Campus free speech bills advanced around the country -- but Texas' bills died in committee

Keep going for more images from Richard Spencer's controversial speech at Texas A&M.

Students sing the Aggie War Hymn in front of riot police outside the Memorial Student Center as they protest white nationalist Richard Spencer speaking at Texas A&M University Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016 in College Station. less Keep going for more images from Richard Spencer's controversial speech at Texas A&M.

Students sing the Aggie War Hymn in front of riot police outside the Memorial Student Center as they protest white ... more Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 66 Caption Close Campus free speech bills advanced around the country -- but Texas' bills died in committee 1 / 66 Back to Gallery

Texas students won’t return to campus next month with new guidance from state lawmakers regulating free speech, an issue that has wracked private and public universities nationwide this year.

As protests broke out on campuses from Vermont to California, administrators, students and lawmakers wondered: When a college brings a controversial speaker to campus, what protections are in place to make sure the event proceeds smoothly?

Bills in Austin didn’t advance to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk this session, but state governments in Utah and Virginia passed legislation on campus speech. In Utah, the legislation reaffirmed policies that were in place at colleges and universities with HB 54, and Virginia’s bill explicitly extended First Amendment protections to invited campus speakers. Tennessee also passed a thorough campus speech law.

HoustonChronicle.com: Campuses face tension between free expression and displays of hate

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards last week vetoed that state’s bill on campus speech, calling it unnecessary because of the First Amendment, according to the Times-Picayune.

Story continues below...

Partially inspiring the wave of legislation is a proposal from libertarian, Arizona-based think tank the Goldwater Institute that was released in January. The “model legislation” prohibits college administrators from disinviting speakers and would sanction anyone who interferes with free speech. Trustees, the institute said, would need to issue an annual report to politicians and the public on how administrators handled free-speech issues.

“What we've seen is that universities haven't really taken this seriously and discipline students who engage in these sorts of belligerent protests that are designed not to present an alternative viewpoint, but to shut down the speaker," Jim Manley, the proposed bill’s writer, told NPR.

DECLINES: Fewer international students choose to enroll at Texas colleges

Texas lawmakers had introduced bills in both chambers. Sen. Dawn Buckingham’s SB 1151, which passed out of the state Senate but died in a House committee, would require universities to adopt policies that guarantees a student’s right to expressive activity, defined as any speech protected by the First Amendment of the Texas Constitution.

“We are seeing cases in which we believe student rights have been infringed,” Buckingham said in an April hearing.

Rep. Briscoe Cain's HB 2527 also died in a House higher education committee. It outlined how students who believed his or her free-speech rights had been violated could seek justice.

RELATED: Texas A&M supports free speech but condemns Richard Spencer event

"Free speech does not stop at the campus gates," he had written on Facebook.

State governments in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Michigan are considering similar laws.