Schatzline’s Flag Ban Can Cost A School District A Year’s Funding

The text as introduced · 673 words

89R14646 LRM-D

By: Schatzline
H.B. No. 3842

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prohibited display of certain flags in governmental

buildings or on governmental property; providing a civil penalty.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 6, Government Code, is amended

by adding Chapter 621 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 621. PROHIBITED DISPLAY OF CERTAIN FLAGS ON GOVERNMENTAL

PROPERTY

Sec. 621.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Governmental entity" means:

(A) a department, commission, board, office, or

other agency in the executive branch of state government that was

created by the constitution or a statute of this state, including an

institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003,

Education Code;

(B) the supreme court, the court of criminal

appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, or the Texas Judicial

Council or another agency in the judicial branch of state

government;

(C) a county, municipality, special purpose

district, including a school district, or any other political

subdivision of this state; or

(D) an open-enrollment charter school

established under Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code.

(2) "LGBTQ flag" means a flag intended to display

support for lesbianism, homosexuality, bisexuality,

transgenderism, gender nonconforming behavior, or an individual

who engages in such conduct.

Sec. 621.002. PROHIBITED DISPLAY. A governmental entity or

employee of a governmental entity may not display an LGBTQ flag in a

building or on property owned or controlled by the governmental

entity, including a classroom.

Sec. 621.003. PERSONAL ITEMS. An individual in a building

or on property owned or controlled by a governmental entity may

display a personal item with an LGBTQ flag, such as a small pin or

clothing, while in the public building or on the property.

Sec. 621.004. CONSTRUCTION OF CHAPTER. This chapter may

not be construed to restrict or regulate:

(1) behavior of an employee of a governmental entity

while the employee is not performing the employee's official

duties; or

(2) speech or conduct protected by the First Amendment

to the United States Constitution, or by Section 8, Article I, Texas

Constitution.

Sec. 621.005. SANCTIONS FOR NONCOMPLIANCE BY SCHOOL. (a) A

school district or open-enrollment charter school may impose

sanctions, including removal from the person's employment

position, against a district or school employee who violates this

chapter.

(b) The board of trustees of a school district shall

investigate any suspected violation of this chapter to determine

whether the violation occurred. If the board determines that a

violation has occurred, the board shall immediately report the

violation to the commissioner of education.

(c) If the commissioner of education finds on an appeal

under Section 7.057, Education Code, that a school district has

violated this chapter, notwithstanding any other law, the

commissioner shall withhold the funding to which the district is

entitled under Chapters 46, 48, and 49, Education Code, for the

school year during which the violation occurred. The commissioner

may adjust the district's entitlement to funding under those

chapters for subsequent school years as necessary to recover any

state funding already paid to the district for the school year in

which the violation occurred.

(d) This section applies to an open-enrollment charter

school as though the governing body of the school were the board of

trustees of a school district.

Sec. 621.006. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) This section does not

apply to a school district or open-enrollment charter school

established under Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code.

(b) A governmental entity or employee of a governmental

entity that violates this chapter is subject to a civil penalty in

an amount not to exceed $2,000 for each violation.

(c) The attorney general may sue to collect a penalty

imposed under this section and may recover reasonable expenses

incurred in collecting the penalty, including court costs,

reasonable attorney's fees, investigative costs, witness fees, and

deposition costs.

Sec. 621.007. IMMUNITY WAIVED. Sovereign, governmental,

and official immunity to suit is waived and abolished to the extent

of liability created by this chapter.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.