The Texas House gave preliminary approval Saturday to legislation requiring all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments, with lawmakers voting 88-49 on Senate Bill 10 (SB10), according to the Associated Press.
Newsweek reached out to bill co-sponsor Rep. Candy Noble via email on Saturday for comment.
Why It Matters
Texas operates nearly 9,100 public schools serving nearly 6 million students, making it the second-largest education system in the country.
The measure’s passage would likely trigger immediate legal challenges and could influence similar efforts in other states. If enacted, Texas would join Louisiana and Arkansas as states with similar requirements, though Louisiana’s law is on hold after a federal judge found it was “unconstitutional on its face.”
The timing coincides with recent Supreme Court decisions that have allowed public funds to flow to religious entities, though the court effectively ended a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma on Thursday with a 4-4 tie vote.
What To Know
The Republican-backed bill requires schools to post a 16-by-20-inch (41-by-51-centimeter) poster or framed copy of a specific English version of the commandments in every classroom.
Democratic lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted Saturday to amend the bill to include other religious texts or multiple translations of the commandments, with all such amendments failing to be adopted.
Texas lawmakers have simultaneously advanced another religious measure allowing school districts to provide voluntary daily prayer time or religious text reading during school hours.
In 2005, Governor Greg Abbott, then serving as state attorney general, successfully argued before the Supreme Court that Texas could maintain a Ten Commandments monument on Capitol grounds, demonstrating his longstanding support for such displays.
What People Are Saying
SB10 Co-Sponsor Rep. Candy Noble: “The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially.”
Republican Rep. Brent Money: “We should be encouraging our students to read and study their Bible every day. Our kids in our public schools need prayer, need Bible reading, more now than they ever have.”
Democrat Rep. James Talarico noted that legislators were working on the weekend to pass legislation requiring display of the Ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Michael Smith/Getty Images
What Happens Next
The Republican-controlled chamber is expected to hold its final vote within the next few days before sending the measure to Governor Abbott’s desk, where he has indicated he will sign it into law.
Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.