“Anti-sanctuary city bill” voted out of the State Affairs committee along party lines.
The Texas House Committee on State Affairs voted the final committee substitute for SB 4 out of the committee. The next step for the legislation is debate on the House floor.
State Representative Eddie Rodriguez issued the following statement regarding the vote:
“Despite the improvements we made in committee, SB 4 is still a heavy-handed solution to an imaginary problem. I will continue to oppose SB 4 and stand with my colleagues in the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and House Democratic Caucus to fight the legislation on the House floor.
“And if it comes down to a vote along party lines, my Republican colleagues will own their vote on SB 4. They will own the unnecessary suffering caused by the bill, the decrease in public safety, the next generation of taxpayer-backed lawsuits and the significant growth in the size and power of the Office of the Attorney General.
“Now is not the right time for Texas to enact this sweeping legislation, as there is much uncertainty on the national level. The Texas Legislature should continue to monitor the relationship between local policing policies and public safety, collecting data for the purpose of crafting better public policy.
“Only when a legitimate threat to public safety has been identified and the federal government’s future plans understood should the legislature consider taking the unprecedented step of undermining local control over policing policy.”