per year requires licensing.

Protection of an Unborn Child:

Senate Bill 319 (78R) by Armbrister | Deuell | Janek | Nelson | Williams et al.

Sponsor - Allen

• Senate Bill 319 extended to unborn children the normal legal protections against offenses that can be committed against individuals, such as homicide and assault. The bill provided exemptions for cases where the death of the child is a result of the mother receiving a legal abortion.
• It is important that the law extend protections to unborn children in cases of death or injury.

Parental Rights of Adoptive Parents

House Bill 233 (78R) by Goodman

Sponsor - Harris

• Before passage of House Bill 233, parental rights could only be relinquished by the birth parent of child 48 hours after the child's birth; once parental rights were relinquished, the process of screening prospective adoptive parents could begin. This process often meant that newly-born children had to be placed with foster parents until adoptive parents completed the screening process and were conferred with parental rights.
• HB 233 authorized a birth parent to confer standing to a prospective adoptive parent prior to the birth of a child, which allows the screening process to be completed before a child is born and removes the necessity for a child to be placed with a foster family during the period of the screening process.

Strengthening Traditional Families

Ban on Same-Sex Civil Union:

Senate Bill 7 (78R) by Wentworth et al.

Sponsor - Chisum

• Senate Bill 7 established that same-sex civil unions cannot be recognized by the State of Texas, or political subdivision of the state.
• The bill also established that the state and its political subdivisions do not acknowledge any right or claim to any legal protections, benefits, or responsibilities asserted as a result of a marriage between persons of the same sex or a civil union in Texas or in any other jurisdiction.

Protecting the Sanctity of Marriage

House Joint Resolution 6 (79R) by Chisum et al.

Sponsor - Staples

• House Joint Resolution 6 proposed an amendment to Article I, Section 32 of the Texas Constitution to read "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." The amendment was ratified overwhelmingly in the constitutional amendments election on November 8, 2005.

Parental Right to Reasonable Corporal Punishment of a Child:

House Bill 383 (79R) by Dutton

Sponsor - Hinojosa

• House Bill 383 clarified that a parent, step-parent, or legal guardian of a child may use reasonable corporal punishment to fulfill their duty to discipline a child.
• When applied prudently, corporal punishment is an appropriate form of discipline. According to an article in the Journal of Adolescent Health, corporal punishment helps children learn the appropriate appreciation for authority, learn self discipline, develop better social skills, and improve moral character.
• Furthermore, parents and guardians have serious rights and obligations in the upbringing of their children, including their moral, intellectual and physical development. If corporal punishment aids in the development of these objectives, then parents ought to have the right in exercising this authority.

Strengthening Marriages:

House Bill 2683 (80R) by Chisum

Sponsor - Estes

• House Bill 2683 allows the Health and Human Services Commission to provide grants for programs for low-income persons that support the development of healthy marriages.
• The bill requires that a minimum of one percent of federal funds received under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant are directed each biennium to fund such programs.
• Through HB 2685, TANF recipients will have the opportunity to complete healthy marriage classes that give them tools needed to succeed in marriage.

Marriage Preparation Courses:

House Bill 2685 (80R) by Chisum

Sponsor - Estes

• House Bill 2685 encourages applicants for marriage licenses to take voluntary marriage preparation courses.
• Marriage preparation courses must provide instruction in conflict management and communication skills; must be skills- and research-based; and must be provided by a trained or certified instructor.
• HB 2685 also increases the fee for a marriage license from $30 to $60. HB 2685 exempts couples who have undertaken a marriage preparation course from both the marriage license fee, and the 72-hour waiting period between the issuing of a marriage license and the date on which the marriage can take place.

Teaching Traditional Values

Display of the National Motto in Public Education Institutions:

House Bill 219 (78R) by Hope et al.

Sponsor - Staples

• House Bill 219 allowed public elementary and secondary schools and colleges to display the United States motto, "In God We Trust," in classrooms.

Bible Elective in Public Schools:

House Bill 1287 (80R) by Chisum

Sponsor - Estes

• House Bill 1287 allows a school district to provide an elective course to high school students on the Bible and its impact on the history and literature of Western Civilization.
• The bill requires a course on biblical teaching to adhere to state and federal guidelines on religious neutrality.
• The Commissioner of Education is charged with developing and implementing resources for school districts to use when training teachers on how to teach elective Biblical courses including how to avoid devotion or proselytizing in the classroom.

Religious Expression in Public Schools:

House Bill 3678 (80R) by Howard, C.

Sponsor - Williams

• House Bill 3678 safeguards students' First Amendment rights by clarifying that students may express their religious beliefs at school and at school-sponsored events under prescribed circumstances.
• The bill requires a school district to treat a student's voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint on an otherwise permissible subject in the same way it would treat any other point of view.
• School districts must allow religious gatherings of students, and student groups must be given the same access to school facilities as other groups.

Protecting Children

Parental Consent for Administration of Drugs to Children

House Bill 320 (78R) by Grusendorf | Brown, Betty | Hupp et al.

Sponsor - Fraser

• House Bill 320 established that a parent, guardian or managing conservator's refusal to administer psychotropic drugs or consent to the psychological or psychiatric treatment of a child, is not itself considered negligent. Specifically, the bill established that such a refusal is not negligent unless the refusal to consent presents an imminent risk of harm to the child.

Investigation of Serious Reports of Child Abuse or Neglect:

Senate Bill 669 (78R) by Ogden

Sponsor - Woolley

• Senate Bill 669 required the Department of Family and Protective Services to jointly investigate reports of serious child abuse or neglect with local law enforcement officials. The involvement of law enforcement was a prudent step in improving the investigation of potentially abusive situations.

Statewide Alert System for Abducted Children:

Senate Bill 57 (78R) by Zaffirini | Hinojosa

Sponsor - Driver

• Senate Bill 57 required the Governor, the Department of Transportation, and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate to create a statewide child abduction alert system, the Amber Alert. The system encourages television and radio stations along with other private entities to participate in disseminating alerts whenever local law enforcement agencies believed that a child had been abducted or that a child is in immediate danger. The bill required state agencies to cooperate with the alert system and participate in its development.

Reform of Child Protective Services

Senate Bill 6 (79R) by Nelson et al.

Sponsor - Hupp et al.

• Senate Bill 6 reformed the Department of Family and Protective Services in order to ensure that the Child Protective Services Division and the Adult Protective Services Division were able to provide the necessary standard of care to individuals under their protection.
• Senate Bill 6 required Child Protective Services (CPS) and Adult Protective Services (APS) to engage in additional contracting with private organizations, ensure a reduction in the caseloads of caseworkers, and introduced measures to improve the transparency and accountability of both divisions.
• The reforms were a response to a range of problems experienced by the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), which culminated in the deaths of a number of children under the conservatorship of CPS. Since the SB 6 reforms, DFPS has recruited 3,200 caseworkers and has increased the number of investigations of allegations of abuse. This has led to an increase in
  the number of children removed from their homes as a result of mistreatment. The number of children
  removed from abusive families rose from 13,500 in 2004, to 17,500 in 2006.

Offense of online sexual solicitation of a minor:

House Bill 2228 (79R) by McCall et al.

Sponsor - Ellis

• House Bill 2228 provided protection for children on the internet by creating the offense of online sexual solicitation of a minor.
• Specifically, the bill expanded anti-solicitation laws to expressly penalize individuals who solicit minors online for sexual contact. The bill established as a state jail felony the offenses of "online sexual communication with a minor" and "online distribution of sexually explicit material to a minor." The bill provided a third degree felony offense if an individual solicits a minor for sexual activity or makes arrangements to meet a minor. A second
  degree felony was established for the offense of communicating with, distributing materials to, or attempting to meet a minor under the age of fourteen, with the intent that the minor will engage in sexual activity.
• The bill also required a person convicted under any of its provisions to register as a sex offender.

Protecting Children from Sex Offenders

House Bill 401 (80R) by Brown, B.

Sponsor - Zaffirini

• HB 401 makes it an offense to send a text message to a minor with the intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire.

Child Support Reforms

Payment of Child Support After a Child's 18^th Birthday

House Bill 234 (78R) by Goodman

Sponsor - Harris

• House Bill 234 authorizes courts to order the payment of support for a child after the child's eighteenth birthday if the child is enrolled in an accredited secondary school.
• Before passage of HB 234 there was no legal provision for continued child support for these children. The bill included an important protection for parents by providing that child support orders terminate upon a court finding that the child is 18 years of age or older and has failed to comply with the enrollment or attendance requirements related to education.
• By allowing a court to authorize continued payment of child support for a child who is enrolled in an accredited secondary school, including a private school, in a program leading toward a high school diploma or in courses for joint high school and junior college credit and complying with minimum attendance requirements, House Bill 234 valued family involvement and support for the education of these children.

Penalty for Delinquent Child Support Payers

House Bill 529 (78R) by Brown, Betty

Sponsor - Deuell

• House Bill 529 ensured that parents who are delinquent in paying child support are ineligible to receive state funds, such as student financial aid, by imposing consequences for late or non-payment of child support.