AUSTIN — A top Republican in the Texas House has confirmed he will hold a public debate on the so-called bathroom bill, but he said he doesn't see any reason for it to become law.

"In all the years I've been on [the House Committee on] State Affairs, we've never seen an issue that would indicate there's a need to address a bathroom bill," Byron Cook, the Corsicana Republican who chairs the committee that will next take up the measure, told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday. "There's no evidence of a problem."

Senate Bill 6 would prohibit transgender people from using the bathrooms in government buildings, public schools and universities that match their gender identity, as well as nix city laws that protect their rights to do so.

The bill easily passed the Senate on Wednesday; its next step will be a public hearing in Cook's committee. As chairman, he decides when it will be debated. He declined to comment whether he would vote for or against the measure.

Cook's comments echo that of Speaker Joe Straus, who has warned he bill could hurt Texas business, signaling the divisive measure will have a tough time passing the House and becoming law.

"We will always have a public debate," Cook added. But "this is not an issue that rises to a level of extreme importance."

The bathroom bill has become one of the chief areas of disagreement this year between the House and Senate. Both chambers are dominated by Republicans, but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the measure one of his top priorities, just as Straus said it wasn't one of his. The House speaker said it's more crucial that lawmakers grapple with how to fund public schools and an ailing child welfare system in a tight budget year.

"Clearly, I'm not a fan of the bill that they're discussing in the Senate," Straus said last week when a Senate committee debated the bill."They have their agenda; we have ours."

1 / 7A woman sits with her sign in the overflow room as members of the Senate State Affairs Committee debate and hear public testimony of Senate Bill 6, the transgender bathroom bill, at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. The bill would bar transgender people from using the restrooms, locker and changing rooms that correspond to their gender identity in public schools and government buildings. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News)(Staff Photographer) 2 / 7Members of the transgender community and others who oppose Senate Bill 6 protest in the exterior rotunda at the Texas state Capitol as the Senate State Affairs Committee holds hearings on the bill, Tuesday, March 7, 2017, in Austin, Texas. The the transgender "bathroom bill" would require people to use public bathrooms and restrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)(AP) 3 / 7Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, author of Senate Bill 6, prohibiting transgender-friendly bathrooms, holds a notebook of stories from people during her research on the legislation, as she presents the bill on the floor of the senate for debate at the state capitol in Austin, Texas. (Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via AP)(AP) 4 / 7Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, author of Senate Bill 6, prohibiting transgender-friendly bathrooms, speaks with Democratic state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., who has said he will endorse the legislation, as she presents the bill on the floor of the senate for debate at the state capitol in Austin, Texas. At this point, Lucio is the only Democrat supporting the bill. (Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via AP)(AP) 5 / 7Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has made Senate Bill 6, prohibiting transgender-friendly bathrooms, a top priority for the senate, speaks with Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, author of the bill, as she presents it on the floor of the senate for debate at the state capitol in Austin, Texas. (Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via AP)(AP) 6 / 7Nicole Perry joins other members of the transgender community who oppose Senate Bill 6 in a protest at the Texas Capitol as the Senate State Affairs Committee holds hearings on the bill, Tuesday, March 7, 2017, in Austin, Texas. The transgender "bathroom bill" would require people to use public bathrooms and restrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)(AP) 7 / 7People wait in the sign up line to give a testimony as members of the Senate State Affairs Committee debate and hear public testimony of Senate Bill 6, the transgender bathroom bill, at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. The bill would bar transgender people from using the restrooms, locker and changing rooms that correspond to their gender identity in public schools and government buildings. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News)(Staff Photographer)

The remaining question is whether Gov. Greg Abbott will speak out on the issue. He's railed against the NFL's warnings that the bill could cost Texas future sporting events, but he hasn't backed it outright or said he would sign it if it reaches his desk.

On Abbott's silence, Straus has said, "Well, I never give up on anyone. It's an issue we'll deal with when it gets over here."

Nearly 2,000 people showed up to speak on the bill when it was debated in the Senate committee last week. The vast majority — more than 86 percent — spoke against it. But their testimony did not sway the vote; just one person, Democrat Judith Zaffirini of Laredo, opposed the bill. It is unclear when Cook will schedule a debate on the legislation.