Overview

• The House State Affairs Committee held the first House hearing in eight years on the Texas Women’s Privacy Act and left the bill pending without a vote after the Senate passed its companion earlier this week.
• Constable Stacy Suits told lawmakers his office has seen no bathroom incidents in nine years and said officers are not interested in being the “potty police.”
• Bill sponsor Rep. Angelia Orr said determinations would rely on how a person looks, while law enforcement and other opponents warned the approach would invite harassment and put transgender officers and civilians at risk.
• The proposal would require use of multi‑user facilities in government buildings, schools, universities, shelters, prisons and jails based on the sex on an original birth certificate, with institutions facing $5,000 first‑time fines and $25,000 for subsequent violations and complaints routed to the attorney general for investigation.
• The hearing grew heated, with one witness ejected and another reprimanded over remarks, and the bill includes language seeking to limit state‑court injunctions or constitutional rulings; lawmakers face a Sept. 13 special‑session deadline.