Under CSSB 108, school districts would be prohibited from starting classes earlier than the week in which August 21 falls. The bill first came up on the Senate floor Monday, but Lucio left the bill pending without moving for final passage after unexpected opposition arose to his motion to debate the bill. Opposition continued Tuesday, with Senators Gonzalo Barrientos of Austin, David Bernsen of Beaumont, Steve Ogden of Bryan, Florence Shapiro of Plano and Carlos F. Truan of Corpus Christi voting against bringing the bill up for debate. CSSB 108 was finally passed on a voice vote. Lucio said the bill is intended to allow time for children of migrant families to get back home before the beginning of the school year.
Many migrant families travel out of state to work during summer months.
CSSB 108 will now go to the House of Representatives for consideration. If the bill becomes law, it would be effective on September 1, but would not apply to school districts until the 2002-2003 school year. On Thursday, the Senate for the first time this session voted against taking up a bill for consideration. When the bill was first debated in Wednesday's session, several senators argued that it did not do enough to protect consumers, leading Carona to leave the bill pending. El Paso Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, among others, expressed concerns that the bill did not go far enough to protect consumers.