URGENT ALERT: Texas House Speaker Flip-Flops, Calls TSA Bill “Ill-advised Publicity Stunt”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Texas House Speaker Joe Straus flip-flopped on HB 41 today, refusing to allow the House to vote on this bill and calling it “an ill-advised publicity stunt.” This “publicity stunt” boasts 114 co-authors and is based upon HB 1937, the TSA Anti-Groping bill that passed the House unanimously 138-0 during the regular session under Speaker Straus’ oversight. So why was this a legitimate bill the first time around, and now nothing more than a publicity stunt? Simple put: Speaker Straus has flip-flopped.

URGENT ALERT: Call Speaker Straus’ office at (512) 463-1000 and tell him that you are outraged by his flip-flop on HB 41. Ask him to stand up for Texans’ liberty and the sanctity of our bodies.

By Becca Aaronso

TEXAS TRIBUNE

The TSA anti-groping bill hit another roadblock today when the House adjourned without considering the legislation as scheduled. “Our plane was not full to capacity,” House Speaker Joe Straus said, hinting that the House did not have a quorum present to pass the legislation. But that wasn’t the only reason the bill wasn’t heard.

“The bill, without some serious revisions, appears to me to be nothing more than an ill-advised publicity stunt, unenforceable…[and] misdirected at uniform security personnel,” Straus said. He argued the bill should be aimed “at Washington, at the bosses of these people.”

The bill would criminalize “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly touching” the “sexual organs” of someone during a security screening at a public facility, including airports. Although it passed unanimously out of the House during the regular session, the bill died in the Senate after the Department of Justice threatened to shut down Texas airports if the legislation passed. In a letter to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus, U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy said the federal government would be forced to cancel flights in Texas if TSA could not effectively screen passengers to ensure the safety of all flights.

The Longview Republican who authored the bill, David Simpson, said he’s not surprised the bill was not considered today. Straus approached Simpson earlier this week and asked him to change the language of the bill. “The first thing I was asked to do was remove the section that refers to private parts,” said Simpson. He was also asked to reduce the standard for searching people in the bill from “probable cause” to “reasonable suspicion.” Simpson did not agree to change the language, but said he would have accepted an amendment, if it was supported by the House, to change the language in the bill.

Today, Straus — showing a degree of public adamance not seen much this session — said the bill will never be considered on the House floor “as written.” The House is drafting a resolution to send a message to the appropriate people and address the issue of inappropriate searches “without making the Texas Legislature a laughing stock,” he said.

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