The Texas Senate preliminarily approved a piece of legislation on Tuesday that would prohibit professors from forcing students to take on certain political beliefs, per a report from The Texas Tribune.

LegiScan describes the measure, Senate Bill (SB) 16, as “relating to the purpose of public institutions of higher education and a prohibition on compelling students enrolled at those institutions to adopt certain beliefs.” 

According to the website, SB 16’s sponsors are Republican Sens. Brandon Creighton, of Conroe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Education; Bryan Hughes, of Mineola; Angela Paxton, of McKinney; and Charles Schwertner, of Georgetown. 

An amendment to it passed the upper chamber of the Texas Legislature with a vote of 19-12.

The Texas Tribune reported that Hughes told his colleagues SB 16 doesn’t intend to censor classroom discussion in higher education.

“What we are not for is when professors attempt to compel a student to adopt a certain belief, require adherence to a professor’s viewpoint, to a certain viewpoint … That’s what this bill is about,” the northeast Texas lawmaker said in the report.

According to The Texas Tribune, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the predominately GOP Senate as its president, said the legislation is a ban on critical race theory (CRT) in colleges and universities across the Lone Star State.

SB 16 is among the slew of bills designed to reign in professors, including one authored by Creighton that won’t offer tenure.

One SB 16 critic is Dr. Karma R. Chávez, who teaches in and heads the University of Texas at Austin’s (UT) Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies.

“My worry here is that SB 16 is a solution looking for a problem that doesn’t exist,” Chávez, who addressed the Senate subcommittee on higher education in March, said, The Texas Tribune reported.

The Senate is slated to hold a final vote on Wednesday.