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Will Texas Pass the Anti-Groping Bill?

June 20th, 2011

TSA Groping Bill in Texas

House Bill 41 is waiting in the wings in Austin. The bill makes it illegal for any “public servant” to touch a citizen “inappropriately” regardless of whether or not the citizen is clothed. Nicknamed the anti-groping law, the bill is of course aimed at the federal Transportation Safety Administration’s manhandling of the traveling public in the nation’s airports. If the bill does in fact pass it will put the state on a collision course with the federal government, who insists it will not change its regulations. In the past, Federal attorneys have threatened to shut down any flights whose security could not be verified. What does this mean? If Texas disallows the TSA’s violation of its citizens we’ll not be able to fly from Texas airports to other parts of the country?

At this point the whole bill is up in the air (no pun intended), due to procedural considerations. While advocates are confident that they have the votes to pass the measure, it’s unclear whether Governor Perry will add it to the special session call. The public clamor for the bill seems to be growing as even Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst is urging his superior to move it forward. Either way this could be a potential make or break for a Perry presidential run. Many potential voters could see his failure to add the bill as a lack of leadership, while other may object to his advancing the bill as radical, and disrespectful of federal authority. Personally I suspect that Texans of most political stripes would favor the legislation. The TSA is an enormously unpopular organization right now, and most citizens view it as power hungry and indignant toward the public’s objections. I suspect that Texas will not be the last State to consider such laws. Hopefully, if the dissent continues it will force the federal government to acknowledge what the rest of us already know; that current procedures are not protecting the public at all; they’re victimizing it further.