Debbie Bush speaks at a rally to support the Texas George Floyd Act outside of the Texas Capitol in March. Her nephew, Marquise Jones, was killed by a San Antonio police officer seven years earlier. Credit: Charlie L. Harper III for The Texas Tribune

Police officials lamented that House Bill 88 could remove that protection, called qualified immunity. Police officials were the main opponents of removing qualified immunity, a court-established protection intended to prevent government employees from frivolous litigation. Until the recently renewed nationwide criticism of American policing and its disproportionate harm against Black people, qualified immunity garnered little public attention. Last month, a conservative federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit against two Texas police officers, citing qualified immunity. The hurdles have been labeled by qualified immunity critics as a Catch-22 and nearly impossible to overcome.

AUSTIN, Texas – Outside of George Floyd’s public memorial last summer in Texas, Republican Gov. Earlier this month in Congress, House Democrats passed the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing nationwide under the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Like the legislation in Texas, the bill would ban chokeholds and address so-called qualified immunity that shields law enforcement from certain lawsuits. He quickly added that measures need to support law enforcement. Ad___Find AP’s full coverage of the death of George Floyd: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), joined by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, elected officials and other Floyd family attorneys, and members of the George Floyd family, will hold a press conference Saturday afternoon to discuss the landmark George Floyd Justice In Policing Act (H.R. KPRC 2 will stream the briefing live.

HOUSTON – Over the weekend, there was a call for action to combat police brutality and honor the life of George Floyd. On Sunday, the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats, the Brazoir and Beaumont chapters of the NAACP and other organizations gathered for a slab ride. Several elected leaders were also there, calling on the federal government to pass the George Floyd Act. “Our committee will put on the floor of the House, next week -- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday -- the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston). “We will vote on it in the House and with the leadership, my good friend Karen Bass and members of the judiciary committee, we’re here to tell you that bill will be passed.”The slab ride started on Homestead Road near Bretshire Drive in northeast Houston.

HOUSTON Members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus are set Thursday to discuss plans to introduce the George Floyd Act. The act aims to reform policing in the state by banning chokeholds, mandating proportional response by officers and ending arrests for fine-only violations. The legislation is named after George Floyd, the man who grew up and Houston and died while being arrested by officers in Minneapolis. Video showed one of the officers kneeling on Floyds neck even after Floyd said he couldnt breathe. The virtual news conference is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Click2Houston.com plans to provide a livestream of the event.

The legislation, spearheaded by members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, is named after Floyd, a Black man killed in Minneapolis police custody. Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes until and after he lost consciousness. Abbott has previously said he is committed to working with Floyds family on legislation, and has even floated the possibility of a George Floyd Act at the Legislature. The caucus George Floyd Act would limit the use of force by officers, requiring them to attempt to de-escalate the situation and banning lethal force if another lesser level of force could have worked, said state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston. Rodney Floyd, the youngest brother of George Floyd, applauded lawmakers Thursday for the proposal, thanking Thompson during the news conference and saying the legislation has so many great things [that are] way overdue way overdue.Jolie McCullough contributed reporting.