Just a few days remain until the Legislature adjourns sine die on June 2. The only bills still moving toward passage at this point are bills that have passed both legislative chambers but need to have the differences between the House and Senate versions reconciled. The deadline for the chambers to either concur on the latest version of a bill or appoint a conference committee to continue negotiating is midnight Friday, May 30. 

Sunday, June 1, is the last day for both the House and Senate to either adopt conference committee reports or discharge conferees and concur with the opposite chamber’s amendments. Sunday is the last day to finally pass any bill during the 89th legislative session.  

Monday, June 2, is the last day of the session, known as sine die. This is largely a ceremonial day.   

Following sine die, the governor has 20 days (until June 22) to sign a bill, veto it, or allow it to become law without a signature. Unless otherwise specified, bills become effective 91 days after sine die. Bills with earlier effective dates must have passed by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each chamber.  

With these deadlines in mind, here’s a status check on major education-related legislation: 

• House Bill (HB) 2 by Chairman Brad Buckley (R–Salado), the House’s school finance bill: The House concurred on the Senate amendments Thursday with a 122-13 vote. Each chamber will now sign the final version of the bill, and it will be sent it to the governor. Check out our previous coverage on Teach the Vote for more on the content of HB 2.  
• HB 4, by Buckley, the House’s priority legislation on testing and accountability: The Senate’s version of the bill was distributed to House members Wednesday. On Thursday, the House chose not to concur with the Senate amendments and instead requested a conference committee. House conferees are Buckley, Rep. Trent Ashby (R–Lufkin), Rep. Diego Bernal (D–San Antonio), Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R–Odessa), and Rep. Will Metcalf (R–Conroe). The Senate assigned as conferees Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston), Sen. Cesar Blanco (D–El Paso), Sen. Donna Campbell (R–New Braunfels), Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe), and Sen. Kelly Hancock (R–North Richland Hills). The Senate version and the House version are VERY different, and their differences may be too far apart to come to an agreement by Sunday. Visit ATPE’s Advocacy Central to send your legislator an important message about NOT passing a version of HB 4 that increases STAAR testing!  
• ATPE-supported HB 6 by Rep. Jeff Leach (R–McKinney), the House’s priority school discipline bill: The House concurred with the Senate amendments on Wednesday. Each chamber will now sign the final version of the bill, and it will be sent to the governor. Check out our previous coverage on Teach the Vote for more on the content of HB 6. 
• SB 13 by Sen. Angela Paxton (R–McKinney), the Senate’s priority legislation on parental access and consent for library materials: House passage of SB 13 was reported to the Senate Wednesday, and on Thursday, the Senate took up the House version of the bill and chose to not concur with House amendments. The Senate assigned as conferees Paxton, Bettencourt, Blanco, Creighton, and Sen. Tan Parker (R–Flower Mound). On Friday, the House appointed as conferees Buckley, Rep. Harold Dutton (D–Houston), Rep. James Frank (R–Wichita Falls), Leach, and Rep. Nate Schatzline (R–Fort Worth). SB 13 would add “indecent” and “profane” content to the list of prohibited library materials. The bill would also require parents to have access to library materials and to monitor the items their students check out. It would require the creation of local school library advisory councils to address challenges to library books. If a conference committee does not hash out the details by Sunday at midnight, the bill will die. You can use ATPE’s Advocacy Central to reach out to legislators about SB 13. 
• SB 12 by Creighton, the Senate’s priority omnibus “parental rights” bill: The bill passed the House Sunday, and on Wednesday, the Senate refused to concur with House amendments and requested a conference committee. Senate conferees are Creighton, Campbell, Sen. Adam Hinojosa (R–Corpus Christi), Parker, and Sen. Angela Paxton (R–McKinney). On Thursday, the House appointed Buckley, Rep. Lacey Hull (R–Houston), Leach, Metcalf, and Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R– Arlington) as conferees. SB 12 would state that parents have the right to review all curriculum and instructional materials, as well as student academic and health records. These are rights parents already hold and have long held. The bill also incorporates parts of other bills, including legislation that would open up district transfers and ban “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) duties” while creating grievance processes for enforcing DEI prohibitions. The conference committee has until Sunday to reach a deal and send the conference committee report back to the full Senate for approval. You can use ATPE’s Advocacy Central to reach out to legislators about SB 12.