HB 226: Prohibit Insurance Discrimination

Rep. Senfronia Thompson

House Bill 226 by Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), would prohibit using sexual orientation or gender identity or expression as the basis for discrimination in insurance. Under current law insurance providers may not deny insurance or offer a different rate of insurance based on the applicant's "race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, marital status, geographic location, disability or partial disability" unless the denial of insurance or difference in rate is based on "sound actuarial principals." HB 226 would add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression" to that list.

Rep. Thompson's bill is the companion to Senate Bill 73 by Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston). The Texas legislature has two bodies: the House and the Senate. In order to become law a bill must be voted out of Committee and then pass two votes on the floor in both the House and the Senate. Companion bills allow for legislation to be considered by the House and the Senate at the same time, instead of having to pass one body, then the other. Which ever bill passes its body first (HB 226 in the House and SB 73 in the Senate) can then be substituted for the companion bill on the other side, regardless of where it is in the process. (So, for instance, if SB 73 passes committee and the two required votes in the Senate before HB 226 comes up for a vote on the House floor HB 226 can be set aside and SB 73 can receive a vote on the floor without having to go through the House committee.)

By having identical version of the insurance nondiscrimination bill in both the House and Senate Thompson and Ellis have increased the likelihood of the bill passing.

This is not the first time that insurance nondiscrimination has had versions filed in both the House and Senate. During the 82nd regular legislative session Roberto Alonzo (D - Dallas) filed the House version and Rep. Ellis filed the Senate version. Neither bill made it out of committee.

While Alonzo is a very capable and dedicated lawmaker it gives me great hope to see Thompson take the lead on this effort this year. Thompson is the senior-most Democrat in the Texas House and the second senior most member of the House as a whole. She is a tenacious advocate with an encyclopedic understanding of the legislative process and the unquestioned respect of her colleagues, and she doesn't take on fights she can't win.

With Thompson at the helm there is a better chance of insurance non-discrimination passing this session than ever before.

If you live in Rep. Thompson's district please take the time to thank her for her support and ask what you can do do help. You may call her at (713) 633-3390.

If you don't know who represents you go here to find out. 

SB 73: Prohibit Insurance Discrimination

Sen. Rodney Ellis

Sen Rodney Ellis (D - Houston) filed Senate Bill 73 with the Secretary of the Senate today. Under current law insurance providers may not deny insurance or offer a different rate of insurance based on the applicant's "race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, marital status, geographic location, disability or partial disability" unless the denial of insurance or difference in rate is based on "sound actuarial principals." SB 73 would add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression" to that list.

Ellis filed identical legislation last session. That bill, SB 208, was referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee and was never heard from again. State Affairs is chaired by Sen. Robert Duncan (R - Lubbock), Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst recently re-appointed Duncan to that post. Ultimately it will be Duncan who decides if this bill is allowed to continue through the legislative process.

Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D - Dallas) has filed identical legislation in the House for at least the last three sessions, but has not done so yet this cycle.

• If you live in Sen. Ellis' district please call him at 713-236-0306 and thank him for his support.
• If you live in Sen. Duncan's district please call him at 806-762-1122 and ask that SB 73 be given a prompt hearing in committee.
• If you live in Rep. Alonzo's district please call him at 214-942-7104, thank him for his previous support, and ask that he consider re-filing his insurance nondiscrimination bill as soon as possible.

If you don't know who represents you go here to find out.

WATCH: Legislators Speak at Dedication of Montrose Remembrance Garden

Texas Senators John Whitmire, Mario Gallegos and Rodney Ellis and Representative Garnet Coleman spoke last night at the dedication of the Montrose Remembrance Garden in Houston. The Garden is the brainchild of the Aaron Scheerhoorn Foundation for Change, made possible by the generous support of local business owner Charles Armstrong and the help of the Montrose Counseling Center.

All four spoke at length about the decade-long fight that led Texas to pass hate crimes legislation in 2001, and about the anti-bullying and teen suicide prevention bills passed this session by the legislature. Only Garnet Coleman mentioned Texas' hate crimes statute still excludes the transgender community (an omission he has tried to correct).

The Aaron Scheerhoorn Foundation was created in response to last December's brutal murder of Aaron Scheerhoorn, just blocks from the garden's location. Scheerhoorn was attacked in the Houston "gayborhood" of Montrose. Bleeding from stab wounds, he ran to a nearby bar to ask for assistance. According to witnesses the bar's bouncer refused to allow the dying man access. Scheerhoorn left to seek assistance elsewhere when his attacker caught up with him, finally delivering the fatal blow just feet from the bar's door.

In dedicating the garden organizers made it clear that it was not just in memory for Aaron Scheerhoorn, but in memory of "all victims of violence, victims of hate crimes, and those who were subjected to bullying." The event ended, as the sun set, with a candle-lit reading of the names of dozens of victims of violence and hate from the Houston area, followed by a release of hundreds of white balloons (watch the reading of victims names here).

Top 5 Texas Senators on LGBT Issues

The 82nd regular session of the Texas Legislature has come to an end. It was perhaps the best legislative session for queer Texans ever with not one, but two anti-bullying bills passing and the HIV Medication Advisory Committee's future protected by statute. Multiple bills and amendments targeting the community were introduced but were all defeated. Although we didn't get everything we needed, and are still waiting for the Governor's signature on the three bills mentioned above, all in all it was a very good session for LGBT issues.

We here at Legislative Queery have crunched the numbers and ranked the 31 Texas Senators based on their votes and authored legislation from the 82nd regular session. The rankings do not take into consideration past votes or legislation or public statements by the elected officials. You can read how we arrived at the rankings HERE.

#1

Rodney Ellis (D-Houston)

Score: 99 points Grade: A Ellis's district includes the historic "gayborhood" of Montrose in Houston as well as most of the district of Rep. Garnet Coleman, LQ's top ranked member of the House. It's largely his sponsorship of Coleman's HB 1386 (teen suicide prevention) and HB 2229 (making permanent the HIV Medication Advisory Committee) that elevated Ellis to the top of this list. His perfect voting record and authorship of the Senate version of HB 2229 (SB 1821) didn't hurt either.

#2

Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth)

Score: 98 points Grade: A It seems unfair that Davis is number two and not number one: she filed the only piece of Senate legislation this session to even mention sexual orientation and gender identity and expression (her comprehensive anti-bullying bill SB 242) and was on the forefront of every anti-bullying effort in the Senate this session, co-authoring Whitmire's SB 205 (expanding and clarifying anti-bullying portions of student codes of conduct) and co-sponsoring HB 1942 (the anti-bullying "super" bill). It's only Ellis' sponsorship of Rep. Coleman's House bills that inched Davis out of the number one spot. Davis previously held the Fort Worth City Council seat currently held by Joel Burns (of "it gets better" fame) and is outspoken and passionate in her support of the LGBT community.

#3

Judith Zaffirini (D-Larado)

Score: 96 points Grade: A Zaffirini's anti-bullying legislation didn't get much press this session. She filed two excellent bills: SB 42, which would have included cyber-bullying in the statutory definition of bullying; and SB 66, which would have closed a loophole in the Education Code that prevents students who have been transferred in the last year from being sent to alternative school, even for egregious or violent behavior. Zaffirini is known for her strong work ethic. In 23 years of service in the Texas Senate she has never missed a vote. She applied that dedication to the issue of school bullying this year, supporting every anti-bullying bill that came to the Senate floor.

#4 (tie)	Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio)
	Score: 95 points Grade: A Van de Putte was a co-author on Davis' comprehensive anti-bullying bill SB 242 and eventually sponsored anti-bullying "super" bill HB 1942 in the House. A pharmacist, Van de Putte is known for her passionate advocacy for children, both in the House where she served for 10 years and in the Senate where she's served since 1999.

#4 (tie)

John Whitmire (D-Houston)

Score: 95 points Grade: A Whitmire spoke last fall at a public hearing on bullying about the need to address the issue without creating laws that turned children into criminals for making stupid or cruel choices. He put his money where is mouth is this session by filing SB 205, which carefully laid out guidelines for the anti-bullying provisions of student codes of conduct school districts are required to adopt. Unfortunately the bill died in the House Public Education Committee, but some of its ideas were incorporated in anti-bullying "super" bill HB 1942, which Whitmire co-authored. The longest currently serving member of the Texas Senate, Whitmire carries significant influence among his peers which this session he chose to use in defense of the victims of bullying.

That's the top five. We've already published the Top 10 House Members and the Worst 10 House members and will get the rest of the list up soon including the Worst 5 Texas Senators, but in the meantime take a look at how LQ arrived at the scores and tell us what you think. Any ranking system like this naturally involves the biases of the people compiling the list. LQ welcomes comments, suggestions, rants and criticisms regarding the rankings.

Day 136: Suicide Prevention Bill Approaches Another Hurdle

Today is the 137th day of the 82nd regular session of the Texas Legislature. The House returns from recess at 10:00 am, the Senate reconvenes at 10:30.

HB 1386 by Garnet Coleman (D-Houston), is eligible for concurrance at 12:50 pm in the House. The bill instructs the Texas Department of State Health Services to develop resources designed to prevent teen suicide, including mental health counseling, crisis prevention tools and suicide prevention eduction. Schools would then have the option of implementing those programs, but would not be required to do so.

After passing the House 107 to 39 the bill went to the Senate Education Committee for consideration. The committee made a key change to the bill. Originally HB 1386 allowed students to avail themselves of counseling services offered by their school anonymously, just as adults can receive counseling without other people knowing. The Senate changed that provision to require that parents be informed and consent to their child receiving counseling or other services. This change creates a delay in the provision of services as parents must first be contacted and their permission gained, and institutes a road block toward receiving services for students who might not want their parents to know they are having suicidal thoughts or are struggling with issues of gender or sexuality.

Because the Senate changed the bill the House must concur with the changes. House rules require that Senate amendments to House bills and an analysis of their effect be distributed to House members 24 hours before the vote to concur occurs. The Senate amendments were distributed yesterday at 12:35 pm, the analysis at 12:38 pm. If the House does not concur a "conference committee" of 5 House members (appointed by the Speaker of the House) and 5 Senators (appointed by the Lieutenant Governor) will be formed to work out a compromise.

Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) promised (in a shocking display of poor taste) that he was making a "suicide pact" with his fellow Senators that if a conference committee is formed the changes made by the Senate would remain in the bill. Considering the resoluteness of the Senate and the rapidly approaching end of session it seems likely that the House will simply concur and send a less than perfect, but still good, bill to the Governor's desk for signing.

UPDATE: The House has concurred with Senate Amendments to HB 1386, more info HERE.

Teen Suicide Prevention Bill Passes Senate

HB 1386, the teen suicide prevention bill by Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) has passed the Texas Senate on a 28 to 3 vote. The bill instructs the Texas Department of State Health Services to develop resources designed to prevent teen suicide, including mental health counseling, crisis prevention tools and suicide prevention eduction. Schools would then have the option of implementing those programs, but would not be required to do so.

The Senate Education Committee made some substantial changes to the bill the House sent over, most notably adding provisions that prohibit a child from seeking counseling without their parent's knowledge. For queer teens who may not be out to their parents this is a particularly cruel change that may prevent some kids who need help from seeking it. Since the Senate version of the bill is different than the House version the House must concur with the changes. If they do not a "conference committee" of 5 House members (appointed by the Speaker of the House) and 5 Senators (appointed by the Lieutenant Governor) will be formed to to work out a comprimise between the two versions.

When he laid out the bill in the Senate Rodney Ellis (D-Houston), the bill's Senate sponsor, made what he called a "suicide pact" with the rest of the Senate to oppose any attempt by the conference committee to allow students to receive anonymous counseling. By tradition the Senate sponsor of House bills is one of the chairs of the conference committee so Ellis will be in a position to keep his pact.

Considering Ellis' commitment (however much his choice of words may be in poor taste) and the ticking clock of a session that has less than a week left in it Coleman may choose to simply concur with the changes the Senate made and send the bill to the Governor's desk for signing.

Senate Adjourns - SB 723 still on Schedule for Tomorrow

The Texas Senate has adjourned until 10 am tomorrow. SB 723, the anti trans marriage bill remains on the regular order of business for tomorrow but has been removed from the intent calendar. Unconfirmed reports indicated that staffers for five of the twelve Democratic Senators have said that their boss is opposed the bill: Leticia Van De Putte (San Antonio), Rodney Ellis (Houston), Royce West (Dallas), Wendy Davis (Fort Worth) and Jose Rodriquez (El Paso). West, Ellis and Davis' offices have confirmed their opposition, Van De Putte and Rodriquez' offices have not returned my calls.

That leaves 7 Senate Democrats who may still be on the fence. In particular Carlos Uresti's (San Antonio) office has wavered on his position, with one staffer calling bigoted SB 723 a "simple clean-up bill." Even if you have called before please do it again. If all 12 Senate Democrats oppose the bill it can not come up for a vote. We only have to keep the pressure on for a little more than a week, until May 21st, and this bill will die. The numbers of the remaining seven uncommitted offices are below.

Mario Gallegos (512) 463-0106
mario.gallegos@senate.state.tx.us

Kirk Watson (512) 463-0114
kirk.watson@senate.state.tx.us

John Whitmire (512) 463-0115
john.whitmire@senate.state.tx.us

Carlos I. Uresti (512) 463-0119
carlos.uresti@senate.state.tx.us

Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (512) 463-0120
juan.hinojosa@senate.state.tx.us

Judith Zaffirini (512) 463-0121
judith.zaffirini@senate.state.tx.us

Eduardo A. (Eddie) Lucio, Jr. (512) 463-0127
eddie.lucio@senate.state.tx.us

HIV Advisory Committee Bill in Senate Committee Today

As I mentioned in my Legislative Update for the Dallas Voice's Instant Tea Blog last week, HB 2229 by Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) is scheduled for a hearing today in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

The bill makes permanent the Texas HIV Medication Advisory Committee. Texas has a program that provides medication assistance to low-income HIV-positive people. The Advisory Committee is made up of people who are on the ground dealing with the day-to-day functions of the program and is designed to provide real world input. Earlier this year the committee was dissolved when Department of State Health Services Commissioner, Dr. David Lakey, failed to renew it. It has since been reformed after public outcry. Coleman's bill seeks to prevent future commissioners from doing something similar. The Senate companion to the bill, SB 1821, by Rodney Ellis (D-Houston), has been languishing in the committee since March.

The Texas HIV/AIDS Coalition has issued an urgent alert encouraging Texans to call the members of the Health and Human Services Committee:

Senator Jane Nelson: (512) 463-0112
Senator Bob Deuell: (512) 463-0102
Senator Joan Huffman: (512) 463-0117
Senator Robert Nichols: (512) 463-0103
Senator Dan Patrick: (512) 463-0107
Senator Jose R. Rodriguez: (512) 463-0129
Senator Carlos Uresti: (512) 463-0119
Senator Royce West: (512) 463-0123
Senator Judith Zaffirini: (512) 463-0121

Day 18: Friday Call Day

Today is the 18th day of of the 82nd regular session of the Texas Legislature. The House and Senate are both adjourned until Monday.

Today is the last day of Texas Nurse Anesthetists Week at the Capitol, The Texas Society of Architects has a display in the Rotunda all day and the Texas CHIP Association will meet in the Legislative Conference Center this morning.

Meanwhile almost all of the lawmakers are back home in their district offices, which makes Fridays a great day to call those offices. For a suggested script for your call read Legislative Queery's Day 4 post. If you don't know who your state representative and senator are you can find them HERE.

I suggest calling your representative and asking them to" co-author HB 208", Rep. Roberto Alonzo's (D-Dallas) bill to prohibit insurance discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. Equality Texas has an excellent fact sheet on the bill HERE. Currently this bill does not have a senate companion (a senate companion can help bills move through the process faster). Last session Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) filed the companion bill, but he hasn't yet this session. His district office number is (713) 236-0306. You can call him, thank him for his support in the past and ask that he consider re-filing the legislation.

HB 208: The First Explicity Pro-LGBT Bill of the session

Rep. Roberto Alonzo filed HB 208 on Monday, the first day of filing. HB 208 amends the list of characteristics which insurance companies may not consider when offering policies to add sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.

Alonzo represents district 104 in southwest Dallas, which includes the Bishop Arts district, an up and coming "gayborhood". He has a large number of vocal queer constituents and I'm happy to see him file this bill.

I was also happy to see him file it last session. With 125 bills authored or co-authored last year Alonzo never seemed to get around to fighting for this bill, or offering it as an amendment to other legislation.

Neither the version of this Alonzo filed last session, nor the Senate companion filed by Rodney Ellis got a hearing. Here's hoping they will make this legislation a higher priority this year.

Why Congratulatory Resolutions Matter

Every other year the Texas Legislature has 140 days to handle all of the business of the state. During this time thousands of different bills are considered, each and everyone with the potential to substantially change the lives of Texans.

Yet, every other year, during these 140 whirlwind days, Texas lawmakers take the time to pass hundreds of resolutions that celebrate the lives of everyday Texans and Texas institutions. These “congratulatory resolutions” have no power, and don’t effect anything. They are just a way for lawmakers to say thank you to the folks back home and create an official state record of what is important to us as a state.

So it should come to no surprise to anyone that Queer people and organizations are hardly, if ever, recognized.

During the last legislative session in 2009, the Texas House passed 1 resolution that even recognized the existence of LGBT people (HR 750 by Rep. Cohen, mourning the loss of John Paul Barnich of Houston); by comparison the house passed 62 resolutions congratulating Eagle Scouts and 263 resolutions celebrating Baptist Churches.

(On the Senate side we have 1 queer resolution (SR 312 by Sen. Ellis); 24 Eagle Scout and 34 Baptist church resolutions)

Why is this? Are there simply 43 times the number of Eagle Scouts in Texas as queer people of merit? Somehow I doubt it. There are two reasons why Texas lawmakers, some of whom are supportive of the queer community, don’t choose to recognize us with congratulatory resolutions.

1. They don’t know us
2. We don’t ask for them

Think about it, do you know who your State Representative and Senator are? Have you met them? Finding out who they are is easy, go to the Texas House and Senate websites and put in your address. Meeting them is just as easy. Contact your reps offices and ask to be put on their e-mail lists, friend them on Facebook, follow them on twitter. Elected officials attend and host dozens of community events every month. These are events in your community and are often only attended by a couple of dozen people. They provide an excellent opportunity to meet the people who make important decisions about your life (and to meet other civic minded people in your community).

You can also visit your elected officials in their offices. It’s as simple as calling and asking for an appointment. You can go to talk about any issue in the community that matters to you (TIP: bring a plate of cookies, the underpaid aides that work in the office will love you and remember you).

(Getting to know your elected officials is important for other reasons as well. I attended the ‘Project Equality’ training conducted by Equality Texas this weekend (this is an excellent training; you can visit their website to find out if there is a training in your area coming up). One of the things they told us is that there are Texas House members who have told Equality Texas “I don’t have any gay people in my district”. If there are elected officials who think that it is our fault as a community for not introducing ourselves.)

Now that you’ve gotten to know your elected officials, ask them to recognize your community. Is there a queer person in your area you admire who has an important birthday coming up next year? A couple with a ‘big’ anniversary? 463 straight couples had their anniversaries recognized last year, why shouldn’t we? What about an organization that has started a new program that makes a difference in the community? E-mail or call your representative or senator and ask them to recognize your community next legislative session.

You’ll be asked for a short bio (keep it to under 500 words and be sure use the words Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and/or Transgender), and they may have a few questions for you.

There is no reason why the queer community shouldn’t be as celebrated by the State of Texas as anyone else. We just need to ask for it.