House leader Kyle Hilbert says he's not done pushing the "SECURE Act."
House Bills 4422 and 4423, by Hilbert, R- Bristow, would have required state agencies to report federal food assistance and healthcare coverage applicants in the country without permission to law enforcement for immigration violations.
Collectively called "The SECURE Act" by Hilbert, it's an idea he said came directly from the White House.
But after passing the House floor along party lines, the bills were stalled in the Senate Human Services Committee because of concerns of scaring people away from accessing necessary healthcare, just because of their immigration status. Especially pregnant mothers.
Senate Pro Temp Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said as much on March 2, during his weekly press conference. The measures sat in the Senate committee for the next two weeks were never heard, making them procedurally dead now that the March 22 deadline has passed.
Hilbert said at his weekly press conference on March 22 that he wasn't approached by any Senators with concerns about the bill.
"There were no discussions with me prior to the decision being made not to hear my bill," Hilbert said. "Very disappointed in the decision."
He also said he doesn't think there should be any changes made to the legislation.
"Personally, I think they're great bills as we pass them in the House," Hilbert said. "And, you know, if there are concerns, I'd love to hear about them from them."
Paxton said at his press conference less than half an hour later that he had spoken with Hilbert, but not until that morning, which, given that it was committee deadline day, was too late to make changes to the bill in the normal legislative process.
Paxton said that keeping his counterpart in the House out of the Senate loop on his legislation was unintentional. Paxton said he never got around to bringing it up to Hilbert while balancing several other high-stakes bills.
Still, he said, the concerns about the bills exist regardless, and should be worked out if the legislation is to move forward.
"I've expressed my concern to the speaker about this… And we've had discussions about it," Paxton said. "If he's going to work on something new, he knows what my concerns are, and I look forward to working with him on it."
When asked about it by reporters, Hilbert said he's hoping to raise the measures again sometime this session.
"Yes, I do have plans to bring that back up," He said, referring to the SECURE Act, which includes both House bills 4422 and 4423. "That's an important discussion that we should be having as a legislature. And I believe that Bill will have strong support in both the House and the Senate. And I'm hopeful that before the end of the session, the Senate takes up that measure."
