More than 700 new state laws take effect tomorrow. Ken Wink, assistant dean at UT Tyler, will discuss the wave of new laws. Wink explores the implications of what some are calling “sweeping” legislative changes.
Wink also addresses the controversy surrounding House Bill 3, a response to the Uvalde school shooting, which promises a significant influx of funds to fortify schools, as well as Senate Bill 763, the school chaplain bill. It seeks to redefine school mental health support by permitting the employment of chaplains in school districts.
MIKE LANDESS: For UT Tyler Radio, I’m Mike Landess. On Sept. 1, more than 770 new state laws go into effect. They deal with issues ranging from street racing and school safety to prohibiting race-based hair discrimination in workplaces. Here to discuss the tsunami of new Texas laws going into effect is UT Tyler political science professor, Ken Wink. Welcome.
KEN WINK: Thanks, Mike, good to be here.
LANDESS: Even though I know you want to touch on all 770 new laws, let’s just touch on a few. In the wake of the Uvalde school shootings, there was a statewide call for the legislature to respond and, after haggling for most of the session on how to implement a property tax cut, it finally came up with House Bill 3, school safety. What is it and what’s it supposed to accomplish?
WINK: Sure, Mike, well, as you pointed out, after Uvalde there were calls to do things to improve school safety, and the legislature did respond. There were a number of new laws and modifications of existing laws. And what House Bill 3 does, it really does quite a lot. It provides somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 million from the state to the school districts over the next 2 years to increase physical security infrastructure on campus and also to try to make sure that the school districts have plans in place for active shooters and other kinds of emergencies like that.
LANDESS: There have been programs that have helped bolster that you’re aware of. In other words, did they have an existing program to draw from, or are they having to make this up as they go along?
WINK: No, they did. They did have plans, but I think, in light of the Uvalde shooting, as you can imagine and the Parkland shooting was another thing that they looked at over in Florida. They decided to try to beef things up, with the state coming with up with some additional funding as well as some additional mandates for the school districts. So, it’s mostly a modification of existing law.
LANDESS: One of those 770 laws requires an armed officer at every school in the state. With local law enforcement trying desperately to recruit and retain officers, that would seem to be a challenge.
WINK: Right, and I think, Mike, most of the things in House Bill 3 are not that controversial, really. But I think the armed- having someone mandate — this is a mandate from the state that the school districts must have at least one, armed security personnel on every campus in the school district. So, that is an unusual mandate. You can sort of understand the thinking behind that. But of course, that’s the most controversial part of House Bill 3.
LANDESS: A number of groups have maintained for years that taking God out of the classroom has been a mistake, while church and state separatists say it should stay out. That makes the passage of Senate Bill 763 particularly interesting. That’s the school chaplain bill. What is it and how does it work?
WINK: Right. The school chaplain bill is a modification of existing law, which to make it as easily understandable as possible. So, we know that school districts are allowed to have mental health professionals, counselors, behavioral health specialists and so forth on staff at campuses. This is new. This puts chaplains in that category. And I think the thinking behind those who are in favor of the bill, Mike, is that, with mental health being an issue these days that seems to be getting worse in the post-COVID era, that that may help in the school shooting situation by giving students who might need someone to listen to them another person. I guess the idea of being that someone with a chaplain’s background would have a unique perspective on the spiritual aspect of things and be able to interact with students in a positive way.
LANDESS: Has there been a pushback from the community that is separatist of church and state?
WINK: Most definitely. The ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have already written every school district in the State of Texas as to why they should not do this. And, by the way, let me point out too, this is not a mandate by the state. It’s an allowance of school districts to hire chaplains, should they choose to do that. And I think they have between now and maybe March 1 or March 15 of next year to make a decision, yes or no, we will not. You can accept volunteer chaplains, or you can actually pay them, but either way, as you can imagine, there are some constitutional issues raised by that. Those who are opposed see it as a definite attempt to get religion in the public schools where it should not be, and they have some pretty good precedents to stand on. In general, I will say this: that the Supreme Court over the last several decades has not really been concerned about college-age students and their ability to decide to practice religion or not practice religion. But they have, for really most of the 20th Century, been very concerned about elementary schools and high school-age students being pressured, I suppose, to engage in religious activity that they would not want to engage in otherwise. So it’s that coercive factor that is part of the issue for the church-state separationists.
LANDESS: What’s the overall health of Texas politics these days? We’re a red state. No reason to believe we won’t be for the foreseeable future. What about the two sides finding ways to work together?
WINK: Well, you know, there has been a tradition of that in Texas. Conservative Democrats have been able to work with Republicans for a long, long time. There’s a long history of that. But you can’t help but wonder as the nation becomes more polarized, it is probably the case that Texas has become more polarized, too.
LANDESS: Let me throw you one curveball before we leave.
WINK: Sure, you always do.
LANDESS: I always try. It keeps you on your toes. Let’s talk about the, just briefly-any thoughts on the impeachment trial of the attorney general?
WINK: I’ve not been really covering that very much. I think it’s probably not going to go well. I don’t see a lot of prominent…
LANDESS: What do you mean by that, exactly?
WINK: Not well for the attorney general. I think that you do not see prominent Republicans really coming to his defense, and that is sort of a tipping of the hand about what is likely to happen. Now, I’ve seen ads, of course, by the attorney general in defense of himself, but you don’t see a lot of vocal high-ranking Republicans who appear to be ready to come to the rescue.
LANDESS: Any final thoughts you’d like to share?
WINK: Well, I think we’ve covered it. I’m sure there’ll be other issues that will come up. Certainly, on a national stage, we see things happening now as we get ready for the 2024 elections. But I think all that long hard work by the legislature for several months is done, and so we’ll hope that the Texas does well over the next couple of years.
LANDESS: Our guest has been UT Tyler political science professor Ken Wink. To hear this interview again or to share it, go to KVUT.org. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio.
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