A Texas bill would eliminate property taxes for married couples with 10 children, provided the parents are straight and their kids were born after they were wed.
A Republican Texas legislator has introduced a bill that would eliminate property taxes for married couples that have 10 or more children.
There are several catches: the parents must be heterosexual, never divorced, and must have adopted or had their children after being wed. "With this bill, Texas will start saying to couples: 'Get married, stay married, and be fruitful and multiply,'" author Bryan Slaton said in a statement.
The ultra-conservative, a former preacher and gun rights activist, has also introduced legislation that would ban children from drag events, saying in a tweet, "This is disgusting and dangerous. It can't be allowed to continue. My Republican colleagues and I will protect kids from these sickos."
The bill, H.B. 2889, would give leveraged tax breaks. Qualifying couples would get a 40% property tax reduction if they have four children, those with five kids would get a 50% tax break, and so on.
Married straight parents with 10 or more children would pay no property taxes.
Social media lit up after Slaton introduced the bill this week, with a poster comparing the draft legislation to "The Handmaid's Tale" and its dystopian rule of forced pregnancies.
Texas is one of 13 states that banned abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The new bill was also cited by critics who noted the conservative Christian had previously introduced legislation that would close "loopholes" on the medical procedure, including a woman "performing an abortion on herself."
