AUSTIN - Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and a state senator on Thursday unveiled the details of a bill that would require transgender Texans to use public bathrooms that correspond with their sex assigned at birth, setting the stage for what is expected to be a bruising cultural clash when the Legislature convenes next week.

Sponsored by Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham, Senate Bill 6, dubbed the Texas Privacy Act, would prohibit city and county officials from adopting ordinances that prevent private businesses from making policies for their bathrooms and dressing rooms.

It also would bar local officials from considering such anti-discrimination measures when awarding government contracts.

Another part of the proposed legislation would require each locker room or restroom in government buildings, public schools and universities to be designated for use based on biological sex.

The bill, which allows schools to make special accommodations, would authorize the attorney general to levy a civil penalty if local governments and school districts do not follow the regulations.

The controversial bill, which Patrick has called a top priority for lawmakers, is certain to develop into a high-profile fight in the Legislature, pitting conservative Republicans against a coalition of Democrats, business interests and civil rights groups who say the measure is discriminatory, will harm businesses large and small, and will put the state at a competitive disadvantage for economic development.

"This is a significant step for the majority of Texans who are alarmed by misguided efforts to shatter our expectations of security and privacy, especially for our children," said Kolkhorst. "Senate Bill 6 may have my name on it, but the responsibility falls on all of us to protect citizens and ensure that their personal and private rights are secured."

No 'bathroom police'

Kolkhorst said the bill is in response to the Obama administration's letter to school districts last year that offered guidance on protecting the rights of transgender students. The letter advised districts to comply with longstanding federal anti-discrimination laws, which the U.S. Justice and Education departments said extend to transgender students, or risk a revocation of federal funds or a lawsuit.

Kolkhorst said she filed the legislation "not to start a controversy, but to end one."

How such a law would be enforced, however, is a topic that has spurred its own controversy.

"Are we going to have bathroom police? No," Kolkhorst said.

She explained later, "There is a civil penalty for schools and other government entities who fail to provide the appropriate designation required by the legislation. This is enforced by the Texas attorney general and is imposed only on the public entity, not an individual.

On the criminal side, the enforcement of this bill relies on individual reporting.

Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office could prosecute offenses should the bill become law, on Thursday lauded the proposal.

"Texans should feel safe and secure when they enter any intimate facility, so I applaud the work of Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Senator Kolkhorst for fighting to protect women and children from those who might use access to such facilities for nefarious purposes," Paxton said in a statement.

Gov. Greg Abbott's office did not respond to requests for comment on the bill.

Patrick has argued that sexual predators may use trans-friendly bathroom policies to target potential victims. However, there never has been a reported case in Texas of someone using a nondiscrimination ordinance to go into a women's restroom and commit an assault. Under the bill, criminal penalties would be increased by one degree if the offense was committed "on the premises of a bathroom or changing facility."

Patrick, who said he had been working on the bill since September, rejected concerns from business groups who say the bill would stifle the state's economic competitiveness.

"We are the 10th largest economy in the world, and that's not going to change," Patrick said.

Economic concerns

The bill is expected to get a lukewarm reception in the Texas House after Speaker Joe Straus said in November that it is not a pressing concern for him.

"Excuse the expression, but this isn't the most urgent concern of mine," the San Antonio Republican said at a Texas Tribune event. "I know the lieutenant governor is very enthusiastic about this idea. Let him run with it. We'll see what the House wants to do."

His office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

A broad coalition of Democrats, Republicans, LGBT groups and business leaders - including the state's most powerful business lobby - oppose the measure they say is discriminatory and will hurt Texas businesses of all sizes.

The Texas Association of Business released a study in December that concluded the state's economy could take an $8.5 billion hit and put at least 185,000 jobs at risk if such a bill becomes law. The study said the measure would devastate Texas' tourism and travel industry, and make it harder for businesses to attract workers from other places.

On Thursday, Texas Values, a right-wing group with close ties to Patrick, argued that states with similar so-called "bathroom bills" have not faced economic hardships because of them. The lieutenant governor also offered a defense of the bill by citing a poll that he commissioned showing support for it from various demographic groups.

Compared to North Carolina

Still, the business organization called Senate Bill 6 "strikingly similar to North Carolina's HB2 law," referring to a law there that excluded the LGBT community from statewide nondiscrimination policy and requires transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificates.

That law, passed in March 2016, has sparked calls for boycotts, prompted the NBA to move its All Star Game from the state, led to performers canceling concerts, and, according to the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, cost that city $285 million in investment and 1,300 jobs.

State Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, promised to lead the fight against the bill in the upper chamber, which is controlled by a conservative Republican majority.

"All Texans want to go to the bathroom in peace, including transgender people. That's why it's already illegal to enter a bathroom to harm someone and always will be," Garcia said in a statement. "We need to focus on classrooms not bathrooms. My district needs bills that will create jobs, not political grandstanding job killers."

The Houston GLBT Political Caucus convened a news conference Thursday afternoon to express solidarity with opponents of the bill and members of the transgender community.

"That bill is a discriminatory bill that is singling out the transgender community," caucus president Fran Watson said in the lobby of Houston's City Hall. "Discrimination doesn't belong here."

Lou Weaver, a transgender man who coordinates transgender programs for Equality Texas, said the bill means that he doesn't deserve the "same equality or the same protections" as others.

"They are singling out Texans who they don't want protected because they think we are 'other,'" he said.

The bill also drew opposition from civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the American Federation of Teachers' Texas branch, and Equality Texas.

"If the lieutenant governor is truly worried about the safety of women and children, he would cease his assaults on women's well-being, repair Texas's moribund (Child Protective Services) program, and see to the millions of uninsured children whose lives and futures have been compromised by our lawmakers' warped priorities," said Rebecca Robertson, the ACLU's legal and policy director.

Cindy George contributed to this report.