Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to sign Ten Commandments bill after Senate approval
A Texas bill that would order the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms was advanced by the state Senate on Wednesday, sending the legislation to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk after the House of Representatives passed an amended version Sunday.
The Senate passed the GOP-drafted Senate Bill 10 in March along party lines. Despite debate and attempts to delay the bill's progress in the House in recent days, a Democratic lawmaker's amendment that requires the state, rather than school districts, to defend any legal challenges to the law was approved on Sunday. Such a change forced the bill back to the Senate for approval with only days left in the current legislative session.
With that approval in place, Abbott, a Republican, is expected to sign the bill. His spokesman referred a request for comment to what Abbott posted on X earlier this month: "Let's get this bill to my desk. I'll make it law."
Texas, the second-largest state with more than 5 million students enrolled in public schools, would follow Louisiana and most recently Arkansas in passing legislation requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms.
But like Louisiana, Texas could face a barrage of legal challenges over the law's constitutionality.
Louisiana has not fully implemented its legislation after a coalition of parents of different faiths filed a federal lawsuit just days after the bill was signed by Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican. A judge in November sided with those parents when he concluded that the state had not offered "any constitutional way to display the Ten Commandments."
Louisiana officials appealed, but a ruling has not been issued.
Now, with other states passing their own laws, the arguments could eventually wind up again before the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1980 ruled that classroom displays of the Ten Commandments were unconstitutional.
But a wave of new laws and mandates in states, particularly in the South, having begun to test the bounds of what may be legally permissible when it comes to religion in public schools.
Under Texas' bill, all public elementary or secondary schools would have to "display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments." The displays would have to be at least 16 inches by 20 inches and include the text of the Ten Commandments as written in the bill.
Once the bill is signed into law, schools "must accept any offer of privately donated" displays or may use district funds, starting in the 2025-26 school year.
The legislation does not have an enforcement mechanism, and it's unclear what might happen to schools or individual teachers who refuse to comply.
State Sen. Phil King, the lead author of the bill, has said he believes the legislation stands up to scrutiny following a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that found a former Washington state high school football coach had a right to pray on the field immediately after games. The ruling by the conservative-majority court took a different approach by examining "historical practices and understandings" to interpret whether the First Amendment was being violated.
"Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a previous erroneous decision, what was taken from our students can now be rightfully restored," King said in a statement Wednesday. "I look forward to having the Ten Commandments, a historical document foundational to our nation's history and character, back in schools across Texas."
In arguments against the bill during debate, state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat and a Christian, said the specific posting of the Ten Commandments would give the appearance that the state is favoring one religion over others to the detriment of non-Christian students. He also questioned if state lawmakers had ever broken any of the commandments themselves.
Other Democrats and critics asked why parents and school districts could not have a choice in whether to allow the Ten Commandments in classrooms, when some Republicans have been vocal about wanting parents to decide what books and topics are permissible in schools.
"Families across Texas believe deeply in faith, but they also believe in freedom," Rocío Fierro-Pérez, the political director of the Texas Freedom Network, which has opposed the Ten Commandments legislation, said in a statement. "Freedom to raise their kids according to their own values. Freedom from government interference in personal beliefs. That's what's really under attack here."
But the bill isn't the only religious-based one to win approval this legislative session, after Texas lawmakers passed a bill that would permit school districts to adopt policies allowing for a period of prayer in schools and the reading of the Bible or "other religious text" with parental consent. Abbott is also expected to sign it into law.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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