The Texas Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would ban sexually explicit books from school libraries. HB900, or the Reader Act, is sponsored by Republican Senators Jared Patterson and Angela Paxton.
The rule was approved on April 20 in the state House of Representatives by a vote of 95 in favor to 52 against. After also being ratified in the Senate, only Greg Abbott's signature remains for the bill to become a reality. The governor is expected to initial the document soon.
The bill was introduced by Frisco Senator Jared Patterson, 18 months ago. At that time, he said in a statement, he saw the need for restricting the use of sexually explicit materials in public schools and won support from a bipartisan group of state legislators for legislation that would prohibit certain books from being available in public school libraries and classrooms.
Protecting children from "sexually explicit materials," main goal of Reader Act
Republican Senator Angela Paxton, tweeted that The Reader Act will protect "children from sexually explicit materials in school libraries."
Today I passed #HB900, protecting children from sexually explicit materials in school libraries, in the Senate! This is an important piece of legislation and I am doing everything in my power to ensure it makes it to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.
#HB900 #TxLege pic.twitter.com/KjE9Fs7Mke— Senator Angela Paxton (@AngelaPaxtonTX) May 24, 2023
Senator Jared Patterson thanked his colleague Senator Paxton as well as his staff and Texas Senate Speaker Dade Phelan for their support in moving the bill forward:
We did it! HB 900 - The READER Act has finally passed the Texas Senate and is headed to @GovAbbott’s desk! Thank you to my teammate Sen. @AngelaPaxtonTX, my incredible staff and Speaker @DadePhelan for the huge effort to get a clean bill across the finish line. #txlege pic.twitter.com/oeRUiYLn8H
— Rep. Jared Patterson (@JaredLPatterson) May 24, 2023
