Allen's two main state House members put 13 bills into the hopper Monday, the first day lawmakers could file for the 2027 session, and their early lists point in different directions.
Republican Rep. Jeff Leach of House District 67, home to about 49% of Allen's residents, filed 11 bills, most of them on criminal law and schools. Democrat Angie Carraway, who finished ahead of Rep. Candy Noble in last week's unofficial count in House District 89, filed two school funding bills. District 89 covers about 45% of the city, according to the Texas Legislative Council.
Both lists come from the Legislature's record of bills filed Nov. 9.
Leach: penalties, courts and classrooms
Several Leach bills would toughen criminal law:
- HB 157 would make continuous sexual abuse of a young child, and some aggravated sexual assault cases, capital felonies.
- HB 186 would raise the minimum prison term for an improper relationship between an educator and a student and change who is eligible for deferred adjudication in those cases.
- HB 217 would raise the penalty for failing to report child abuse or neglect.
- HB 254 would let courts admit video of a child's or disabled person's statement recorded by a forensic interviewer at a children's advocacy center, under set conditions.
Others go the opposite way on records and licenses. HB 370 would make orders of nondisclosure automatic for some misdemeanor defendants who finish deferred adjudication. HB 395 would require licensing agencies to tell applicants how a past conviction could affect eligibility. HB 422 would keep a handgun license valid for 90 days past its printed expiration if the holder sends renewal materials at least 10 days early.
On schools, HB 348 would have the State Board of Education require lessons for grades six through eight on fetal development and on "the concept that life begins at fertilization," including yearly showings, when publicly available, of three named videos, starting in 2027-28. HB 318 would have the attorney general defend, and the state cover costs for, a school district sued over expelling a student judged a safety threat. HB 281 deals with schooling for children in residential treatment centers, and HB 447 would have early voting clerks notify the state Health and Human Services Commission when a mail ballot application lists a nursing home or similar facility as the address.
Carraway: two school allotments
Carraway's HB 762 concerns the school safety allotment in the state's school funding formula, and HB 764 concerns who qualifies for the gifted and talented allotment. Their full texts were not posted by midday.
Bills may be filed until March 12. The session starts in January with Democrats running the House and Republicans keeping the Senate, so most of these will need support from both parties to advance.
