By Benjamin Wise
My name is Benjamin Wise and I will be writing about the bills that I heard about in court today. Today, I went to the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas. Inside the Capitol, there are many different places. The place I went to is in the Senate chamber where they pass bills. When I first got here, to the Senate chamber in the Capitol, they were talking about a bill they wanted to pass for people who work outside to keep them from overheating. One of the main things about this bill is that they wanted thermometers on the job site to measure the heat and also to have water on the site just to keep people from overheating and mandatory breaks for work to keep them from overheating and if workers don’t get this then the company will be fined with a class C misdemeanor. They also wanted small cups of water for the workers to drink whenever they got too hot. Also, they said that they could get water bottles but right now they get small cups for their mandatory break. The person passing the bill wanted a 20-minute break for the workers because that was enough time for them to cool down and drink some water. The author of the bill said that above 90 degrees is considered extreme heat and that that’s enough to take a break. However, someone countered him and said that they think 90 degrees isn’t too much and that workers can still overheat at around 80°. When they voted for the bill it did not pass the first time but Second vote when they did a recount the bill passed.
The second bill they talked about was about circumcision. The author of the bill said that Jewish babies should be allowed to be circumcised. Many people did not agree with him. They said that being circumcised can lead to many sexual diseases and normal diseases as well. However, the author said that being circumcised gives you benefits. Another argument they had is that babies can’t give consent to have circumcisions and they said that once you turn 18 you should be able to choose if you want to get circumcised. The bill did not pass.
For the third and final bill, the author proposed that all private and public school teachers must be first aid and CPR certified. One of their arguments was that when professionals arrive to try and save a student who has something wrong with them it could be too late for that child and a teacher who is first aid or CPR satisfied could save peoples lives. They said that it is a situation you would not want to be in but if it does happen it’s always good to be prepared. The bill didn’t pass.