Abbott pushes bail reform, warns Democrats not to back 'dangerous criminals'
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — To get his bail reform priorities passed, Gov. Greg Abbott needs to convince at least 12 House Democrats to join all the House Republicans. On Wednesday, Abbott hinted he still needs those votes.
“There’s progress, but not sufficient progress,” he said. Abbott also didn’t shoot down the idea of going to special session over bail reform. “We’ll make decisions like that as they arise. My expectation is that no Democrat, no Republican, wants to have on their record that they supported dangerous criminals over the safety of their own constituents.”
An (even) stricter bail proposal
In February, the Texas Senate passed out State Sen. Joan Huffman’s, R-Houston, bail reform package, including two proposed constitutional amendments. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds vote from each chamber of the Texas legislature before needing a simple majority in a public vote.
Senate Joint Resolution 1 would require jails to hold those charged with felonies without bond if they’re in the country illegally. Senate Joint Resolution 5 would give judges discretion to hold those accused of certain violent and sexual felonies without bond. However, Abbott appears to want SJR 5 to go further.
“We need to amend the [Texas] Constitution to do several things,” Abbott said. “One, judges must automatically deny bail for violent crime. Crime like murder, rape and human trafficking — unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant will appear in court and not endanger the community. What this does [is] it changes the law to shift the burden for repeat violent criminals to prove that they are not a danger to the community.”
Abbott acknowledged that most Democratic lawmakers have yet to see the updated version.
“I don’t know how many Democrats have actually seen that yet, so they have not been put to the test,” Abbott said. “They will be put to the test, though, here in a week or two.”
Getting bail reform passed
On Thursday, May 15, all House bills with a chance to pass will need to have been heard on the House floor. Both SJR 1 and SJR 5 had identical versions heard in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in March. They’ve been sitting there ever since.
“We’ve got to get it this week out of committee,” House Criminal Jurisprudence Chair John Smithee, R-Amarillo, said. “Hopefully it will be on the floor within a week or so.”
If it gets to a floor vote, the 88 House Republicans will not be able to pass it without at least 12 Democrats jumping on board. However, Abbott said this as an issue Democrats should want to vote in favor of.
“It’s a common sense issue, fixing the deadly and broken bail system that lets dangerous criminals right back onto our streets,” he said. “This is and should not be a Republican or a Democrat issue. This is a public safety issue, plain and simple.”
Huffman took a stronger stance and said she’s done enough negotiating.
“[House Democrats] constituents are being raped, murdered, threatened, terrorized [and] they should have a moral obligation to take this vote and to pass this on, so the Texas voters can make a decision,” she said.
