| 1 | 1 | | By: Middleton S.B. No. 242 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Filed November 17, 2022; February 15, 2023, |
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| 3 | 3 | | read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; |
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| 4 | 4 | | April 20, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee |
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| 5 | 5 | | Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 3; April 20, 2023, |
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| 6 | 6 | | sent to printer.) |
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| 7 | 7 | | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 8 | 8 | | COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 242 By: Hughes |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | |
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| 11 | 11 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 12 | 12 | | AN ACT |
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| 13 | 13 | | relating to the identification of and prohibited cooperation by |
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| 14 | 14 | | state and local entities with certain federal acts that violate the |
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| 15 | 15 | | United States Constitution. |
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| 16 | 16 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. Title 7, Government Code, is amended by adding |
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| 18 | 18 | | Chapter 794 to read as follows: |
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| 19 | 19 | | CHAPTER 794. IDENTIFICATION OF AND PROHIBITED COOPERATION WITH |
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| 20 | 20 | | CERTAIN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ACTS OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT |
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| 21 | 21 | | Sec. 794.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) "Political subdivision" has the meaning assigned |
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| 23 | 23 | | by Section 791.003. |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2) "State agency" has the meaning assigned by Section |
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| 25 | 25 | | 751.001. |
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| 26 | 26 | | Sec. 794.002. REVIEW OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS. (a) On the last |
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| 27 | 27 | | day of each month, the attorney general shall provide a written |
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| 28 | 28 | | report to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house |
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| 29 | 29 | | of representatives, and each member of the legislature that: |
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| 30 | 30 | | (1) identifies each rule adopted by a federal |
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| 31 | 31 | | government agency during the previous month that: |
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| 32 | 32 | | (A) relates to: |
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| 33 | 33 | | (i) pandemics or other health emergencies; |
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| 34 | 34 | | (ii) the regulation of natural resources, |
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| 35 | 35 | | including coal and oil; |
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| 36 | 36 | | (iii) the regulation of the agriculture |
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| 37 | 37 | | industry; |
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| 38 | 38 | | (iv) the use of land; |
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| 39 | 39 | | (v) the regulation of the financial sector |
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| 40 | 40 | | as it relates to environmental, social, or governance standards; |
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| 41 | 41 | | (vi) the regulation of the constitutional |
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| 42 | 42 | | right to keep and bear arms; |
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| 43 | 43 | | (vii) the free exercise of religion, |
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| 44 | 44 | | including the congregating of religious practitioners; |
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| 45 | 45 | | (viii) border security; or |
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| 46 | 46 | | (ix) transportation; |
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| 47 | 47 | | (B) was adopted in response to an executive order |
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| 48 | 48 | | by the president of the United States; and |
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| 49 | 49 | | (C) violates the rights guaranteed to the |
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| 50 | 50 | | citizens of the United States by the United States Constitution; |
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| 51 | 51 | | and |
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| 52 | 52 | | (2) provides the status of any lawsuit filed against |
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| 53 | 53 | | the federal government relating to a rule identified by any report |
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| 54 | 54 | | prepared under this section, including whether a court has found |
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| 55 | 55 | | the rule to violate the rights guaranteed to the citizens of the |
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| 56 | 56 | | United States by the United States Constitution. |
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| 57 | 57 | | (b) The attorney general shall publish any report prepared |
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| 58 | 58 | | under this section on the attorney general's Internet website and |
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| 59 | 59 | | in the Texas Register. |
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| 60 | 60 | | Sec. 794.003. COOPERATION WITH UNCONSTITUTIONAL ACTS. |
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| 61 | 61 | | Notwithstanding any other law, a state agency or political |
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| 62 | 62 | | subdivision may not cooperate with a federal government agency in |
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| 63 | 63 | | implementing an agency rule that a report published under Section |
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| 64 | 64 | | 794.002 indicates has been found by a federal court in a decision |
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| 65 | 65 | | that has not been stayed, reversed, or overruled to violate the |
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| 66 | 66 | | rights guaranteed to the citizens of the United States by the United |
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| 67 | 67 | | States Constitution. |
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| 68 | 68 | | Sec. 794.004. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. The attorney general may |
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| 69 | 69 | | bring an action in a district court in Travis County or in a county |
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| 70 | 70 | | in which the political subdivision is located to enjoin a violation |
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| 71 | 71 | | of Section 794.003. |
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| 72 | 72 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 73 | 73 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 74 | 74 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 75 | 75 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 76 | 76 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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| 77 | 77 | | * * * * * |
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