AUSTIN (Nexstar) – Texas lawmakers moved closer to ban hemp-derived products that can make a consumer feel high, closing a loophole on unregulated intoxicants but also creating concerns it will negatively impact Texans who rely on the products to treat their chronic pain.
The Texas House passed a bill to ban all consumable hemp products containing THC. Most of the debate happened on the House floor Wednesday night, but State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, offered an amendment to address the criminal penalty related to this bill before members officially passed the ban out of the lower chamber on Thursday.
Before Moody’s amendment, anyone convicted of possession of a consumable hemp product containing any other cannabinoid besides CBD or CBG would be issued a Class A misdemeanor, the most serious type of misdemeanor which carries jail time and a fine.
Moody offered an amendment that lowered the penalty for the first two offenses to a Class C misdemeanor, which could be deferred with community service. Any offense after that would be a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up 180 days in jail and a fine between $250 and $2,000.
“The enforcement of this needs to be stair-stepped. Arresting someone right out for something they bought at the corner store just a few months ago before this went into effect is really not the right way to stair-step in,” Moody said while laying out his amendment.
A person convicted of possession of intoxicating hemp would also have their driver’s license suspended 30 days on the first offense, 60 days on the second offense, and 180 days on the third offense. The amendment passed 107-30.
Both sides of the aisle agreed the current state of unregulated THC products, the intoxicating compound in marijuana, needed to be fixed to protect children and users.
However, both sides seemed to differ on how to do that. A majority of Democrats supported regulation while a majority of Republicans supported prohibition.
State Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, who is a physician, argued that the THC products can be dangerous. “They are psychosis-inducing, overdose prone chemicals masquerading as relief. These products being sold are not tested, not dosed consistently and not supervised by a medical professional.”
Democrats pushed for better regulations, rather than a ban. Before the vote, they warned about the potential economic harm of the legislation.
“Texas businesses do not want a ban on THC,” State Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos, D-Richardson, said shortly before the vote. “This is a ban on 50,000 jobs held by working families across the state. It’s a ban on 8 billion in annual tax revenue.”
A lot of the debate centered around the state’s medical marijuana program, called the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP).
State Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, a Democrat from Houston, raised concerns for the veteran community. “You’re taking away potentially their freedom to choose this product that in their own words saved their lives,” Morales Shaw said from the back microphone.
State Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, who wrote the amendment that changed the bill from a regulation on THC to a complete ban, sympathized with those concerns but argued the proper help for veterans would need to come from the state’s regulated TCUP.
“I don’t ever want somebody to be denied access to a medication that may be a benefit,” Oliverson said.
There is a push at the Texas Capitol to expand the TCUP. The program launched in 2015 for epileptic children and has since slowly grown to include more people, including those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It provides low-THC cannabis to patients with a proper prescription from a physician.
There are currently three licensed dispensing organizations that cultivate and deliver the products to patients. Nico Richardson is the CEO of Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation, one of the dispensing organizations based in south Austin.
Richardson says one of the main issues for the TCUP is accessibility. He says when a patient makes an order they will either have to drive to the main facility of the organization, meet the organization at a pick-up location, or have the product delivered to their house. The size of Texas creates a long waiting period for the patients, Richardson explained.
But even more of a problem lies in the pickup locations. “The problem with that is with the pickup locations, we’re not actually able to keep any of our medicine there. It all has to stay in Austin. So that means someone has to order from us the night before, online or via telephone, and then we have to drive the medicine to that pickup location,” Richardson explained. “We have to drive the medicine there that morning and wait for the patient to come and pick it up. If the patient doesn’t show up, we have to drive it back to Austin, put it back into our vault in our main facility.”
During the debate on the THC ban on Wednesday night, the head of the Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, posted on social media that he supports expanding the TCUP to allow for more licenses and locations.
“We will expand licenses and have satellite locations for the first time for prescribed products from doctors for our veterans and those in need,” the social media post read.
A bill that has already passed the House, House Bill 46, called for increasing the number of licenses available for dispensing organizations from three to 15. It will also allow organizations to store products at satellite locations to avoid the logistical nightmare, with an emphasis on making sure the locations are spread equitably throughout the state.
The bill would also expand the amount of products. Currently, patients can receive their medicine in the form of an edible or a tincture. HB 46 would allow low-THC to be administered by pulmonary inhalation which would allow for a quicker reaction for the consumer.
The House bill called for allowing anyone with a condition that causes chronic pain that a physician would otherwise prescribe opioids to now be eligible in TCUP.
But the Senate Committee on State Affairs made significant changes to the bill. In a brief hearing on Friday night, committee members approved a committee substitute for HB 46 that does not include chronic pain as a condition eligible in TCUP. The committee substitute is the version of the bill that will be voted on by the full Senate.
The updated legislation adds one additional condition, terminal illness or a condition for which a person is in hospice care, to TCUP eligibility.
The committee substitute would set the number of licenses for dispensing organizations to nine, down from the 15 in the original version of HB 46. The bill will now go to the full Senate for a vote. May 28 is the last day the Senate can consider any bill.
After ‘expedited’ process, Paxton closes Superior HealthPlan investigations
Three months after announcing an investigation into the company Superior HealthPlan, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office said it closed its cases, according to a news release.
The investigation began after the Texas House Committee on the Delivery of Government Efficiency (DOGE) called for sanctions and legislation against the company, as KXAN previously reported. A day after that committee held a hearing, Paxton launched his investigation.
“The allegations concerning Superior’s actions, such as actions that were characterized as potentially blackmailing lawmakers to secure state contracts and surveilling private citizens to avoid paying legitimate claims, are deeply troubling,” said Paxton in a March 27 press release. “I will get to the bottom of this, uncover any illegal activity, and hold bad actors responsible. Justice will be served.”
KXAN previously reported that the company hired a private investigator to research state lawmakers and journalists.
The OAG Consumer Protection Division and Health Programs Enforcement Division both conducted investigations into the insurance company following the March announcement. However, both found that the company followed state law.
“Superior’s activities involved researching and consolidating publicly available documents into internal reports, which does not violate Texas law,” the OAG said. “There was no evidence of any surveillance or violation of privacy discovered or indicated within the investigation, nor was any privately held or confidential information, such as protected health information, included in the reports.”
Superior HealthPlan responded to the office ending its investigation in a Tuesday afternoon press release, where it said it “appreciate[s] the swift work” of Paxton and his team.
“We are pleased the numerous false accusations resulting from the March 26th DOGE committee hearing have been rebutted by the Attorney General’s review. Superior remains committed to transparency and accountability, and we will continue to ensure that all partners and practices reflect the integrity we expect of ourselves. For 25 years, Superior HealthPlan has partnered with the State of Texas to provide high quality care to Medicaid members and other vulnerable populations. We look forward to returning our focus to serving our 2 million members, providers and community partners.”
One day after March hearing that led to the investigation, Centene, the parent company to Superior HealthPlan, announced that CEO Mark Sanders was no longer with the company. Emails revealed at that hearing indicated the company hired private investigators to get information on lawmakers and customers.
Centene issued a statement after the March 26th hearing, emphasizing that the information gathered came only through “publicly or commercially available resources.” However, the company also issued an apology.
“The research in question included irrelevant and unnecessary personal information. That was inappropriate and never should have happened,” Centene’s statement said. “This occurred prior to 2019 and does not reflect the values or standards of our current leadership. For that, we offer our sincere and unequivocal apology.”
Texas bills rooting out ‘bad actors’ from schools advance
Texas has a new law aimed at rooting out “bad actors” from educational settings, with another in the works.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill from Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, on Monday. Senate Bill 1437 allows the Texas Juvenile Justice Department to designate former employees or volunteers permanently ineligible for certification if they engage in conduct that threatens juvenile safety. It takes effect Sept. 1.
The bill comes after a KXAN investigation found records showing the Texas Juvenile Justice Department allowed former Juvenile Corrections Officer Isaiah Smith, who was being investigated for sexual misconduct at the Giddings facility, to resign and remain eligible for hire weeks after firing him.
Records show that as part of a settlement agreement with Smith, TJJD agreed to change his termination, which rendered him ineligible for rehire, to show that he resigned “for personal reasons.” The agency also reclassified Smith as eligible for hire in its database, which is accessible to other county juvenile facilities.
Records show TJJD did not reverse its decision until more than a year after the settlement, in December 2023, after Smith was arrested and charged with indecency with a minor at an Austin Independent School District high school.
Sen. Bettencourt filed another bill, Senate Bill 571, as a direct result of KXAN’s investigation into Smith. The House Public Education committee reported the bill favorably on Friday, and it is expected to go before the full House for a vote.
KXAN uncovered that Smith got a tutoring job at the Austin ISD high school through nonprofit Austin Partners in Education, despite the TJJD Office of Inspector General already determining he had an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile.
Records show that during his time tutoring on an Austin ISD campus, he was arrested on allegations that he inappropriately touched a student. The non-profit that hired Smith did not have immediate access to TJJD’s database, which typically contains information about suspected misconduct. The non-profit also told KXAN that Smith did not disclose that he had previously worked at the state agency during the hiring process.
Even now, the Texas Education Agency’s publicly available Do Not Hire list does not list Smith because Commissioner Morath says his agency has no statutory authority to investigate or place third-party contractors on its misconduct registry.
Sen. Bettencourt initially said he filed SB 571 to close those loopholes. The bill allowed third-party non-profits to access the state’s database, the Interagency Reportable Conduct Search Engine, which will eventually house multiple agencies’ state misconduct records. More than two years after lawmakers greenlit the project, the database is still not operational.
SB 571 also authorized TEA to investigate third-party contractors for misconduct and place them on its Do Not Hire registry.
The legislation has since been expanded to a 72-page bill that, in his own words, attempts to “close all the loopholes at one time.”
A bill analysis from the Senate Research Center explains that school employees, including third-party service providers, can be placed on TEA’s Do Not Hire registry for inappropriate communications with students, failing to maintain appropriate boundaries with students, or physically mistreating or threatening violence to students.
SB 571 also expands the list of convictions that would result in a mandatory termination and loss of certification to include felony offenses of public indecency or an improper relationship between an educator and a student.
The bill has received criticism over a newer provision making reports and other records related to the TEA or the State Board of Education Certification’s review or investigation of a misconduct allegation confidential and not subject to disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act.
The bill summary says the confidentiality provision was added because “current law requires seeking an [Attorney General] opinion” each time on whether the records are releasable.
“When Texas is in crisis with the growing number of educator misconduct events, we should not be hiding any record related to educator misconduct from the public,” Amy Ratleff from Plano wrote in public comments to the Texas House on the bill.
Continuing Coverage
- Man accused of molesting child while tutoring at Austin ISD
- Austin tutor’s arrest reveals ‘cracks’ in how Texas vets school employees
- Juvenile officers’ do-not-hire status initially reversed amid sexual misconduct investigation
- Texas man’s job history before sex abuse conviction highlights background check gaps
- Former Austin ISD tutor and juvenile corrections officer faces more charges of indecency with children
- Texas Senate bill seeks to expand access to state misconduct records after KXAN investigation
- Texas senators consider $10,000 fine for superintendents who don’t report suspected sexual misconduct
The bill, headed for a floor vote in the House, includes the confidentiality provision.
Texas House passes property tax cuts for homeowners
Lawmakers in the Texas House gave final approval Wednesday to two bills that aim to cut property taxes for homeowners in the state. The bills aim to increase the state’s homestead exemption, which is the amount of a home’s value that is not subject to property taxes.
Texas voters will decide this November whether to amend the state constitution to allow the tax cuts to be implemented.
House members voted 143-0 on Wednesday to approve Senate Bill 4, which calls for raising the homestead exemption for all homeowners from $100,000 to $140,000. Supporters of SB 4 said the increase could save the average Texas homeowner nearly $500 annually in taxes.
The House also passed Senate Bill 23, which would provide an additional raise to the homestead exemption for those 65 and older. It would raise the additional homestead exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners from $10,000 to $60,000. That’s on top of the current $100,000 exemption for Texas homeowners.
Both SB 4 and SB 23 require amendments to the Texas Constitution to take effect. The House also approved corresponding resolutions that would put the issues before Texas voters in November.
If voters approve amendments to enact SB 23 in tandem with SB 4, the total homestead exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners would rise to $200,000. Bill author Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston estimates that the increased exemption will save the average over-65 or disabled homeowner more than $950 annually in property taxes.