AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A Texas House deadline has come and gone, killing many top-priority bills for both parties – including raising the criminal age of responsibility, Tesla-backed direct car sales, regulating ride-hailing companies and limiting or expanding gay rights.
Midnight Thursday was the last chance for House bills to win initial, full-chamber approval.
Since any proposal can be tacked onto other bills as amendments, no measure is completely dead until the legislative session ends June 1. But even with such resurrections, actually becoming state law now gets far tougher.
Among the most-watched of the hundreds of bills that didn’t survive the final frantic hours of floor debate, was one prohibiting government officials from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.
Republican Rep. Cecil Bell says he’s looking for bills that could be amended.