Updated. The conference committee on Senate Bill 5, the Voter ID fix, largely kept to the Senate’s version and rejected House language calling for a voter turnout strategic plan and a report on voter education expenditures. The conference committee report (pdf) was filed today. It was approved by the Senate on Saturday, and the House must approve it by midnight Sunday for it to pass the Legislature during the regular session.
Conferees made an intentionally false statement on a declaration of reasonable impediment a state jail felony, splitting the difference between the Senate version, which made it a third degree felony, and the House version, which made it a Class A misdemeanor.
The conferees kept House language prohibiting an election officer from refusing to accept documentation solely because the address does not match the one on the voter rolls and clarifying that a U.S. passport means book or card. The conferees also kept language enabling a voter to use an otherwise valid photo ID that has been expired for four years, up from two years in the Senate version.
Senate conferees were Sens. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), Eddie Lucio Jr. (D-Brownsville) and Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound). The House appointed Reps. Phil King (R-Weatherford), Pat Fallon (R-Frisco), Craig Goldman (R-Fort Worth), Jodie Laubenberg (R-Wylie) and Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville) to the conference committee. The conference report was signed by all but Rep. Lucio.
Sen. Lucio was the only Democrat in either chamber to vote for the bill after accounting for a statement in the House journal of an erroneous vote by Rep. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio).
This story has been updated to reflect Senate adoption of the conference committee report.
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