USA - Texas. Senate Approves Bill to Keep Execution Drug Providers Secret.

Senate Approves Bill to Keep Execution Drug Providers Secret. A state Senate measure to keep the names of execution drug providers from the public won initial approval today in a 23-8 vote. Final passage is expected on Tuesday. State Sen. Joan Huffman, R, told lawmakers her legislation, Senate Bill 1697, was a "practical solution" to the harassment and threats faced by companies providing the state prison system with pentobarbital, the single drug used in Texas to execute inmates convicted of capital murder. A similar measure to keep secret the providers of lethal injection drugs (HB 3846) has been proposed by state Rep. John Smithee, R. The legislation made it out of a House committee but hasn't come to the floor for a vote.