Democrat Reveals Vote's Historic Value
after Changing Bill while House Napped

State Reps Rope Themselves into Sex Conduct Training

Capitol Inside
May 11, 2021

Texas House members gave GOP Speaker Dade Phelan a standing ovation on Tuesday before it approved legislation that would force state legislators and statewide officials like Governor Greg Abbott to take courses that teach them how to keep from sexually harassing people at the Capitol.

House Bill 4661 cleared the lower chamber on tally of 145-2 with conservative GOP State Reps. Matt Schaefer of Tyler and Tony Tinderholt of Angleton casting the only votes against the measure that had targeted lobbyists exclusively before its dramatic expansion on Monday night when most of the members appeared to be asleep at the wheel after a long day of work.

Veteran State Rep. Senfronia Thompson - a Houston Democrat who's sponsoring HB 4661 - declared before the vote today for final approval that the measure would make Texas the first state to require sexual harassment training for elected leaders. Thompson lavished praise on Phelan for his leadership on the bill before asking her colleagues to give him a round of applause for the landmark accomplishment.

The overwhelming show of support for HB 4661 capped off an apparent bit of trickery by the speaker and the sponsor in a chamber where some members say that they'd been advised by a top Phelan lieutenant before the tentative vote last night that the classes on sexual harassment would be optional for legislators.

Thompson said nothing about HB 4661 on the floor last night beyond the reading of its caption before the House approved a couple of amendments that extended the sex training requirements to all of the elected officials in the legislative and executive branches in Texas. None of Thompson's colleagues asked for an explanation on the changes that many incorrectly thought to be voluntary before they advanced HB 4661 to third reading without a record vote.

Thompson, the longest serving Democrat in the west wing of the statehouse, could assume that none would want to go on record voting to repeal the language after being informed on the sweeping additions to the bill that they'd backed without a word of debate or a formal vote the night before.

Aside from the bill's milestone potential and noble initial intent, the measure appeared to be more of a face-saving ploy before Thompson gave it a historic twist with the amendment that she slipped into the legislation when colleagues were napping.

Thompson filed the measure with Phelan's vigorous support when state lawmakers in both chambers on both sides of the aisle had fallen for a staffer's claims about a lobbyist using a date rape drug on her while drinking at the Austin Club last month.

Thompson had presented the bill to the State Affairs Committee on the same day late last month when the Department of Public Safety and Travis County Jose Garza deemed the accusations to be false. She acknowledged that she'd filed in on the spur of the moment amid the outrage that she felt after hearing the House aide's wild tales before learning they'd been a scurrulous lie in a character destruction scheme that lawmakers were unable to see through.

Thompson acknowledged almost in passing today that the lobbyist who'd been the target of the female aide's accusation had been exonerated. But two dozen women representatives including Thompson had assured the staffer in a letter that they believed her story and vowed to have her back. That appeared to be the case when Thompson failed to elaborate today that the accuser had been lying.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and senators from both parties appeared to be bamboozled by the allegations as well when they voted unanimously to mandate sex harassment prevention training for lobbyists.

The House has put the Senate in position now to rubber stamp HB 4661 if its members want to avoid being depicted as enemies of the #MeToo movement by voting to cancel the provision that expanded it to elected officials.

The amended version of the legislation recognizes that elected officials are the ones who are responsible for sexual harassment at a Capitol where staff members and lobbyists are dependent on them and almost always the victims when they haven't been eager and willing participants.