House vote advances 'Make Texas Healthy Again' bill
AUSTIN (Nexstar) – Legislation dubbed the “Make Texas Healthy Again” bill advanced in the Texas House Sunday night. The 105-28 vote showed bipartisan support for Senate Bill 25. The bill would require daily physical activity in public schools, a nutrition curriculum and food labels to warn Texas consumers which ingredients are banned in other countries.
“This is about the average Texan in the grocery store wanting to make healthy choices against a multi trillion dollar industry,” bill sponsor State Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston said as she presented the legislation on the House floor. “Members we need to break the system and address chronic disease,” Hull added.
SB 25 would establish the Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee to create nutritional guidelines for Texans and examine links between food additives and chronic health. The seven-member committee would be appointed by the governor.
The legislation would create additional physical education requirements for public school and charter school students. The bill also adds a requirement for the State Board of Education to adopt standards for students to learn about nutritional guidelines. Those guidelines would be recommended by the Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee.
The bill mirrors some of the elements of the “Make America Healthy Again” commission established by President Donald Trump and led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., also known as MAHA. The MAHA commission has raised concern over life expectancy in the United States falling below that of other comparable countries. The commission has called for an emphasis on nutrition, lifestyle, and physical activity and for addressing an “over-reliance on medication and treatments.”
“This is about the MAHA parents coming together with the crunchy granola parents coming together to say we are sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Hull said during her layout. She confirmed that the legislation shares the goals of the Trump administration.
“I have personally spoken to the White House, who said they are looking to us, to Texas, to get this done, to stand for our children and our future,” Hull said during her bill layout.
The bill passed the Senate in March with unanimous support. That was not the case Sunday in the House.
The vote on Senate Bill 25 came after Democrats attempted to block the legislation six different times by raising a point of order. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle proposed amendments to the bill, 19 in all. Most of the proposed amendments were rejected.
The moves slowed down the process of passing SB 25, pushing back consideration of other legislation on the House calendar. The House faces a Tuesday deadline to advance Senate bills on second reading.
State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, voted against the bill, despite being in favor of many of the items in the legislation.
“I actually had high hopes for this bill when it was announced because some of the issues, especially dealing with chemicals, dealing with additives, are things that are important to me,” Wu said. “What I did not expect was that this bill would turn into such a beast that there will be so many musts and shalls just jam down everyone’s throats,” Wu continued, referencing concerns he had with the additional requirements on students that he believe could take time away from academics.
State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, acknowledged that she saw flaws with the legislation, but she believes the bill will help Texans.
“A lot of the Democratic amendments you heard today were very sincerely put before you because we thought that there were things we could do that could make the bill better,” Howard said. “But the fact is, I am going to be supporting this bill. I think it takes us in a good direction.”
Before the final vote, Hull told her colleagues that Kennedy had called her and praised the bill. “This is the best bill in the entire nation. They are watching, and they want us to pass this bill,” Hull said.
