The 89th Texas Legislative Session is barreling towards us like your uncle who takes holiday flag football just a little too seriously. But unlike your family’s annual sporting match, no amount of hot-potatoing the ball will slow the determined approach of the Lege.
The action in Austin begins Jan. 14, and it's the House speaker’s race — generally a premeditated pomp and circumstance election that draws little attention — dominating headlines. Republican intraparty fighters David Cook of Mansfield and Dustin Burrows of Lubbock both claim the seat will be theirs come January, and which one has enough support to meet the 76-vote threshold is uncertain.
Despite the hubbub surrounding who will sit in the speaker's chair, we haven’t stopped paying attention to the thousands of bills legislators have submitted since the filing period began in November. The Observer has taken a look at bills that would make drag queens legally vulnerable, bills that would create a statewide banned book list and bills — 32 of them, in fact — that target transgender Texans.
A majority of these proposals will never make it out of committee, much less be signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. Still, each proposed state law is a look into the mind of the legislator who submitted it. And to steal a line from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, some of these guys are just weird.
A few proposals caught our attention over the holiday. Sometimes the only thing that can distract you from the family member who won’t stop talking about politics is more politics.
Here are three more bills filed by Texas lawmakers that we think should be on your radar:
Dollar Dollar Bitcoin, Y’all
The biggest enemy of the Texas economy is inflation, says Republican Rep. Giovanni Capriglione from Southlake. Capriglione owns a private-equity management firm, and, evidently, has seen the light when it comes to the merits of the digital currency Bitcoin.
Hence, the North Texas lawmaker filed H.B. 1598, which would enable Texas to start a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the state treasury by accepting taxes, fees or donations in cryptocurrency. The bill requires the Bitcoin fund to remain untouched for five years.
Capriglione described the bill as a “win-win for the state” because of the role he believes Bitcoin could play in hedging the impact of inflation on our state’s economy. Other advocates have stated that Texas is the eighth-largest economy in the world, and advancement in the cryptocurrency sphere would result in our state being on the forefront of the world's online market.
"With a quickening of Bitcoin adoption, Texas will be forced to move forward at some point with a Bitcoin reserve bill, whether now or in the future, as nation-states and other U.S. states establish their own reserves,” Kadan Stadelmann, chief technology officer at cryptocurrency group Komodo Platform, told The Street about the proposal.
The “big and broad” legislative proposal is aligned with pro-crypto promises recently made by President-elect Donald Trump, and while the U.S. is expected to weigh the pros and cons of starting its own Bitcoin reserve, Texas may be two steps ahead. That could be a good thing, inspired purely by Capriglione’s desire to diversify the Lone Star State’s finances and not at all by donations made to his most recent campaign by Pro-Bitcoin PACs.
Away in an (Austin) Manger
Two identical bills — one in the Texas House and one in the Senate — have been filed by Houston-area officials advocating for the installation of a nativity scene at the Capitol each winter.
House Bill 1497, filed by Rep. Briscoe Cain, and Senate Bill 515, filed by Sen. Mayes Middleton, call for the State Preservation Board to place the nativity display on the State Capitol’s grounds for “at least” the month of December each year. If enacted, the law would go into effect in time for next Christmas.
Neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Texas Constitution names an official religion for the country or the state. That’s kind of our whole "melting pot" thing. But a statement released by Middleton said it is the “religious liberties” enshrined in both constitutions that would allow the nativity scene.
“In the Christmas season, it is important to reflect on one of the greatest moments of history — the birth of Jesus,” the statement says. “Our nation and state were founded on Judeo-Christian values, and we can see many of Jesus’ teachings throughout the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and laws.”
If the Observer could add our own suggestion to this brainstorming session, we would like to see the month-long nativity scene made live action, with each role being played by a different elected state official. There may be a brawl over who gets to play baby Jesus, but Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton has the temper tantrums for the part so we suggest him.
The only question: Who are we going to find to play the wise men?
Fixing What Isn’t Broken With a Sledgehammer
Another bill out of the Houston area — seriously, what’s going on down there? — would cause chaos and distrust in Texas’ electoral system, elections experts warn. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt filed S.B. 505 to “address election irregularities,” such as discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and the number of voters in a given area.
The bill would also require election officials to respond to each inquiry with documentation within 20 days of receiving the complaint, something Bettencourt believes could add transparency to our electoral process. If complainants are not satisfied with the response they receive, they would be able to appeal to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, which would then be able to perform an audit of the election.
“It's difficult to see how this is anything other than just a really cumbersome administrative process that's just going to in a lot of ways throw sand in the gears of election administration,” Daniel Griffith, senior director of policy at Secure Democracy, told the Texas Tribune.
The Republican filed similar bills in 2021 and 2023, when they passed in the Senate but not the House.
Elections experts are sounding the alarm on the effect Bettencourt’s bill could have on local elections, but Dallas County need look no further than our own elections office, which was put through the ringer in the weeks leading up to the November election. The Dallas County voting machines underwent three hours-long audits in the days leading up to early voting after local officials raised doubts about their accuracy.
Dallas County Republican Party Chairman Allen West warned the machines posed “grave risks” to election integrity, and that, by his estimation, “60–70% of Dallas County’s” votes could be manipulated by the system. Dallas County Election Office officials denied West’s claims, something that — if Bettencourt’s bill is passed — could then give skeptics like West fuel to head to the Texas secretary of state.
“There's a great desire in people to be angry right now. And this is just the latest dishonest food that the right wing is feeding to people who are eager to eat up anger,” State Sen. Nathan Johnson of Dallas, who attended the third inspection, told the Observer at the time.
