Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4552 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R18142 TYPED
2	2	By: Gerdes H.B. No. 4552
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the Texas Antidiscrimination Act.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Texas
12	12	Antidiscrimination Act.
13	13	SECTION 2. Subtitle A, Title 6, Government Code, is amended
14	14	by adding Chapter 621 to read as follows:
15	15	CHAPTER 621. PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATORY INITIATIVES
16	16	Sec. 621.001. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS; PURPOSE. (a) The
17	17	legislature finds that:
18	18	(1) Section 3, Article I, Texas Constitution (Equal
19	19	Protection Clause), provides that "[a]ll freemen, when they form a
20	20	social compact, have equal rights, and no man, or set of men, is
21	21	entitled to exclusive separate public emoluments, or privileges,
22	22	but in consideration of public service;"
23	23	(2) Section 3a, Article I, Texas Constitution (Equal
24	24	Rights Amendment), provides that "[e]quality under the law shall
25	25	not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed, or
26	26	national origin;"
27	27	(3) The Texas Constitution's Equal Rights Amendment
28	28	was designed expressly to provide protection which supplements the
29	29	federal guarantees of equal treatment;
30	30	(4) The Texas Constitution's Equal Rights Amendment is
31	31	more extensive and provides more specific protection than both the
32	32	United States and Texas due-process and equal-protection
33	33	guarantees; and
34	34	(5) The discriminatory initiatives described in this
35	35	chapter are antithetical to Texas Constitution's Equal Protection
36	36	Clause and Equal Rights Amendment and lack a rational relationship
37	37	to a legitimate governmental purpose such that the initiatives
38	38	violate Texas's Equal Protection Clause and Equal Rights Amendment;
39	39	and
40	40	(6) Texans deserve a government committed to serving
41	41	every person with equal dignity and respect and to expending
42	42	precious taxpayer resources only on making Texas great for all
43	43	Texans.
44	44	(b) The purpose of this act is to prevent the unlawful
45	45	discrimination that is antithetical to the Texas Constitution's
46	46	Equal Protection Clause and Equal Rights Amendment. This act does
47	47	not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
48	48	enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the
49	49	governmental entities listed in Section 621.002(2), except as
50	50	provided by Section 621.004.
51	51	Sec. 621.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
52	52	(1) "Discriminatory office" means an office,
53	53	division, or other unit of a governmental entity established for
54	54	the purpose of:
55	55	(A) influencing hiring or employment practices
56	56	or workforce composition at the entity with respect to race, sex,
57	57	color, or ethnicity, other than through the use of color-blind,
58	58	race-neutral, and sex-neutral hiring processes in accordance with
59	59	any applicable state and federal antidiscrimination laws;
60	60	(B) promoting differential treatment or
61	61	providing special benefits to individuals on the basis of race,
62	62	sex, color, or ethnicity;
63	63	(C) promoting policies or procedures designed or
64	64	implemented in reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity, other
65	65	than policies or procedures:
66	66	(i) approved in writing by the attorney
67	67	general; and
68	68	(ii) implemented for the sole purpose of
69	69	ensuring compliance with any applicable federal law enacted before
70	70	September 1, 2025;
71	71	(D) conducting trainings, programs, or
72	72	activities designed or implemented in reference to race, sex,
73	73	color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation, other
74	74	than trainings, programs, or activities:
75	75	(i) developed by an attorney;
76	76	(ii) approved in writing by the attorney
77	77	general; and
78	78	(iii) conducted for the sole purpose of
79	79	ensuring compliance with any applicable court order or state or
80	80	federal law enacted before September 1, 2025; or
81	81	(E) promoting, as an official position of the
82	82	entity, a particular opinion referencing unconscious or implicit
83	83	bias, cultural appropriation, allyship, transgender ideology,
84	84	microaggressions, group marginalization, anti-racism, systemic
85	85	oppression, social justice, intersectionality, neo-pronouns,
86	86	heteronormativity, disparate impact, gender theory, racial or
87	87	sexual privilege, or any related formulation of these concepts.
88	88	(2) "Governmental entity" means:
89	89	(A) a department, commission, board, office, or
90	90	other agency that is in the executive branch of state government and
91	91	that was created by the constitution or a statute, other than an
92	92	institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003,
93	93	Education Code;
94	94	(B) the legislature or a legislative state
95	95	agency;
96	96	(C) the supreme court, the court of criminal
97	97	appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, or the Texas Judicial
98	98	Council or another agency in the judicial branch of state
99	99	government;
100	100	(D) a county, municipality, special purpose
101	101	district, including a school district, or any other political
102	102	subdivision of this state; or
103	103	(E) an open-enrollment charter school
104	104	established under Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code.
105	105	Sec. 621.003. RESPONSIBILITY OF GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY
106	106	REGARDING DISCRIMINATORY INITIATIVES. (a) A governmental entity
107	107	shall ensure that each unit of the entity does not, except as
108	108	required by federal law:
109	109	(1) does not, except as required by federal law:
110	110	(A) establish or maintain a discriminatory
111	111	office;
112	112	(B) hire or assign an employee of the entity or
113	113	contract with a third party to perform the duties of a
114	114	discriminatory office;
115	115	(C) compel, require, induce, or solicit any
116	116	person to provide a discriminatory statement or give preferential
117	117	consideration to any person based on the provision of a
118	118	discriminatory statement;
119	119	(D) give preference on the basis of race, sex,
120	120	color, ethnicity, or national origin to an applicant for
121	121	employment, an employee, or a participant in any function of the
122	122	entity; or
123	123	(E) require as a condition of employment any
124	124	person to participate in discriminatory training, which:
125	125	(i) includes a training, program, or
126	126	activity designed or implemented in reference to race, sex, color,
127	127	ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation; and
128	128	(ii) does not include a training, program,
129	129	or activity developed for the purpose of ensuring compliance with
130	130	any applicable federal law; and
131	131	(2) adopts policies and procedures for appropriately
132	132	disciplining, including by termination, an employee or contractor
133	133	of the entity who engages in conduct in violation of Subdivision
134	134	(1).
135	135	(b) Subsection (a)(1) may not be construed to apply to:
136	136	(1) academic course instruction;
137	137	(2) scholarly research or a creative work by a school
138	138	district's or open-enrollment charter school's students or faculty;
139	139	(3) an activity of a student organization registered
140	140	with or recognized by a school district or open-enrollment charter
141	141	school;
142	142	(4) guest speakers or performers on short-term
143	143	engagements;
144	144	(5) a program or activity to enhance student academic
145	145	achievement or postgraduate outcomes that allows participation
146	146	without regard to race, sex, color, or ethnicity; or
147	147	(6) data collection.
148	148	Sec. 621.004. COMPLAINT; ENFORCEMENT. (a) A person who has
149	149	a reasonable belief that a governmental entity is violating this
150	150	chapter may file a complaint with the attorney general.
151	151	(b) If the attorney general determines that a governmental
152	152	entity named in a complaint received under Subsection (a) is
153	153	violating this chapter, the attorney general may file a petition
154	154	for a writ of mandamus to compel the governmental entity to comply
155	155	with this chapter.
156	156	(c) A mandamus action under Subsection (b) must be filed in:
157	157	(1) Travis County, if the governmental entity is an
158	158	entity described by Section 621.002(2)(A)-(C); or
159	159	(2) the county in which the governmental entity is
160	160	located, if the governmental entity is an entity described by
161	161	Section 621.002(2)(D) or (E).
162	162	SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 2252, Government Code, is
163	163	amended by adding Section 2252.911 to read as follows:
164	164	Sec. 2252.911. PROHIBITED CONSIDERATIONS IN CONTRACTING.
165	165	(a) In this section, "governmental entity" has the meaning
166	166	assigned by Section 2252.001, except that the term does not include
167	167	an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003,
168	168	Education Code.
169	169	(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a governmental entity
170	170	may not award a contract or provide preferential or discriminatory
171	171	treatment to a person submitting a bid for a contract on the basis
172	172	of race, color, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, or sexual
173	173	orientation.
174	174	SECTION 4. The changes in law made by Section 3 of this Act
175	175	apply only to a contract entered into on or after the effective date
176	176	of this Act. A contract entered into before that date is governed
177	177	by the law in effect on the date the contract was entered into, and
178	178	the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
179	179	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
180	180	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
181	181	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
182	182	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
183	183	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.