Latest news with #Bonnen
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas legislature moves to finalize bills in the final days of session
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Deadlines for passing bills on second and third readings have come and gone in the Texas Capitol, and now lawmakers turn their attention to the final steps of passing remaining bills in the final days of the session. At this point in the session, House bills amended by the Senate and Senate bills amended by the House are being returned to their originating chamber for final approval. The sponsor of the bill must tell each body if they concur with the changes made to their legislation. If not, the bill moves on to conference committee, like House Bill 3071 by State Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican from Fort Worth. He got up to the front mic of the House chamber to talk about amendments made to his bill, which relates to the cancellation of certain solid waste disposal permits. 'They're not any good and I am requesting to go to conference,' Geren said to thunderous cheers in the chamber, a point of levity after long consecutive days and nights of debating and voting. When a conference committee request is approved there are five members selected, known as conferees, from each chamber, including the two bill sponsors. What has been described as a closed-door negotiation between the ten members is actually more like a negotiation between two people. Dennis Bonnen, the former Speaker of the House, said most of the time negotiations begin even before a conference committee is called. 'Your lead author in the House, your lead author in the Senate, they're already talking. They've been talking through the whole process,' Bonnen explained. In fact, the other conferees are more symbolic and only provide a signature once an agreement has been made between the bill authors. Mark Strama, a former state lawmaker, and Bonnen both agreed they forgot they were conferees on a conference committee until they were asked to sign on to the final language of the bill. For a bill to pass out of conference committee it needs three signatures of approval from each coalition of conferees. It then goes back to each chamber for final approval from the full body. A majority of conference committees work just like that, but there are instances where legislation is significant enough that all members of the conference committee are contributing to the solution. One prime example is the appropriations bill, which funds the state over a two-year period. 'They're bigger issues. They're more significant. There's more volume to be dealt with,' Bonnen explained. This session, Bonnen believes the state's Compassionate Use Program (TCUP) is one of those bills that will need all hands on deck. Negotiations between the Senate and House have been ongoing for the past couple of weeks as the legislature moved to ban all hemp-derived intoxicants. There is a push to expand the TCUP to allow more people to be eligible for the medical cannabis program, and make it easier for patients to get their prescription. Strama also pointed out that conference committees can be used to revive bills that died either on the chamber floor or in committees. For the most part, conference committees are deciding between the differences in a House-approved and Senate-approved bill. But there is a procedure where the committee conferees could go out of bounds to add in additional provisions from other bills. It's known as going 'out of bounds.' To do this, the conference committee would have to go to each floor and ask for a resolution to go out of bounds. A majority of both chambers would need to approve that resolution. 'When you're out of power, you're looking for ways to stretch a conference committee report to extend to something to one of your bills that failed,' Strama said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Texas may require medical records list patients' sex assigned at birth
The Texas House on Thursday approved a bill requiring health agencies to create a new field in medical records for the sex assigned at birth of patients and strict oversight and punishment of health care providers who change records. Senate Bill 1188 encompasses 'multiple components' according to the bill's sponsor, Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, including restrictions on health care providers' storage of digital servers and their use of artificial intelligence. Democratic legislators on Thursday, however, largely zeroed in on a provision requiring all health records to include a new segment explicitly listing the sex a patient was assigned at birth and any physical sexual development disorders they may have. SB 1188 is one of several bills moving through the Legislature aimed at restricting the health care of trans Texans, however SB 1188 does have an exemption stating it does not restrict gender identity information from being included in health records. To enforce its provisions, SB 1188 allows the attorney general to file for injunctions against violations of the bill, and would create penalties of up to $250,000 for practices who knowingly violate its provisions. The bill allows for gender markers to be changed for clerical errors or in certain cases for intersex patients. Democratic lawmakers who spoke in opposition of the bill said the required reporting of gender assigned at birth excludes transgender and intersex patients who may be forced to have a gender displayed in their medical records they don't identify as. 'Knowing that documentation choices could trigger a government investigation discourages providers from recording accurate individualized information, especially in complex cases involving gender or sex variation,' Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, said. 'It places fear and legal exposure ahead of best medical practice.' Bonnen provided rebuttals for all of the proposed amendments and ensured opponents of the bill that it would help physicians understand a more complete picture of a patient's medical history. Democratic representatives attempted to derail the bill down through two points of order and then brought a slew of amendments to the floor seeking to blunt some of the bill's requirements, but were unsuccessful. 'Listen, biological sex and medical records is an issue of accuracy, and impacting safe medical care in an acute situation, an emergency could lead to a misdiagnosis,' Bonnen said. 'The whole point of the section of the bill is to ensure the physicians always know the true biological sex from birth, and the language is carefully crafted to allow for exceptions based on other medical conditions.' Bonnen provided his own amendment to the bill expanding the eligibility for those who could be listed as intersex and explicitly stating the bill does not ban AI use by medical professionals. The bill outlines in statute its own definitions of several medical terms including 'sexual development disorder,' male and female. While its definition of female matches that of House Bill 229 — a bill seeking to define male and female across state statute that passed in the House in May — it differs in its definition of what a male is. HB 229 defines a male as someone whose biological reproductive system 'is developed to fertilize the ova of a female,' different from SB 1188's requirement that male systems are 'developed to produce sperm.' Beyond its requirements on reporting biological sex, SB 1188 also gives parents and guardians of minors 'unrestricted access' to the child's medical records unless a court order is in place preventing them from doing so. The bill also requires medical professionals to disclose when they use artificial intelligence for diagnoses and review all AI-created documents. The bill requires one more formal vote in the House, after which it will be sent for approval from the Senate as amended, then will head to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk for his signature. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas House bill intends to make it harder for victims with major injuries to receive compensation
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways The Brief A proposed Texas law would make it more challenging for victims with catastrophic injuries to receive damages related to things like pain and suffering, and mental anguish. The bill is proposed by Representative Greg Bonnen, a Republican from Galveston. There was emotional testimony in the state capital today as victim after victim told lawmakers about how pain and suffering is real, and the state should not add to the difficulty of getting that form of compensation. AUSTIN, Texas - A proposed Texas law would make it more challenging for victims with catastrophic injuries to receive damages related to things like pain and suffering, and mental anguish. The bill is proposed by Representative Greg Bonnen, a Republican from Galveston. Texans for lawsuit reform testified in favor of the bill, but there was emotional testimony in the state capital today as victim after victim told lawmakers about how pain and suffering is real, and the state should not add to the difficulty of getting that form of compensation. What they're saying In favor of HB 4806 Bonnen, who is also a doctor, argues the bill is a necessary reform. "The bill has changed substantially since first introduced," said Bonnen. "It will allow providers to be able to take care of people who have been injured and not dragged into the litigation process." The other side Dick Trabulsi is co-founder and Chairman of Texans for Lawsuit Reform and does not support the fact that loved ones would be unable to receive full compensation. "It would make no sense for the entire business community, and it is the entire business community that supports it, to propose legislation where any of our loved ones would not be able to access the courts, and receive full compensation," said Trabulsi. Roberta Gallaread's late husband Roberta Gallaread told state lawmakers that House Bill 4806 would devastate people who face disfiguring injuries like her husband did in 2022. Their apartment caught fire after property managers ignored reports of gas leaks. Gallaread was able to reach a settlement in her case because the company knew a jury would likely award damages for pain and suffering and mental anguish. But under the proposed bill it would become more challenging for attorneys to make a case for non-economic damage. "Reports of gas leaks were ignored. That negligence led to the devastating fire that left Alonzo's body 53% burned. He spent 106 days in Parkland Hospital's burn unit. This fire changed his life forever," said Gallaread. "He lived with emotional scars but, unfortunately, Alonzo passed away Feb 20, 2025." Brianna Blake's emotional testimony in sign language Brianna Blake from Midland gave an emotional testimony using sign language. Blake's mother, Jennifer Blake, translated that she was in a crash with an 18-wheeler when she was 12 years old in 2013. "Doctors told my mom I would always be vegetative and never wake up. I woke up," said Brianna Blake. Jennifer Blake asked what many who oppose the bill were wondering. "I hear them complain about the rising costs of insurance, but if they did not put profit above safety, leading to these injuries and deaths, wouldn't their costs be lower?" Jessica Sprague's daughter Jessica Sprague from Houston testified that her two-year-old son, Colton, was killed at 16 months old when a truck driver with drugs in his system ran a stop sign and T-boned their car. "Colton passed at 2:02 PM. When we said goodbye, we couldn't hold him because an autopsy had to be performed." Her husband, Jason Sprague, spoke about the tragic circumstances of their son. "If the company that killed Colton wanted lower insurance premiums they should not have hired a drug user to drive their truck." What's next Ware Wendell with Texas Watch says the committee made the unusual move to cut off testimony from victims. The committee will reconvene to hear invited testimony this evening. The Source Information in this article was provided by the 89th Texas Legislature.
