The Texas Senate Committee on Education will convene on Wednesday, October 7, at 8:00 a.m. to address several interim charges, including monitoring the implementation of legislation passed last session. The hearing specifically includes SB 571, SB 12, and SB 13, all of which contain important protections for Texas children and parental rights. I expect there will be significant testimony regarding SB 13, which strengthened Texas' mandatory school library standards, established local school library advisory councils, and expanded parental oversight of school library materials. SB 13 was an important step forward in our efforts to stop the sexualization of children and keep inappropriate materials out of school libraries. But passing legislation is only part of the work. Implementation and enforcement matter. In fact, this continues to be a priority of the Republican Party of Texas. The current Protect Texas Kids Legislative Priority specifically calls for enforcement of Texas laws protecting children from inappropriate sexual content. We have already seen inconsistencies in implementation across the state, including districts that appear unwilling to fully comply with the law. If you have been involved in auditing school libraries, filing local book challenges, serving on a library advisory council, or documenting problems with your district's implementation of SB 13, I strongly encourage you to participate in this hearing and share what you have seen. You can testify in person or provide written testimony to members of the Senate Education Committee. Public testimony at the hearing will be limited to two minutes per person, and those submitting written testimony at the hearing are instructed to bring 10 copies with their name on each copy. This is an important opportunity for legislators to hear directly from parents and community members about what is actually happening in Texas school libraries and where implementation of SB 13 may need to be strengthened. Wednesday, October 7, 2026 8:00 a.m. Texas Capitol, E1.028 Senate Committee on Education #txlege #ProtectTexasKids @TexasGOP

After Texas State Rep. Brian Harrison and megadonor Monty Bennett publicly complained about the University of North Texas having a large archive of primary sources related to LGBTQ history in North Texas, UNT took down a website about it. Rep. Harrison is taking credit.

The winner of EXCEPTIONAL MERIT IN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING is The Librarians #Emmys

@DanPatrick “No one is banning books in Texas. There are no banned books.” @DanPatrick 30 seconds later: “These books are so explicit they’re banned in Texas prisons. They’re on the prison banned list.” But we thought it wasn’t a ban if someone else can still buy it on Amazon?

Texas school districts are brazenly disregarding laws passed by the Legislature. For too many districts, compliance comes only when lawmakers attach meaningful consequences to willful violations. We saw this pattern with educator-misconduct reporting. Districts ignored reporting requirements for years. Only after the Legislature imposed civil liability for willful negligence did many begin taking those obligations seriously. Still, we should be proud of our incremental wins. Texas led the way by mandating statewide school-library standards. When HB 900 was challenged, the Fifth Circuit blocked its separate vendor-rating provisions but left the library standards in place. That was a game changer. The Legislature then strengthened protections by establishing clearer prohibitions on indecent and profane materials in SB13. In the 90th #txlege, it is time to impose serious penalties on schools that willfully disregard laws enacted to protect children and uphold parental rights. I’m glad to see Lt. Gov. @DanPatrick continue making the protection of Texas children a priority. #txlege #ProtectTexasKids @TexasGOP

I bet this book mentions something about bearing false witness against your neighbor.