Bill Text: TX HB1487 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the protection of religious organizations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 27-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-25 - No action taken in committee [HB1487 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB1487-Introduced.html
By: Dean | H.B. No. 1487 |
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relating to the protection of religious organizations. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subtitle H, Title 10, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Chapter 2401 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 2401. PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS | ||
Sec. 2401.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
(1) "Disaster" has the meaning assigned by Section | ||
418.004. | ||
(2) "Governmental entity" means: | ||
(A) this state; | ||
(B) a board, commission, council, department, or | ||
other agency in the executive branch of state government that is | ||
created by the state constitution or a statute, including an | ||
institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, | ||
Education Code; | ||
(C) the legislature or a legislative agency; | ||
(D) a state judicial agency or the State Bar of | ||
Texas; | ||
(E) a political subdivision of this state, | ||
including a county, municipality, or special district or authority; | ||
or | ||
(F) an officer, employee, or agent of an entity | ||
described by Paragraphs (A) through (E). | ||
(3) "Person" has the meaning assigned by Section | ||
311.005, except the term does not include: | ||
(A) an employee of a governmental entity acting | ||
within the employee's scope of employment; or | ||
(B) a contractor of a governmental entity acting | ||
within the scope of the contract. | ||
(4) "Religious organization" means an organization | ||
that is a religious organization under Section 110.011(b), Civil | ||
Practice and Remedies Code. | ||
Sec. 2401.002. ESSENTIAL BUSINESS; PROHIBITED | ||
RESTRICTIONS. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a religious | ||
organization is an essential business at all times in this state, | ||
including during a declared state of disaster, and the | ||
organization's religious and other related activities are | ||
essential activities even if the activities are not listed as | ||
essential in an order issued during the disaster. | ||
(b) A governmental entity may not: | ||
(1) at any time, including during a declared state of | ||
disaster, prohibit a religious organization from engaging in | ||
religious and other related activities or continuing to operate in | ||
the discharge of the organization's foundational faith-based | ||
mission and purpose; or | ||
(2) during a declared state of disaster order a | ||
religious organization to close or otherwise alter the | ||
organization's purposes or activities. | ||
Sec. 2401.003. RELIEF AVAILABLE. (a) A person may assert | ||
an actual or threatened violation of Section 2401.002 as a claim or | ||
defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain: | ||
(1) injunctive relief; | ||
(2) declaratory relief; and | ||
(3) court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. | ||
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a person may commence an | ||
action under this section and relief may be granted regardless of | ||
whether the person has sought or exhausted available administrative | ||
remedies. | ||
Sec. 2401.004. IMMUNITY WAIVED. A person who alleges a | ||
violation of Section 2401.002 may sue the governmental entity for | ||
the relief provided under Section 2401.003. Sovereign or | ||
governmental immunity, as applicable, is waived and abolished to | ||
the extent of liability for that relief. | ||
Sec. 2401.005. ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION; INTERVENTION IN | ||
PROCEEDING; PROHIBITED RECOVERY OF EXPENSES. (a) The attorney | ||
general may bring an action for injunctive or declaratory relief | ||
against a governmental entity or an officer or employee of a | ||
governmental entity to enforce compliance with this chapter. | ||
(b) This section may not be construed to deny, impair, or | ||
otherwise affect any authority of the attorney general or a | ||
governmental entity acting under other law to institute or | ||
intervene in an action. | ||
(c) The attorney general may not recover expenses incurred | ||
in bringing, instituting, or intervening in an action described by | ||
this section. | ||
Sec. 2401.006. INTERPRETATION. (a) This chapter may not be | ||
construed to preempt a state or federal law that is equally or more | ||
protective of the free exercise of religious beliefs or to narrow | ||
the meaning or application of a state or federal law protecting the | ||
free exercise of religious beliefs. | ||
(b) This chapter may not be construed to prevent a | ||
governmental entity from providing, either directly or through a | ||
person who is not seeking protection under this chapter, any | ||
benefit or service authorized under state or federal law. | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 2401, Government Code, as added by this | ||
Act, applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the | ||
effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrued before | ||
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect | ||
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is | ||
continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |