Speaker Joe Straus held a press conference on Friday evening saying the House will not appoint conferees to SB 2078, the latest version of the bathroom bill. “The House has compromised enough on this issue,” said Straus. He further noted, “It’s absurd that bathroom bills have taken on greater urgency than fixing our school finance system.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick followed up with his own press conference shortly after. Patrick argued language similar to that in HB 2899 would have been a version of the bathroom bill he would have accepted. Patrick reiterated his stance that there are two must pass bills, referring to his earlier statement of similar language in SB 2 (property taxes with a rollback rate) and SB 6 or similar language (bathroom bill/privacy act). If these two issues are not taken up, Patrick said he would allow the mistakes of not having a germane amendment on SB 80 stand.
SB 80 was amended on the House floor to address certain sunset concerns caused from the sunset safety net bill dying on calendars. Patrick counters amendments on SB 80 are not germane and without this sunset language, there would need to be a Special Session to address.
“Tonight, I’m making it very clear Governor," Patrick said, "I want you to call us back in your timing…”