Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4949 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Cain H.B. No. 4949
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to a period of prayer and Bible reading in public schools.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
9	9	amended by adding Section 25.0823 to read as follows:
10	10	Sec. 25.0823. PERIOD OF PRAYER AND BIBLE READING. (a) The
11	11	board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of an
12	12	open-enrollment charter school that is not operated by or
13	13	affiliated with a religious organization may by record vote adopt a
14	14	policy requiring every campus of the district or school to provide
15	15	students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a
16	16	period of prayer and Bible reading on each school day in accordance
17	17	with this section.
18	18	(b) A policy adopted under Subsection (a) must prohibit:
19	19	(1) a student or employee of the school district or
20	20	open-enrollment charter school from being permitted to participate
21	21	in the period of prayer and Bible reading unless the employee or
22	22	parent or guardian of the student submits to the district a signed
23	23	consent form that includes:
24	24	(A) an acknowledgment that the student or
25	25	employee has a choice as to whether to participate in the period of
26	26	prayer and Bible reading;
27	27	(B) a statement that the person has no objection
28	28	to the student's or employee's participation in or hearing of the
29	29	prayers or Bible readings offered during the period; and
30	30	(C) an express waiver of the person's right to
31	31	bring a claim under state or federal law arising out of the adoption
32	32	of a policy under this section, including claims under the United
33	33	States Supreme Court's interpretations of the Establishment
34	34	Clause, which forever releases the school district and all school
35	35	officials from any such claims that the signatory might assert in
36	36	state or federal court; and
37	37	(2) the provision of a prayer or Bible reading over a
38	38	public address system.
39	39	(c) An employee or parent or guardian of a student may
40	40	revoke the person's consent provided under Subsection (b)(1) by
41	41	informing the appropriate school administrator, as determined by
42	42	the school district or open-enrollment charter school, and no
43	43	student or employee whose consent has been withdrawn may continue
44	44	participating in the period of prayer and readings from the Bible
45	45	unless and until a new consent form is executed and submitted in
46	46	accordance with Subsection (b)(1). A person who withdraws consent
47	47	under this section remains bound by the waiver of claims described
48	48	in Subsection (b)(1)(C).
49	49	(d) A policy providing for a period of prayer and Bible
50	50	reading adopted under Subsection (a) must include provisions
51	51	ensuring a prayer or Bible reading is not provided in the physical
52	52	presence or within the hearing of a person for whom a signed consent
53	53	form has not been submitted under Subsection (b)(1) or has been
54	54	revoked under Subsection (c), or in any manner that would inflict
55	55	"injury in fact" on such a person under Article III of the
56	56	Constitution. In order to comply with this subsection, a policy may
57	57	require that the period of prayer and Bible reading be provided:
58	58	(1) before normal school hours;
59	59	(2) only in classrooms or other areas in which a
60	60	consent form under Subsection (b)(1) has been submitted for every
61	61	employee and student, which may include an entire district or
62	62	school campus if a consent form has been submitted for each employee
63	63	and student at the campus; or
64	64	(3) by any other method recommended by the attorney
65	65	general or legal counsel for the district or school.
66	66	(e) The attorney general, on request from the board of
67	67	trustees of a school district or the governing body of an
68	68	open-enrollment charter school, shall:
69	69	(1) provide advice on best methods for a district or
70	70	school to comply with the requirements of this section;
71	71	(2) provide a model consent form that may be used for
72	72	purposes of providing consent under Subsection (b)(1); and
73	73	(3) defend the district or school in a cause of action
74	74	arising out of the adoption of a policy providing for a period of
75	75	prayer and Bible reading under Subsection (a).
76	76	(f) If the attorney general defends a district or school
77	77	under Subsection (e)(3), the state is liable for the expenses,
78	78	costs, judgments, or settlements of the claims arising out of the
79	79	representation. The attorney general may settle or compromise any
80	80	and all claims under this subsection. The state may not be liable
81	81	for any expenses, costs, judgments, or settlements of any claims
82	82	arising out of the adoption of a policy providing for a period of
83	83	prayer and Bible reading under Subsection (a) against a district or
84	84	school not being represented by the attorney general.
85	85	(g) Notwithstanding any other law, any person, including an
86	86	entity, attorney, or law firm, who seeks declaratory or injunctive
87	87	relief to prevent a school district or open-enrollment charter
88	88	school from adopting or implementing a policy providing for a
89	89	period of prayer and Bible reading under Subsection (a) in any state
90	90	or federal court, or that represents any litigant seeking such
91	91	relief in any state or federal court, is jointly and severally
92	92	liable to pay the costs and reasonable attorney's fees, including
93	93	interest, of the prevailing party, including the costs and
94	94	reasonable attorney's fees that the prevailing party incurs in its
95	95	efforts to recover costs and fees.
96	96	(h) For purposes of this section, a party is considered a
97	97	prevailing party if a state or federal court:
98	98	(1) dismisses any claim or cause of action brought
99	99	against the party that seeks the declaratory or injunctive relief
100	100	described by Subsection (g), regardless of the reason for the
101	101	dismissal; or
102	102	(2) enters judgment in the party's favor on any such
103	103	claim or cause of action.
104	104	(i) A prevailing party may recover costs and attorney's fees
105	105	under Subsection (h) only to the extent that those costs and
106	106	attorney's fees were incurred while defending claims or causes of
107	107	action on which the party prevailed.
108	108	(j) Regardless of whether a prevailing party sought to
109	109	recover costs or attorney's fees in the underlying action, a
110	110	prevailing party under this section may bring a civil action to
111	111	recover costs and attorney's fees against a person, including an
112	112	entity, attorney, or law firm, that sought declaratory or
113	113	injunctive relief described by Subsection (g) not later than the
114	114	third anniversary of the date on which, as applicable:
115	115	(1) the dismissal or judgment described by Subsection
116	116	(h) becomes final on the conclusion of appellate review; or
117	117	(2) the time for seeking appellate review expires.
118	118	(k) It is not a defense to an action brought under
119	119	Subsection (j) that:
120	120	(1) a prevailing party under this section failed to
121	121	seek recovery of costs or attorney's fees in the underlying action;
122	122	(2) the court in the underlying action declined to
123	123	recognize or enforce the requirements of this section; or
124	124	(3) the court in the underlying action held that any
125	125	provisions of this section are invalid, unconstitutional, or
126	126	preempted by federal law, notwithstanding the doctrines of issue or
127	127	claim preclusion.
128	128	(l) Notwithstanding any other law, the state has sovereign
129	129	immunity, its officers and employees have sovereign and official
130	130	immunity, a school district or open-enrollment charter school has
131	131	governmental immunity, and each member of the governing body of a
132	132	school district or open-enrollment charter school and employee of a
133	133	school district or open-enrollment charter school has governmental
134	134	and official immunity in any action, claim, or counterclaim or any
135	135	type of legal or equitable action that challenges the validity of
136	136	any provision or application of this section, on constitutional
137	137	grounds or otherwise, unless that immunity has been abrogated or
138	138	preempted by federal law in a manner consistent with the
139	139	Constitution of the United States. The sovereign immunity
140	140	conferred by this section upon the state and each of its officers
141	141	and employees includes the constitutional sovereign immunity
142	142	recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States in Seminole
143	143	Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44 (1996), and Alden v. Maine, , 517 U.S. 44 (1996), and Alden v. Maine,
144	144	527 U.S. 706 (1999), which applies in both state and federal court
145	145	and which may not be abrogated by Congress or by any state or
146	146	federal court except pursuant to legislation authorized by section
147	147	5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, by the Bankruptcy Clause of Article
148	148	I, or by Congress's powers to raise and support Armies and to
149	149	provide and maintain a Navy.
150	150	(m) Notwithstanding any other law, the immunities conferred
151	151	by Subsection (l) shall apply in every court, both state and
152	152	federal, and in every adjudicative proceeding of any type
153	153	whatsoever.
154	154	(n) Notwithstanding any other law, a provision of state law
155	155	may not be construed to waive or abrogate an immunity described by
156	156	Subsection (l) unless it expressly waives or abrogates immunity
157	157	with specific reference to this section.
158	158	(o) Notwithstanding any other law, no attorney representing
159	159	the state, its political subdivisions, or any officer, employee, or
160	160	agent of this state or a political subdivision is authorized or
161	161	permitted to waive an immunity described in Subsection (l) or take
162	162	any action that would result in a waiver of that immunity, and any
163	163	such action or purported waiver shall be regarded as a legal nullity
164	164	and an ultra vires act.
165	165	(p) Notwithstanding any other law, including Chapter 37,
166	166	Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and sections 22.002, 22.221, and
167	167	24.007 through 24.011, Government Code, no court of this state may
168	168	award declaratory or injunctive relief, or any type of writ, that
169	169	would declare or pronounce any provision or application of this
170	170	section invalid or unconstitutional, or that would restrain the
171	171	state, its political subdivisions, including a school district or
172	172	open-enrollment charter school, any officer, employee, or agent of
173	173	this state or a political subdivision, including each member of the
174	174	governing body of a school district or open-enrollment charter
175	175	school and employee of a school district or open-enrollment charter
176	176	school, or any person from enforcing any provision or application
177	177	of this section, and no court of this state shall have jurisdiction
178	178	to consider any action, claim, or counterclaim that seeks such
179	179	relief.
180	180	(q) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a
181	181	litigant from asserting the invalidity or unconstitutionality of
182	182	any provision or application of this section as a defense to any
183	183	action, claim, or counterclaim brought against that litigant.
184	184	(r) Notwithstanding any other law, any judicial relief
185	185	issued by a court of this state that disregards the immunities
186	186	conferred by Subsection (l), or the jurisdictional and remedial
187	187	limitations imposed by Subsection (p), shall be regarded as a legal
188	188	nullity because it was issued by a court without jurisdiction, and
189	189	may not be enforced or obeyed by any officer, employee, or agent of
190	190	this state or a political subdivision, judicial or otherwise.
191	191	SECTION 2. Section 25.901, Education Code, is amended to
192	192	read as follows:
193	193	Sec. 25.901. EXERCISE OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO PRAY. A
194	194	public school student has an absolute right to individually,
195	195	voluntarily, and silently pray or meditate in school in a manner
196	196	that does not disrupt the instructional or other activities of the
197	197	school. A person may not require[, encourage,] or coerce a student
198	198	to engage in or refrain from such prayer or meditation during any
199	199	school activity.
200	200	SECTION 3. Each board of trustees of a school district and
201	201	each governing body of an open-enrollment charter school shall take
202	202	a record vote not later than six months after the effective date of
203	203	this Act on whether to adopt a policy requiring every campus of the
204	204	district or school to provide a period of prayer and Bible reading
205	205	under Section 25.0823, Education Code, as added by this Act.
206	206	SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
207	207	school year.
208	208	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
209	209	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
210	210	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
211	211	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
212	212	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.