Supported Dade Phelan's Petty "Meme Bill" to Protect Politicians: House of Bad Cards

Former Speaker Dade Phelan is a petty man. How petty? In his very close re-election race against challenger David Covey, Phelan won by just 366 votes.

Why is that important? He authored HB 366 to penalize those who create content that uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) or other editing methods to fabricate a person's appearance, speech, or conduct in ways that did not actually occur. If the Texas Ethics Commission determines that this might alter the outcome of an election without some disclosure, then fines come into play.

That's why this was known as the "meme bill."

HB 366 would create a Class A misdemeanor, which can result in up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine. This penalty is harsher than what Texas imposes for many more serious offenses, including certain unlawful immigration offenses and theft.

Regulation is often employed to punish those who are either ignorant or incapable of compliance. Big companies are capable of handling compliance. This bill is meant to shut down your voice.

Free speech - especially toward politicians - needs no regulation. The 1st Amendment begins "Congress shall make no law..." Here in America, let's be American and not Soviet.

[Note: Rep. Andy Hopper introduced an amendment that would have ensured that the bill would "not apply to political advertising for which the subject of the advertising is a member of the legislature." The amendment failed. Thankfully, Phelan's bill did as well when it got to the Senate.]

GOP Platform Conflict: Principle 1 upholds constitutional free speech protections.

RV#982: Yea 102 (R 43, D 59) - Nay 40 (R 40, D 0)
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Yea - Allen; Anchia; Ashby; Barry; Bell, C.; Bell, K.; Bhojani; Bowers; Bryant; Buckley; Bucy; Button; Campos; Canales; Capriglione; Cole; Collier; Cortez; Craddick; Cunningham; Curry; Darby; Davis, A.; Davis, Y.; Dean; DeAyala; Dutton; Dyson; Fairly; Flores; Frank; Gamez; Garcia Hernandez; Garcia, J.; Garcia, L.; Gerdes; Geren; Gervin-Hawkins; Gonzalez, J.; Gonzalez, M.; Goodwin; Guerra; Guillen; Harless; Harris; Hefner; Hernandez; Howard; Hull; Hunter; Johnson; Jones, J.; Jones, V.; King; LaHood; Lalani; Lambert; Landgraf; Leach; Longoria; Lopez, J.; Lopez, R.; Lujan; Manuel; Martinez; Martinez Fischer; McQueeney; Metcalf; Meyer; Meza; Moody; Morales Shaw; Morales, C.; Morales, E.; Munoz; Noble; Ordaz; Orr; Patterson; Perez, M.; Perez, V.; Phelan; Plesa; Raymond; Reynolds; Rodriguez Ramos; Romero; Rose; Rosenthal; Shaheen; Simmons; Talarico; Tepper; Thompson; Turner; VanDeaver; Villalobos; Walle; Ward Johnson; Wilson; Wu; Zweiner

Nay - Alders; Bumgarner; Cain; Cook; Dorazio; Gates; Harris Davila; Harrison; Hayes; Hickland; Hopper; Isaac; Kerwin; Leo Wilson; Little; Louderback; Lowe; Lozano; Luther; McLaughlin; Money; Morgan; Olcott; Oliverson; Paul; Pierson; Richardson; Schatzline; Schofield; Shofner; Slawson; Smithee; Spiller; Swanson; Tinderholt; Toth; Troxclair; Vasut; Virdell; Wharton

Present, Not Voting - Burrows

(Bill summary provided in part by Texas Policy Research)