Bill Text: TX HB4949 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to a period of prayer and Bible reading in public schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-23 - Referred to State Affairs [HB4949 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB4949-Introduced.html
 
 
  By: Cain H.B. No. 4949
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a period of prayer and Bible reading in public schools.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 25.0823 to read as follows:
         Sec. 25.0823.  PERIOD OF PRAYER AND BIBLE READING. (a) The
  board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of an
  open-enrollment charter school that is not operated by or
  affiliated with a religious organization may by record vote adopt a
  policy requiring every campus of the district or school to provide
  students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a
  period of prayer and Bible reading on each school day in accordance
  with this section.
         (b)  A policy adopted under Subsection (a) must prohibit:
               (1)  a student or employee of the school district or
  open-enrollment charter school from being permitted to participate
  in the period of prayer and Bible reading unless the employee or
  parent or guardian of the student submits to the district a signed
  consent form that includes:
                     (A)  an acknowledgment that the student or
  employee has a choice as to whether to participate in the period of
  prayer and Bible reading;
                     (B)  a statement that the person has no objection
  to the student's or employee's participation in or hearing of the
  prayers or Bible readings offered during the period; and
                     (C)  an express waiver of the person's right to
  bring a claim under state or federal law arising out of the adoption
  of a policy under this section, including claims under the United
  States Supreme Court's interpretations of the Establishment
  Clause, which forever releases the school district and all school
  officials from any such claims that the signatory might assert in
  state or federal court; and
               (2)  the provision of a prayer or Bible reading over a
  public address system.
         (c)  An employee or parent or guardian of a student may
  revoke the person's consent provided under Subsection (b)(1) by
  informing the appropriate school administrator, as determined by
  the school district or open-enrollment charter school, and no
  student or employee whose consent has been withdrawn may continue
  participating in the period of prayer and readings from the Bible
  unless and until a new consent form is executed and submitted in
  accordance with Subsection (b)(1). A person who withdraws consent
  under this section remains bound by the waiver of claims described
  in Subsection (b)(1)(C).
         (d)  A policy providing for a period of prayer and Bible
  reading adopted under Subsection (a) must include provisions
  ensuring a prayer or Bible reading is not provided in the physical
  presence or within the hearing of a person for whom a signed consent
  form has not been submitted under Subsection (b)(1) or has been
  revoked under Subsection (c), or in any manner that would inflict
  "injury in fact" on such a person under Article III of the
  Constitution. In order to comply with this subsection, a policy may
  require that the period of prayer and Bible reading be provided:
               (1)  before normal school hours;
               (2)  only in classrooms or other areas in which a
  consent form under Subsection (b)(1) has been submitted for every
  employee and student, which may include an entire district or
  school campus if a consent form has been submitted for each employee
  and student at the campus; or
               (3)  by any other method recommended by the attorney
  general or legal counsel for the district or school.
         (e)  The attorney general, on request from the board of
  trustees of a school district or the governing body of an
  open-enrollment charter school, shall:
               (1)  provide advice on best methods for a district or
  school to comply with the requirements of this section;
               (2)  provide a model consent form that may be used for
  purposes of providing consent under Subsection (b)(1); and
               (3)  defend the district or school in a cause of action
  arising out of the adoption of a policy providing for a period of
  prayer and Bible reading under Subsection (a).
         (f)  If the attorney general defends a district or school
  under Subsection (e)(3), the state is liable for the expenses,
  costs, judgments, or settlements of the claims arising out of the
  representation. The attorney general may settle or compromise any
  and all claims under this subsection. The state may not be liable
  for any expenses, costs, judgments, or settlements of any claims
  arising out of the adoption of a policy providing for a period of
  prayer and Bible reading under Subsection (a) against a district or
  school not being represented by the attorney general.
         (g)  Notwithstanding any other law, any person, including an
  entity, attorney, or law firm, who seeks declaratory or injunctive
  relief to prevent a school district or open-enrollment charter
  school from adopting or implementing a policy providing for a
  period of prayer and Bible reading under Subsection (a) in any state
  or federal court, or that represents any litigant seeking such
  relief in any state or federal court, is jointly and severally
  liable to pay the costs and reasonable attorney's fees, including
  interest, of the prevailing party, including the costs and
  reasonable attorney's fees that the prevailing party incurs in its
  efforts to recover costs and fees.
         (h)  For purposes of this section, a party is considered a
  prevailing party if a state or federal court:
               (1)  dismisses any claim or cause of action brought
  against the party that seeks the declaratory or injunctive relief
  described by Subsection (g), regardless of the reason for the
  dismissal; or
               (2)  enters judgment in the party's favor on any such
  claim or cause of action.
         (i)  A prevailing party may recover costs and attorney's fees
  under Subsection (h) only to the extent that those costs and
  attorney's fees were incurred while defending claims or causes of
  action on which the party prevailed.
         (j)  Regardless of whether a prevailing party sought to
  recover costs or attorney's fees in the underlying action, a
  prevailing party under this section may bring a civil action to
  recover costs and attorney's fees against a person, including an
  entity, attorney, or law firm, that sought declaratory or
  injunctive relief described by Subsection (g) not later than the
  third anniversary of the date on which, as applicable:
               (1)  the dismissal or judgment described by Subsection
  (h) becomes final on the conclusion of appellate review; or
               (2)  the time for seeking appellate review expires.
         (k)  It is not a defense to an action brought under
  Subsection (j) that:
               (1)  a prevailing party under this section failed to
  seek recovery of costs or attorney's fees in the underlying action;
               (2)  the court in the underlying action declined to
  recognize or enforce the requirements of this section; or
               (3)  the court in the underlying action held that any
  provisions of this section are invalid, unconstitutional, or
  preempted by federal law, notwithstanding the doctrines of issue or
  claim preclusion.
         (l)  Notwithstanding any other law, the state has sovereign
  immunity, its officers and employees have sovereign and official
  immunity, a school district or open-enrollment charter school has
  governmental immunity, and each member of the governing body of a
  school district or open-enrollment charter school and employee of a
  school district or open-enrollment charter school has governmental
  and official immunity in any action, claim, or counterclaim or any
  type of legal or equitable action that challenges the validity of
  any provision or application of this section, on constitutional
  grounds or otherwise, unless that immunity has been abrogated or
  preempted by federal law in a manner consistent with the
  Constitution of the United States. The sovereign immunity
  conferred by this section upon the state and each of its officers
  and employees includes the constitutional sovereign immunity
  recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States in Seminole
  Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44 (1996), and Alden v. Maine, , 517 U.S. 44 (1996), and Alden v. Maine,
  527 U.S. 706 (1999), which applies in both state and federal court
  and which may not be abrogated by Congress or by any state or
  federal court except pursuant to legislation authorized by section
  5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, by the Bankruptcy Clause of Article
  I, or by Congress's powers to raise and support Armies and to
  provide and maintain a Navy.
         (m)  Notwithstanding any other law, the immunities conferred
  by Subsection (l) shall apply in every court, both state and
  federal, and in every adjudicative proceeding of any type
  whatsoever.
         (n)  Notwithstanding any other law, a provision of state law
  may not be construed to waive or abrogate an immunity described by
  Subsection (l) unless it expressly waives or abrogates immunity
  with specific reference to this section.
         (o)  Notwithstanding any other law, no attorney representing
  the state, its political subdivisions, or any officer, employee, or
  agent of this state or a political subdivision is authorized or
  permitted to waive an immunity described in Subsection (l) or take
  any action that would result in a waiver of that immunity, and any
  such action or purported waiver shall be regarded as a legal nullity
  and an ultra vires act.
         (p)  Notwithstanding any other law, including Chapter 37,
  Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and sections 22.002, 22.221, and
  24.007 through 24.011, Government Code, no court of this state may
  award declaratory or injunctive relief, or any type of writ, that
  would declare or pronounce any provision or application of this
  section invalid or unconstitutional, or that would restrain the
  state, its political subdivisions, including a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school, any officer, employee, or agent of
  this state or a political subdivision, including each member of the
  governing body of a school district or open-enrollment charter
  school and employee of a school district or open-enrollment charter
  school, or any person from enforcing any provision or application
  of this section, and no court of this state shall have jurisdiction
  to consider any action, claim, or counterclaim that seeks such
  relief.
         (q)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a
  litigant from asserting the invalidity or unconstitutionality of
  any provision or application of this section as a defense to any
  action, claim, or counterclaim brought against that litigant.
         (r)  Notwithstanding any other law, any judicial relief
  issued by a court of this state that disregards the immunities
  conferred by Subsection (l), or the jurisdictional and remedial
  limitations imposed by Subsection (p), shall be regarded as a legal
  nullity because it was issued by a court without jurisdiction, and
  may not be enforced or obeyed by any officer, employee, or agent of
  this state or a political subdivision, judicial or otherwise.
         SECTION 2.  Section 25.901, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 25.901.  EXERCISE OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO PRAY. A
  public school student has an absolute right to individually,
  voluntarily, and silently pray or meditate in school in a manner
  that does not disrupt the instructional or other activities of the
  school. A person may not require[, encourage,] or coerce a student
  to engage in or refrain from such prayer or meditation during any
  school activity.
         SECTION 3.  Each board of trustees of a school district and
  each governing body of an open-enrollment charter school shall take
  a record vote not later than six months after the effective date of
  this Act on whether to adopt a policy requiring every campus of the
  district or school to provide a period of prayer and Bible reading
  under Section 25.0823, Education Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 4.  This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
  school year.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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