Texas is Suing California Over New Law That Bans State-Funded Travel To Anti-LGBTQ States
It’s been a big term for state-on-state clashes at the Supreme Court. The justices could hand down an opinion any day now in California v. Texas, a major Affordable Care Act case that pitted Republican state attorneys general against their Democratic counterparts over the individual mandate penalty. More recently, and more notoriously, Texas filed a lawsuit directly to the Supreme Court to overturn election results in six states won by President Biden, which the justices unanimously rejected.
Right now, the justices are considering whether to take up another dispute between California and Texas. At issue is a California ban on state-funded travel to states, including Texas, that passed laws permitting discrimination against gay and transgender Americans. Texas is suing to overturn that ban and essentially force California to fund official business trips to the Lone Star State. It’s unclear whether the justices will ultimately agree to hear the case or rule in Texas’s favor. But it provides a revealing glimpse into how some Republican state attorneys general, and particularly Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, think the Constitution should work.
