Several North Texas lawmakers have been rated as some of the strongest “pro-family” advocates in the Texas Legislature.
A new legislation report card has been released by the Texas Family Project, a political activist group working to shield minors from sexual content and advance “legislation to support parental rights, strengthen marriage and family relationships, and provide resources for families as they battle for the hearts and minds of their children.”
In an emailed statement to The Dallas Express, the organization’s president, Brady Gray, explained how the report card came about.
“The last thing Legislators want is for their constituents to see the actual votes they take,” Grady said. “And that is precisely why we’ve taken the time to put this report card together.”
In the upper chamber, virtually every Republican senator earned a score of 100% for their votes to ban child sex alteration surgeries, prevent sexually explicit books from being sold to public schools, and back other legislative items considered to be “pro-family.”
Dallas-Fort Worth area senators who got a perfect score include Sens. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury), Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound), Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), Phil King (R-Weatherford), and Bob Hall (R-Edgewood).
The only Republican member of the Senate not to get a perfect score was Sen. Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville), who still garnered a 97% ranking.
Gray explained, “Senate Republicans under the leadership of Dan Patrick did what Texas voters asked, they passed legislation to ban dangerous and harmful puberty blockers and sex change surgeries on minors, to stop the sexually prurient drag shows in the presence of minors, and to ban men competing in women’s collegiate sports.”
All of the Senate Democrats received an “F” grade, with scores ranging from Sen. Juan Hinojosa’s (D-McAllen) 35% to Sen. Roland Gutierrez’s (D-San Antonio) 21%.
The lower chamber, however, showed a much higher degree of variation in scoring.
“In contrast, the House killed legislation that would have given detransitioners tools to restore their bodies … and spent their evenings in the chamber drunkenly debating how best to take down the Attorney General,” Gray alleged.
Toward the end of the regular session, videos of House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) appearing intoxicated while on the dais went viral, leading Attorney General Ken Paxton to call for his resignation, as reported by The Dallas Express. Shortly after that, Phelan and his allies initiated impeachment proceedings against Paxton.
Nevertheless, several North Texas representatives earned high marks for their legislative efforts throughout the session, with Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) earning 97%. His score put him in a three-way tie for first with Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) and Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler).
Other high-scoring lawmakers from the area include Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth) with 96% and Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) with 95%.
Some Republicans earned failing grades by Texas Family Project’s standards, including Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-University Park) with 60% and Rep. Angie Chen Button (R-Richardson), who also scored a 60%.
House Democrats earned scores ranging from Rep. Eddie Morales Jr.’s (D-Eagle Pass) 48% to Rep. Jolanda Jones’ (D-Houston) 11%.
Despite the differences between the House and the Senate, several major “pro-family” pieces of legislation were passed and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, including a ban on child sex alteration surgeries and cross-sex hormone prescriptions, a law that prevents sexually explicit books from being sold to school libraries, and a biological rule for college sports.
“While we are proud of the legislative victories we saw this session, we know there is a lot left to do,” Gray concluded. “Texas Family Project is committed to defending our kids, fighting for family values, and holding our legislators accountable.”
Others, however, have condemned many of Texas’ new laws.
Referring to the ban on child sex alteration and other similar proposals, the Human Rights Campaign said, “These bills are part of an aggressive ongoing effort in the Texas legislature to target LGTBQ+ equality, and especially the rights of transgender children and the people who love them.”
Texas has been sued over the ban.
Similarly, state and national book vendors have filed a lawsuit to stop the new law that regulates what materials can be sold to schools, The Dallas Express reported.
“The Texas law replaces the long-established rights of local communities to set and implement standards for school materials within constitutional boundaries, and forces private businesses to act as instruments of state censorship on controversial topics under threat of retaliation,” the coalition of booksellers claimed.
