After a dramatic and contentious passage through a short legislative session, two bills in the Texas state legislature — HB 507, a cannabis decriminalization bill introduced by Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso), and HB 2165, a bill introduced by David Simpson (R-Longview) which would simply strike all references to cannabis prohibition from the Texas code — appear poised to make it out of the vital committee stage to go to the Legislature’s floor. But time could easily run out on the bills, as the present legislative session ends on June 1st, and the body will not meet again until 2017.

Remarkably, the success of the more moderate bill has paled compared to that of the sudden success of 2165, which has rocketed out of seemingly nowhere and passed a critical hearing of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee last week. Whereas HB 507, the decriminalization bill, enjoys massive public support with 61% of Texas voters supporting a similar reform, its path to the legislative floor has been rocky. “It was frustrating,” Heather Fazio, Texas Political Director for the Marijuana Policy Project, told the Leaf, “because 507 got stalled for four weeks” in the Criminal Justice Committee before finally getting voted down 3-2 on May 1st. “But then the following Monday,” said Fazio, “we had a big reversal.” HB 507 unexpectedly came up for another vote before the same committee and passed 4-2.

It was a dramatic win for individual liberty, but an even more dramatic victory followed right on its heels, when the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee voted even more forcefully — by a vote of 5-2 — in favor of HB 2165, which would effectively legalize the adult use of cannabis across the board and on libertarian principle. Introduced by self-described “constitutional conservative” David Simpson of Texas’ 7th District, the elegantly straightforward bill simply repeals all references to cannabis prohibition from the laws of the state. The disparity may seem jarring, but Fazio points to the results of Texas polls on various cannabis policies, which reveal that support for adult use legalization (58%) does not in fact lag far behind support for decriminalization (61%). “We know voters in Texas are ready for reform,” said Fazio. “Poll after poll shows that.” Fazio also notes that Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi), who sits on the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and chairs the powerful Calendars Committee, was absent for HB 507’s vote but showed up to vote in favor of HB 2165, explaining the extra vote in favor.

Hunter’s key position on the Calendars Committee may prove vital to the future of either bill, as time is quickly running out on the legislative session, which ends June 1st. Each bill will have to come up for a full House vote, and have a companion bill in the Senate do the same, before that date if there is to be any chance of it becoming law. Fortunately, Fazio has told the Leaf, Rep. Hunter has assured her group that he will calendar the bills in the House before the end of the session.

All eyes are now on the Texas Senate, which already has a companion bill for HB 507 (SB 1417, introduced by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston) but no companion bill for HB 2165 yet. All Texas activists are urged to contact their state senators this week to urge the calendaring and passage of SB 1417, and the immediate introduction of a companion bill to HB 2165. To do otherwise, the senators should be reminded, is to ignore the wishes of 3/5 of the voters who put them in office.