Overview

• The House voted 86-43 to advance SB 8, which still needs a final House vote and Senate agreement on amendments before going to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has signaled support.
• SB 8 would require restroom and locker-room use in public schools, universities, government buildings, and correctional facilities based on sex assigned at birth, and it limits access to women’s domestic violence shelters for those assigned male at birth with narrow exceptions.
• A last-minute amendment by Rep. Steve Toth raised institutional fines to $25,000 for a first violation and $125,000 for subsequent violations, with each day treated as a separate offense.
• Enforcement would hinge on complaints to the attorney general and private lawsuits against governments, with appeals routed to the newly created Fifteenth Court of Appeals.
• Debate was tense as Democrats’ amendments failed, Department of Public Safety officers cleared a heckling gallery, and lawmakers had confrontations on the floor.