The Brief: Legislature Could Enter Bathroom Debate

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick went on the offensive Tuesday, unveiling a number of measures against local guidelines for transgender students that mirror a federal directive from the Obama administration.

By Madlin Mekelburg and John Reynolds

June 1, 20165 AM Central

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The Big Conversation

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Tuesday asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to issue an opinion on a school district's bathroom guidelines in the latest effort from conservative leaders in the state to defy a federal directive telling public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom aligned with their gender identity.

In addition to asking Paxton to weigh in on the policy at Fort Worth ISD, which mirrors the federal directive, Patrick said he was sending a letter to every school district leader in the state advising them to ignore the guideline from the Obama administration.

Patrick previously called for the Fort Worth district's superintendent to resign over the rules, the Tribune's Patrick Svitek wrote. Days later, the federal directive from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice was released, thrusting Patrick and other policymakers further into the spotlight.

Now, Patrick said the state must look to the Legislature to address concerns with the policy at Fort Worth if the district does not reconsider its actions internally.

"When we have a rogue, runaway superintendent and a rogue, runaway school board, then the Legislature this coming-up session is going to have to look at this issue because the law is clear," Patrick said at Tuesday's press conference.

Svitek wrote that "he also repeatedly pushed back on the idea that he is intruding on a local matter, saying it is 'this superintendent and school board that is prohibiting local control.'"

Following Patrick's press conference on Tuesday, parents of transgender children spoke at a separate press conference outside the state Capitol where they characterized Patrick's efforts as a "literal pissing contest," Svitek wrote.

"I'm here to tell Dan Patrick: You — specifically you — are endangering my child's life," Ann Elder, the mother of a transgender boy named Benjamin, said during the conference. "Because you have now told everyone in the state of Texas that it's okay to harass my child, that it's okay for the school district to stop supporting them."

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The Day Ahead

• The Texas House Committee on Natural Resources meets at 9 a.m. in the Capitol extension to discuss the regional and state water planning process and the status of legislation aimed at encouraging joint groundwater planning.

• The Texas House Committee on Insurance meets at 10 a.m. in the Capitol extension to discuss the effectiveness of legislative efforts to improve transparency and quality of health care networks.

• The Texas House Committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues meets at 10:30 a.m. in the Capitol extension for an organizational meeting.