These 5 KXAN investigations sparked bills landing on the Texas governor’s desk
AUSTIN (KXAN) – This session, Texas lawmakers filed around 50 bills sparked by or following KXAN investigations on a wide range of important topics from schools and health care to criminal justice and constitutional law. Many of those advanced far in the legislative process, while a handful even made it the governor’s desk and will likely become law.
SB 1437 / SB 571: Misconduct Concerns
Two bills related to the state’s “Do Not Hire” registries made it to the governor. He already signed Senate Bill 1437 into law, allowing the Texas Juvenile Justice Department to designate former employees or volunteers permanently ineligible for certification if they engage in conduct that threatens juvenile safety. The other expected to be signed is Senate Bill 571, which expands the Texas Education Agency’s authority to investigate volunteers and third-part contractors who work on school campuses and are accused of misconduct. These bills were filed after KXAN revealed a juvenile corrections officer was able to get a tutoring job at an Austin ISD campus while under investigation for sexual misconduct by a state agency.
SB 1 Provision: Crime Victim Payments
Part of Senate Bill 1, the budget bill sent to the governor, includes a change to the state’s crime victim compensation fund, which pays victims and their loved ones for recovery costs and other items like funeral expenses. It requires the Texas attorney general’s office, which manages the fund, to give a more accurate picture of how quickly victims are paid and how well the program is working. It comes after KXAN discovered a flawed data formula was showing a much shorter wait time than the actual eight-month average to receive a first payment. The new law aims to have that happen in under 90 days.
SB 1403: Child Support Payments
Another bill signed by the governor that will impact the attorney general’s office is Senate Bill 1403, dealing with the agency’s child support division. It allows the attorney general to speed up procedures to cut down on unnecessary delays in delivering child support payments. The agency will also now be able to get information directly to families at courthouses and on its website. The measure comes after a KXAN investigation highlighted concerns from parents owed billions of dollars in child support.
SB 378: ‘Botox Party’ Bill
A measure pushing Botox patient safety and transparency will also become law. Senate Bill 378 prohibits barbers, cosmetologists and estheticians from administering Botox and other injectables unless they are licensed or authorized to give the shots. It also gives the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation more disciplinary authority over those professionals. Several Texas estheticians and injectors registered their opposition to the bill this session. KXAN’s reporting revealed anyone in Texas can become certified to do injections, including Botox, and highlighted the lack of oversight concerning medical experts.
Near Misses, Still Making Impact
Another measure, Senate Bill 660, related to patient safety and sparked by a KXAN investigation didn’t make it over the legislative finish line. The hospital security measure cleared the Senate but stalled in a House committee. In its original form, it would have required hospitals to have security barriers at their entrances statewide. The bill was filed after KXAN’s coverage of a deadly crash into an Austin emergency room last year, which led to a local ordinance requiring those devices at all new hospitals in the city.
The state legislation, however, met heavy resistance from the Texas Hospital Association, largely over costs, even as lawmakers used KXAN’s data to illustrate the frequency of these kinds of crashes into medical centers. The dataset now lists more than 580 over the last decade nationwide – many of those in Texas. The bill’s author, Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, said he plans to re-file next session.
Another medical-related bill filed after KXAN’s reporting would have expanded the use of medical examiners for death investigations in more counties across Texas. It came after we revealed most counties don’t have medical examiners – doctors trained for that purpose – and instead rely on elected justices of the peace who often lack expertise in this area.
Senate Bill 1370 died along with many other bills at a midnight House deadline in the session’s final week, just one step from the governor’s desk. But its sponsor, Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, tells KXAN he plans to call for an interim charge to study how to attract more doctors with this expertise to fill the growing need in Texas ahead of the next session.
Also, looking ahead to next session, the author of House Bill 1738, Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, said he plans to re-file his legislation aimed at repealing the state’s unconstitutional ban on “homosexual conduct.” KXAN’s analysis shows, since the 1980s, there have been at least 60 attempts to do just that – most of those since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling struck down the law as unenforceable.
HB 1978, which was filed after a KXAN investigation, made it further in the legislative process than any of those past bills. Critics say leaving the old law on the books allows for police and policymakers’ misinterpretation of it.
The governor has until June 22 to sign, veto or allow bills to become law without his signature. Several this session – including others on open government and state hospital beds – started with KXAN viewer tips. If you have something you think we should investigate, reach out to our investigative team.
The following KXAN journalists contributed to this report: Digital Data Reporter Christopher Adams, Senior Investigative Producer David Barer, Investigative Photojournalist Richie Bowes, Investigative Reporter Arezow Doost, Investigative Reporter Matt Grant, Investigative Producer Dalton Huey, Investigative Photojournalist Chris Nelson, Digital Special Projects Developer Robert Sims, Investigative Reporter Kelly Wiley, Digital Director Kate Winkle
