State Sen. Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) said a recent senate bill did not create a new law, contrary to popular belief. Johnson discussed some of the different senate bills from the last several sessions that had caused confusion for constituents, and stressed the importance of passing effective bills. 

“There’s another bill that had to do with penalty enhancements, an SB-4, that has been said to create a new crime with a big penalty. About human smuggling, a completely different issue,” said Johnson on a recent edition of the Y’all-itics Podcast. “The law has been on the books since 1999, the only thing this bill did was make some penalties bigger.” 

“Now the Senate Democrats, working together effectively, including all the Hispanic, not all, all but one, of the Hispanic Democrats - there’s always dissension which is healthy within a party - the Senate Democrats were able to amend this bill to make it less harmful in cases involving family members,” Johnson said. “The point is though, it didn’t create a new bill, it’s not any new grounds for arresting anybody, it’s not any new racial profiling bill.”

The Y’all-itics Podcast is produced by WFAA and hosted by Jason Whitely, a Senior Political Reporter for the news station, and Jason Wheeler, a reporter and anchor for WFAA. Each week they discuss one recent topic or discussion impacting the state and its residents over a drink and welcome all Texans, natives and transplants, to listen in.  

The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.