Watch a conversation with North Texas lawmakers on legislative session’s impact

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

State lawmakers from North Texas convened on Friday to discuss the steps the Legislature took this year to further integrate religion in schools, while urging bipartisanship.

The event, co-hosted by the Fort Worth Report at the University of Texas at Arlington, is the latest in a series of talks organized by The Texas Tribune to debrief the major developments from this year’s legislative session that ended June 2.

Moderated by Fort Worth Report’s local government accountability reporter Drew Shaw, the panel discussion included state Reps. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, and Salman Bhojani, D-Euless.

This session, the Legislature passed a series of bills focused on education. Among them were Senate Bill 11, which allows for school districts to set aside school hours for prayer, and Senate Bill 10, which requires the display of the Ten Commandments in a classroom.

Tinderholt, who supported both bills, emphasized that the country was founded on Christian values and such legislation are important to preserving the traditions and values of the country.

Bhojani, who was opposed to the bills, said the state should not mandate a specific faith.

“The state should not be saying, ‘Hey! Place these Ten Commandments or the Five Pillars of Islam in this classroom,’” Bhojani said. “Kids should not be told, ‘Hey! This is the only important faith and other faiths do not matter,’ and that is what we are saying indirectly.”

While the Legislature can become polarized on certain issues, both Tinderholt and Bhojani emphasized that Democrats and Republicans must differentiate between personal relationships and policy.

“I think over time … the House has moved from the middle and has started to drift towards the right in policy, but I think the mutual respect has been there for decades before I got there,” Tinderholt said. Tinderholt announced this month that he plans to retire from Legislature after serving more than a decade in the House.

---

First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!