HB 717 presented by Jeff Leach on Tuesday, March 4 in the Texas House

Rep. Jeff Leach introduced HB 717, a bill on Education, to the Texas House on Tuesday, March 4 during the 89(R) legislative session, according to the Texas Legislature website.

More specifically, the official text was summarized by the state legislature as ’’Relating to the right of a public school employee to engage in religious speech or prayer while on duty’’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

The bill amends the Education Code to affirm that public school employees in Texas have the right to engage in religious speech or prayer while on duty. It specifies that this right cannot be infringed upon by school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, or other state governmental entities unless the restriction serves a compelling state interest and is implemented in the least restrictive way possible. The bill also stipulates that it will take effect immediately if it receives a two-thirds majority vote in both legislative houses; otherwise, it will become effective on Sept. 1, 2025.

Jeff Leach, chair of the House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence and member of the House Committee on Public Education, proposed one other bill during the 89(R) legislative session.

Leach graduated from Baylor University with a BS and again from SMU Dedman School of Law with a JD.

Jeff Leach is currently serving in the Texas State House, representing the state's 67th House district. He replaced previous state representative Jerry A. Madden in 2013.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.