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