 which is in about three minutes and at that time if unless you are in line and I do not believe there's a line out there and if you are not registered then the time will be up. That's it Senator West. Madam Chair thank you very much and this is the chair to the author of the bill. I apologize for not being in and when you were laying it out. We have education going on. How will this bill assuming that it becomes the law of the state of Texas which I'm against but if it becomes the law of the state of Texas how will this bill be implemented and who will enforce it and how will it be enforced? The Attorney General Senator on page two of a less than page two that's only a two-page bill. The section may be enforced only through an action instituted by the Attorney General for mandamus or injective relief. The Attorney General may recover costs and attorney's fees relating to it. I understand that portion but on a practical basis let's say the bill is law. How is a specific infraction of this law how is it reported and how does one in the school district kind of police it. Right so we heard from testimony already today some school districts have policies already in place. This bill Senate Bill 3 the approach similar to House Bill 2899 says that this is a state purview. This under political subdivisions and so that the political subdivisions cannot institute a policy that differs from this unless overturned. So the enforcements by the AG if a school district or UIL or anyone else actually crafts a policy different than that then it would be up to the local political divisions subdivisions to if there was a complaint. Stay right there stay right there. If I'm transgender and I go to a restroom another student can make a complaint is that how that works. If a policy is adopted that otherwise would be opposite. I'm not talking about the policy now it becomes the law of the land I'm not talking about the adoption of the policy I'm talking about enforcement of the law that is being considered here. Basically saying that you have to whatever sex is a birth certificate if I violate that and go to a bathroom other than what's on my birth certificate and there's a complaint who makes the complaint. I think it takes on a number of ways to go. I think initially if it was in a school the student would complain to the school board and we've seen that in Dripping Springs ISD. So we'll take that example Dripping Springs ISD unbeknownst to most of the parents there there was a policy that was adopted in I think it was executive board of the Dripping Springs ISD and this is off of memory from Senate Bill 6 testimony and then the parents actually brought complaint to the school district. The school district didn't did not act but herein lies if you'll let me finish this that then if Senate Bill 3 pass the parents would have the ability now to go to the Attorney General to say the school district you know and this was one specific case when you're talking about one specific child as I understand it one of their elementary schools it was a specific case then in this the relief would be by those parents instead of going to the school board in Dripping Springs ISD which I'm told was it was even hard to get like to be able to to talk to the school board they would have the ability to appeal to the Attorney General who whose office then would receive the complaint and investigate the policies that had been adopted. Let's go back to the complaint that's where I am. All right a student complains to their parents what type of evidence would be necessary in order to sustain or overturn that particular complaint. When you're talking about like would there be a court case or the evidence? Well it's something like evidence obviously as soon as administrative and etc but if you were to complain to sit up and say that they saw a senator Zafferini going to the wrong restaurant okay it's your evidence you it's you making the complaint. What type of evidence with you as the complainant need to be able to show or utilize to make certain that that complaint is sustained. I think that would be well I don't think we're talking about the one instance I think that we're talking about I'll go to the case in Pennsylvania where a young man man has now brought suit because there was a female in the dressing room who has now identified as a male so female to male and he has brought suit because he went to the school district to say I'm not comfortable and they have denied that they have told him as I have read that there's nothing going to be done and so I think there's a lot of different remedies but we're not talking about that one instance I think that we're talking about more of the policy and that is what this particular bill really talks about is similar to Senator Rodriguez who filed the bill this session I think there's several joint authors who really it's it's saying it's a state purview and this is what we want it to be it's the opposite of Senate Bill 3 in creating a protective class that Title 9 doesn't actually address or are some discrepancies that he might see in Title 7 which he and I had a long exchange about today and you know he's he's called a bill actually opposite of Senate Bill 3 and when I say that not exactly opposite but a different tack to say it's a state purview and here's what the state here's what we want to see the state and again I'm talking about at state's purview okay bill passed state purview and the state puts in place this particular bill if someone violates this particular policy obviously an individual citizen I assume would be able to make a complaint if they saw someone violating the policy correct mm-hmm all right again and that's where I am at the granular level as it would practically apply to a person who would be suspected of violating this particular policy what type of evidence would I is to complain it saying that you violated the policy need to be able to provide to whatever authority the Attorney General whomever to say that there was a violation and is there any penalty for that yeah I think the OAG would have to investigate and and and when you say that you know that's true of what you know you're a lawyer in any case what is the evidence I mean it comes down to the evidence of any case and so the OAG would investigate and then eventually the court issues a mandate must correct and so I would say that we know for example in this bill Senate Bill 3 I think it'd be pretty evident if a male was running track or playing basketball basketball you're a basketball player and so someone of your size decides that they want to play girls basketball that's pretty evident that's evident what about a restaurant though I think this applies to everything in that way and how this bill less specific than Senate Bill 6 very much less than Senate Bill 6 Senate Bill 6 was a multi-page bill that went into more detail and Senator West I know you weren't here when I laid it out is that when Governor Abbott Greg Abbott did his press conference in calling for the special session and named the 19 ultimately 20 issues he specifically referenced House Bill 2899 which had a hearing in the House about that particular approach to governance making it a state purview rather than letting each one of the school districts which we could have different school districts make different decisions we just heard Leander ISD has a policy against allowing a transgender individual transgender person from going into the restrooms we had a young man come in a transgender male come and testify and so each school district now it's a patchwork of different policies and what Senate Bill 3 attempts to do is to say that's a state purview and then if any change is made by Congress or by the legislature Senator Rodriguez a bill similar to his or the Supreme Court of the United States then it yields to that policy but this is the policy and this is how we're so a transgender student that would violate the policy would be subject to suspension no that it's very silent it's not an individual action against that person it is an action the OIG can take action against the political subdivision of the violation now we could get into trespassing and different things that I think will be left up to some interpretation but if you take the cases that we've seen in target we've seen and in other situations I do think that there those are private businesses and we don't touch that with this particular bill I'm talking about the schools I think the school will have to enforce it because we have said and so how would the school enforce it that's it that's where I am on the green yeah with the student how does this state state has a policy and then you're saying the school would have to implement that policy and the question is is how do they implement policy if someone runs afoul of the policy right here before what they would do is suspension expulsion etc with the students that violated this particular policy be subject to the same sort of sanctions I think what what what they're doing currently as we see a patchwork of different policies across our state I'm asking what do you anticipate assuming that you have one policy across the state would you anticipate the sanctions being for a student that violated of the state wide policy in our public school system would you anticipate the sanctions would be suspension expulsion suspension what I don't think so I think that's left up to each school district and I think that that that the bill speaks to that it's it's what is on the birth certificate and you would say well today how do they enforce these rules because and many school districts will say privately you know we've been handling some of these situations we give we give personal accommodations to children with special needs and and I think that that will can will continue today so that would be one of the methods if there's a violation that would be one of the yeah and today the only records but I want to say some about the recourse today as parents go to the school boards and what we have seen is is you know again you can you can read what you at all of this in some newspaper articles and and you can go back to the testimony on Senate Bill 6 but the recourse is with the school district now we are allowing parents to have recourse with the attorney general if they believe the school district is in violation of this policy I'm assuming assuming that a student is in violation of the policy that's where I am the gorilla level and I'm trying to figure out what sanctions with this students be subjected to for being in violation of policy bill is silent today do you think that there should be some clarification in terms of what the sanction should be I don't think so why is that I don't know I hadn't heard any testimony to say differently and I've listened to 18 plus we've been at it three hours today 22 hours of testimony and hundreds of meetings and haven't said we have not taken personal action against a student is more aimed at the policy and to allow the school districts to handle the situations as they see fit but you wouldn't agree with me that if we come up with a statewide policy and school districts would be responsible for implementing that policy and if they don't then they're subject to mandamus as you mentioned and then implementing the policy the implementation of the policy would go to the individual students and the student violated that policy like any other policy of a school district there's certain sanctions that are applicable to that particular student and those sanctions based on what I understand in education go to the expulsion and and or suspension and I'm just trying to understand the legislative intent what is your intent in terms of what the sanctions would be the sanction is against the school district at this point not the individual so then the bill is silent in terms of any sanctions the school district would end up metting out against the individual student that violated the policy that's it is silent and you have no legislative intent in terms of what the sanction should be I have not created any but it all right all right we will get started with Ron Nuremberg yeah let me just forget start let me call the next five to sit in the first row Raymond Malew Milo MD MA I L O U S Rose a excuse me Rose McBurnett Carl McBurnett Mike Floyd and Christian Palmer be a now on recognize chair Hoffman and members of the State Affairs Committee thank you for the opportunity to be here today the City of San Antonio stands with other communities in opposition to Senate Bill 3 and Senate Bill 91 by Senator Colcourst San Antonio is a welcoming and inclusive place where people from many backgrounds and beliefs come together to make it a great place to live and to visit these bills are in direct conflict with these values we hold as a community the legislation puts transgendered people in the cross areas of discrimination in an attempt to protect children and women from a problem that clearly does not exist this legislation threatens the state's economy and lives of citizens we all represent because treatment discrimination is as bad for business as it is for the safety of the most vulnerable members of our community SB 3 and SB 91 would create the highly negative and harmful perception that San Antonio and Texas are not open and hospitable places like all Texas City San Antonio competes for business relocations conventions and major sporting events this villain impedes our ability to compete we also focus on economic development efforts on targeted industries such as advanced manufacturing information technology cybersecurity and health care and this bill will stunt the growth of the San Antonio and Texas new economies San Antonio educators also united against this legislation Bear County superintendents representing 15 school districts have signed a letter voicing opposition to this legislation and you have at your dais letters from our business community as well as you've you've heard the testimony from our chambers of commerce president CEO as well as the president CEO of visit San Antonio but in the end proponents of the bill have stated that this is geared toward public safety you have at your dais a letter from police chief bill you McMahon is stating that sexual assault and public restrooms is not a problem in San Antonio multiple state laws already criminalize the conduct that this bill purports to address and under the in other words sp3 and sp91 are fixes in search of a problem we implore you to stand against this legislation thank you mayor and I apologize for not addressing you as mayor when you sat down I don't think we've ever met and I wasn't glad didn't have my glasses not glazing card thank you thank you madam chair yes sirs after welcome mayor thank you how long have you been mayor of the city of San Antonio now about my about I don't know you so this is your first Senate hearing it is not I've served on the city council since 2013 but you've been to the Senate hearings before to testify not on this particular legislation you heard the testimony of course of other representatives of the city of San Antonio do you have any information to add regarding the economic impact on the city of San Antonio should this legislation pass only just to underscore not just the economic impact which we've already felt just by the proposal of this legislation which we know is in roughly about three million dollar direct economic impact but the daily emails and phone calls and concerns from members of our community many many who have you've heard from already and will continue to hear from throughout the day about this this legislation that again uses the fear of issues that do not arise unless these bad laws are put on the books and your written testimony says that this would impair our ability to compete across the nation could you give us specific examples of how passing this legislation would impede that competitive ability besides the already direct impact from convention business and visitor business that have already pulled out of San Antonio in Texas we know that we have many concerns calls to our visit San Antonio offices and to the city of San Antonio about what happens if this legislation is passed we know that we are competing for not just the NCAA final four that's coming year in 2018 which is already here and we know what the NCAA has done in its past but we're also working to compete for future convention business and final four business and major sporting events again we don't expect to see direct economic impact the day that this has passed but the way that convention and visitor business works is that we're already competing for business four or five years from now and they're already telling us they will not come if Texas passes these laws how would these bills or passage of these bills impact the sports community specifically the San Antonio Spurs and other sports organizations in San Antonio or throughout the state well San Antonio prides itself on being an inclusive place being in place where we work to be free from discrimination and our major businesses many of whom have signed on the letter that you have at your desks are against our tech community has been testifying and appearing here at the Capitol our major employers are all united against this legislation and that's why I'm here I represent them I represent the members of our community that this legislation targets and I will continue to do so to try and avoid this from becoming law do you know of any issue or problem in the city of San Antonio that would be resolved or corrected by passing this legislation none whatsoever and if there is a public safety argument to be made it has been done by the city of San Antonio police chief William McManus who states pretty definitively that there is no problem that this would solve thank you Mary thank you for being with us today thank you thank you madam chairman Indes thank you madam chair want to thank our new mayor mayor Ron Nuremberg for being here with us it was good to see you and your family and the whole sitting most of the city council at the Pride parade recently I want to say that this letter that you brought us from the chief seems to answer the question because you ran on the issue of public safety and therefore I know that you would do nothing that would cause a any any any member of our community to be unsafe I've spoken to some of the largest employers that we have in San Antonio and I've asked them one of whom's got about 400 locations around the state one of the largest employers we have and I said do you have a problem with people entering the wrong bathroom for any situation they said we never have a problem with this happening and so mayor you're you've taken your time to be here and sit and listen I think at the end of the day you would never propose doing something just even if it were costing us hundreds of millions of dollars which we know it will if it would cause anyone to be less safe correct that's right I mean I think that everyone in the state speaks economics and we all hopefully speak on human rights terms as well but the common denominator should be the fact that this is discriminatory legislation and discrimination is not good for the economy and the sad thing about that is that it's it's packaged and I don't think it's intended to be but that is the net impact that's the net effect it's packaged in this creating a safer situation but in the net effect is causing some folks to be less safe and that's that's why I think so many of us are going are against this legislation I want to thank you for being here I last question are you aware of the letter that was signed and I think it was signed late yesterday it was written by some of the largest employers in San Antonio many conservative business leaders Zachary Newstar Valero many many of them I don't have all but I understand it was more than a dozen that sent in opposition to this yes and in fact we are all very proud of them for that they they sent me a copy of the letter that's also why you heard from the president and CEO of this San Antonio Chamber of Commerce of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is here as well the Texas Association of Business is here they represent San Antonio and we represent them and every one of our school districts in Bear County is opposed as well correct that's correct 15 school districts signed on to a letter that you should have at your desk as well thank you for everything you're doing to make our city a better place to raise a family to live thank you ma'am thank you all right we have Lisa sure happen yes quick question and I mean maybe Senator Menendez me in front of San Antonio you may know this better do you know of how your 15 school districts voted on in the UIL each I think it is each principal of each superintendent gets to vote on policies there was a policy February 20th February 2016 about the inclusiveness or non-inclusiveness of males participating in female sports do you know how they voted I don't have a clue but what I will do is my staffs in the office listening to this both in San Antonio in here and we'll get the answer for you later today I would like to know how they feel about males being able to compete in women's sports girl sports we will get the answer to you thank you so much thank you thank you all right thank you Lisa ships great thank you madam chair and committee thank you for hearing us my name is Lisa chefs I'm the interim executive director organization that advocates on behalf of gender diverse by the gender diverse and I just want to start out by saying Senator Kolkhorst I you know you talked about