AUSTIN — A bill that would have restricted bathroom access for transgender people is officially dead.
From Reuters:
The House wound up its duties without taking action on any of the bills and adjourned “sine die,” a day ahead of the official end of the 30-day special session.
House Speaker Joe Straus, a pro-business Republican who controls the agenda in the chamber, said the issue not a priority.
The measure that advanced the farthest was Senate Bill 3, which passed easily on a party-line vote in the Republican-controlled Senate and then died in the House.
It would have required people to use restrooms, showers and locker rooms in public schools and other state and local government facilities that match the sex on their birth certificate, as opposed to their gender identity.
The bill was opposed by both civil rights organizations and the state’s business community. Moderate Republicans blocked its passage in the state House.