Texas House Speaker Joe Straus Isn’t Sold On The Bathroom Bill

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus spoke to the Texas Association of Business on Wednesday and one of the topics Straus discussed was Senate Bill 6 which has also been called the bathroom bill.

According to the Texas Tribune, Straus warned lawmakers about the piece of legislation saying they should be "very careful" about doing anything that would hurt business in Texas. Straus told the gathering that he has heard from people who have compared SB 6 to the controversial bathroom bill in North Carolina.

"Many people where I come from get concerned about anything that can slow down our overall job-creating machine," Straus said. "They are also watching what happened in North Carolina, and they are not enthusiastic about getting that type of attention," Straus added, referring to the state that incurred controversy when its lawmakers pushed a similar bill.

The Texas Association of Business has come out against SB 6 with TAB President Chris Wallace warning in the past of job and economic losses according to KFYO.

Wallace’s organization claims that if passed, Texas could lose more than 185,000 jobs and as much as $8.5 billion in GDP in the “first year” of SB 6. The organization pointed to this study from last year to predict what Texas could lose.

According to the Texas Tribune, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s team dismissed TAB’s study as “misinformation and fearmongering.”

While the Speaker of the Texas House is warning lawmakers about SB 6, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has made the legislation a priority of his.