From Texas Scorecard:
Stickland and Hall teamed up to pass the wildly popular ban on red-light cameras.
In what may be the final act in one of the session’s most interesting story lines, the Texas Senate has finally passed a bill that will ban the use of red-light cameras in the state.
House Bill 1631 by Republican State Rep. Jonathan Stickland (Bedford) has been on a wild ride through the 86th Texas Legislature. Famously known for being a representative who kills bad bills, Stickland worked early and diligently to earn the support of colleagues from across the state and party lines to back his commonsense reform. The bill donned the signatures of more than 100 coauthors when it passed out of the Texas House earlier this month.
Banning red-light cameras, the traffic enforcement devices wildly unpopular with Texans all across the state, seemed like a slam dunk for lawmakers to accomplish this session. The issue was prominently featured in races during last year’s primary and general election campaigns, and Gov. Greg Abbott was a vocal opponent of the cameras’ usage on social media.
The bill’s popularity, however, did not deter some from trying to kill the bill before it was passed out of the upper chamber with more than two-thirds of the chamber in support.
During debate, Sen. Jose Menendez (D–San Antonio) offered a floor amendment dealing with cameras that capture motorists who do not stop for a school bus. Senate Transportation Chairman Robert Nichols (R–Jacksonville) rose to suggest that any amendments added may result in the bill being killed this late in the session.