Bill

This affirmative bill would repeal the state’s anti-boycott provisions put in place by HF 400. A similar affirmative bill was introduced in 2019 (SF 2880). Related bill: SF 1039.

S 2119, known as the Combating BDS Act of 2021, is an anti-boycott bill that purports to authorize state and local legislation prohibiting state investments in or state contracts with entities that engage in boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns for Palestinian rights. The bill claims that such measures are not preempted by federal law and defines BDS activities to include boycotts of Israel and persons doing business in Israel or its illegal settlements. Several courts, however, have blocked state anti-boycott laws over concerns that they suppress constitutionally protected political expression. Previous versions of the bill failed after activists, media, and civil liberties groups raised constitutional concerns (S 1, HR 2856, S 170, HR 4514, S 2531). 

HB 3257 is an antisemitism redefinition bill that incorporates the problematic examples found in the distorted IHRA definition of antisemitism and establishes the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission. The IHRA definition’s contemporary examples conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism and include “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” The bill requires the advisory commission to prepare a biennial report on antisemitism in Texas based on this definition and to provide advice and assistance to public and private educational institutions regarding methods of combating antisemitism. The law went into effect in September 2021. 

This anti-boycott bill prohibits state investment in and state contracts with entities that engage in boycotts if the purpose of the boycott is to “collectively restrict Israeli commerce or collectively change policy or law of the Israeli government.” The bill prohibits the state from imposing a written certification requirement. Two previous anti-boycott bills, introduced in 2017 (HB 501) and 2019 (HB 493), were defeated.

This anti-boycott bill prohibits state investment in and state contracts with entities that engage in boycotts of Israel or companies based in Israel or territories it occupies. The bill requires the state to create a blacklist of corporations, non-profits, and groups engaged in prohibited boycotts. State agencies may not enter into contracts with blacklisted entities, and contractors must provide written certification that they are not on the blacklist. The state comptroller and public retirement funds are prohibited from investing in entities engaged in prohibited boycotts. This is a companion bill to S. 706. Similar bills have failed to pass in previous sessions (S. 2430, A. 5847).

This affirmative bill would repeal the state’s anti-boycott provisions put in place in 2016 by SB 327.

This anti-boycott bill prohibits state contracts with companies that boycott Israel or persons or entities doing business in Israel or territories it occupies. Contractors must provide a written certification that they are not and will not for the duration of the contract engage in boycotts of Israel. The bill excludes contracts whose total value is less than $100,000 and contractors that have fewer than 10 full time employees. An earlier version of the bill would have created a blacklist and prohibited state investment in companies that boycott Israel. A similar bill was also introduced this session (SB 351). The legislature passed HB 2933 in April 2021, and it went into effect in July 2022.

This anti-boycott bill prohibits state investment in and state contracts with entities that engage in boycotts of allied nations, including Israel, or companies based in allied nations or territories occupied by allied nations. The bill requires the state to create a blacklist of corporations, non-profits, and groups engaged in prohibited boycotts. State agencies may not enter into contracts with blacklisted entities, and contractors must provide written certification that they are not on the blacklist. The state comptroller and public retirement funds are prohibited from investing in entities engaged in prohibited boycotts. Similar bills have failed to pass in previous sessions (S. 2430, A. 5847). A similar bill focused only on boycotts of Israel (S. 706) was also introduced this session.

This anti-boycott defunding bill directs the trustees of New York’s public colleges and universities to prohibit funding for student groups that directly or indirectly promote or encourage boycotts of any allied nation or companies based in an allied nation, including Israel and the territories it occupies. The bill includes boycotts intended to penalize or “cast disrepute upon” an allied nation, its peoples, or businesses based there, but its funding prohibitions are limited to boycotts “based on race, class, gender, nationality, ethnic origin or religion,” which should exclude boycotts for Palestinian rights, though the justification for the bill clarifies that BDS is the intended target. Similar bills have failed to pass in previous sessions (S. 2493, S. 8017, S. 5825).

This anti-boycott bill prohibits state contracts with companies that boycott Israel or persons or entities doing business in Israel or territories it occupies. For contracts worth more than $100,000, contractors must provide a written certification that they are not “engaged in a boycott of goods or services from Israel that constitutes an integral part of business conducted or sought to be conducted with the state.” The bill also prohibits the state from adopting policies that have “the effect of inducing or requiring a person” to boycott Israel or its occupied territories, in an effort to target divestment or other BDS campaigns at public universities. A similar bill (HB 2933) was passed this session and will go into effect in July 2022.