top of page
Search
Apr 29, 202332 min read

Bills That Affect You, 88th TX Legislative Session

Summary: Legislative bills and politicking include Patrick Says He Can ‘Create’ Special Session if Priorities Are Killed in House; limits on local regulations aka Field Preemption; water bills and energy bills; an AI Advisory Council; drugs from Canada; organ harvesting; mental health; fentanyl test strips; and more. / State civics is an integral part of Willow Park civics and of Willow Park Civics. WPC is providing a blog of articles on specific legislative topics, during the 88th Texas Legislative Session. We will update and repost this blog as new information develops.

Latest Update: Friday, 28 April, 2023, Friday, 24 March, 2023; Repost Friday, 24 March, 2023; Originally Posted 26 January 2023

Select #Tags for additional articles: #StateLegislation



 

Here are the legislative bills that directly affect you and your family.



Week of Friday, 28 April 2023


• Dan Patrick Says He Can ‘Create’ Special Session if Priorities Are Killed in House, Texas Scorecard, 18 April 2023, Excerpt.“If we don’t get some major priorities that the people want us to pass because [the House] acted very slowly during the session, then I think we ought to finish the job,” said Patrick.


• Texas House approves sweeping limits on local regulations in GOP’s latest jab at blue cities, The Texas Tribune, 18 April 2023, Excerpt. A bill backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and business lobbying groups, House Bill 2127, would bar cities and counties from passing regulations — and overturn existing ones — that go further than state law in a broad swath of areas including labor, agriculture, natural resources and finance. It passed the Texas House by a 92-56 vote Wednesday after clearing an initial vote the previous day. / The bill’s backers argue it’s needed to combat what they call a growing patchwork of local regulations that make it difficult for business owners to operate and harm the state’s economy. Texas’ economic growth and jobs are overwhelmingly concentrated in the state’s urban areas.

• Texas House Approves Local Government ‘Field Preemption’ Bill With 8 Democrats in Support, The Texan, 19 April 2023, Excerpt. House Bill (HB) 2127 by Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) lays out nine different sections of code within which municipalities may not establish regulations above what the state permits. This strategy is called “field preemption,” preempting local actions in whole sections of code proactively rather than responding to individual instances of municipal regulations reactively.







03 April 2023, Excerpt. The Texas Legislature wants to crack down on who can claim their honey is made in Texas. Beekeepers say the proposed legislation is too stiff and doesn’t take into account real-world production issues.









• San Antonio to vote on progressive wish list on abortion, marijuana, low-level arrests, The Texas Tribune, 20 April 2023, Excerpt. Proposition A would decriminalize abortion and low-level marijuana possession, ban no-knock warrants and chokeholds by law enforcement, create a “justice director” job at City Hall and... requiring cops to issue citations for offenses like theft from business of less than $750.

• House passes bill to rein in “rogue” prosecutors, The Texas Tribune, 28 April 2023



• Texas Senate seeks increased penalties on polluters as it renews state’s environmental agency, The Texas Tribune, 17 April 2023, The bill would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to focus enforcement on repeat violators and increase public outreach.



• House passes bipartisan bill allowing Texans to import drugs from Canada, The Center Square, 16 April 2023, Excerpts. A measure that would allow Texans im import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada passed out the state House nearly unanimously passed the state House last week. / HB 25, filed by two Democrats and three Republicans, with 118 cosponsors, passed the by a vote of 144 to 1, with four members not voting. / The bill would amend the state Health and Safety Code to create the Texas Wholesale Prescription Drug Importation Program. It would require the state Health and Human Services Commission to create the program in order to provide lower cost prescription drugs that Texans can access from Canada.


• Texas Senate passes bill targeting organ harvesting, The Center Square, 16 April 2023







Week of Friday, 24 March 2023

28 February 2017




Grid Reform Bills Introduced, TX Senator Phil King Newsletter, 12 March 2023






• Texas Legislature Looks to Crack Down on ‘Policy-Creating’ Public Nuisance Lawsuits, The Texan, 21 March 2023, Excerpts. "Public nuisance" suits have been used by activists and local governments on the left to inhibit the operations of firearm and fossil fuel companies.





• To tackle high housing costs, Texas lawmakers push to build more homes, The Texas Tribune, 18 March 2023, Excerpts. Housing advocates, builders and real estate experts agree that the state simply isn’t building enough homes to keep up with its booming population and economic growth. As Texas contends with historically high home prices and rents, state legislators might try to ease the affordability crisis with proposals rooted in a simple idea: build more homes and costs will come down. / Texas lawmakers have introduced several bills this legislative session intended to speed up the construction of new houses and apartments. Some would allow builders to use less land to build single-family homes, help them get local permits faster and make it more difficult for neighborhood groups to block new housing projects.

 

Week of Friday, 17 March 2023


• Texas Lawmakers Answer the Question ‘What Is a Woman?’, Texas Scorecard, 15 March 2023, Excerpts. House Bill 3883 [Legiscan] by Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R–Spicewood), House Bill 3902 [Legiscan] by Rep. Brian Harrison (R–Midlothian), and Senate Bill 1082 [Legiscan] by Sen. Bob Hall (R–Edgewood) each propose identical definitions for “female” and “male.”


• Legislation Filed in Texas to Allow for Recalling US Senators, Texas ScoreCard, 16 March 2023, Excerpts. According to House Bill 5065 [Legiscan], in order to restore the original constitutional design that U.S. senators serve the best interests of the state, senators would be subject to a recall if there is a majority vote in each chamber of the Texas legislature.

Harrison says he filed the bill because senators have become beholden to D.C. special interests and disregard the state they serve.


• Committee Approves Bill to Increase Maximum Sentence for Assault Leading to Paralysis, ‘Vegetative State’, The Texan, 16 March 2023, Excerpts. After hearing testimony from survivors of violent crimes on Tuesday, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee passed House Bill (HB) 28 [Legiscan] by Rep. Shelby Slawson (R-Stephenville) to increase the possible sentence for aggravated assault leading to a “permanent vegetative state” or “irreversible paralysis.” Lawmakers heard testimony from Brandi Todd, who suffered a stabbing that left her paralyzed from the waist down. She was with her kids playing at the park when an assailant approached her from behind and used a knife to nearly sever her spinal cord. Tuesday was the 13th anniversary of the assault.

• Texas cities have adopted ordinances to benefit workers. Sweeping legislation could roll many back. The Texas Tribune, 16 March 2023, Excerpts. Lawmakers say their bills are needed to provide small businesses with consistent regulations and that regulatory power should be returned to the state. Labor groups say the proposal could undo hard-fought measures to protect workers. Companion legislation authored by state Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock and state Sen. Brandon Creighton of Conroe would place a “field preemption” on the state’s labor code preventing cities and counties from passing labor-related ordinances that go beyond what state laws require. The proposal would also roll back many existing ordinances. Their bills — House Bill 2127 [Legiscan] and Senate Bill 814 [Legiscan] — have already gotten Gov. Greg Abbott’s blessing.

• Texas Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Require Age Verification for “Sexual Material” Online, The Texan, 15 March 2023, Excerpts. State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth) filed House Bill (HB) 3570 [Legiscan], which requires social media platforms and websites to perform an age verification process to access the site if more than one-third of its content is “sexual material harmful to minors.”


• Bills would prohibit some Texans with mental health issues from being able to legally purchase a gun, The Center Square, 14 March 2023, Excerpts. Three state legislators have filed bills that would prohibit some Texans with mental health issues from being able to legally purchase a gun. The bills also would expand who’s added to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and to Texas Department of Public Safety, which would block them from being able to legally purchase a firearm. Identical bills were filed by state senators Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, (SB 1184) [Legiscan], and Joan Huffman, R-Houston, (SB 728) [Legiscan], and by state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, (HB 2780) [Legiscan].

• Unanimous Texas Senate support for divestment of funds from Russian Federation, The Center Square, 10 March 2023, Excerpts. All Texas state senators have signed on to a bill requiring all state entities to divest from any investments in the Russian Federation. SB 1817 [Legiscan] would require all state investing entities, including the Employees Retirement System of Texas, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and the Comptroller’s Office to divest funds from Russia.



• Dispatchable Power Floor, Reliability Fees Among Senate’s Priority ERCOT Reform Slate, The Texan, 09 March 2023, The slate is a broad array of legislation all intended to accomplish one main objective: to build more dispatchable power in the state. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the members of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee announced a slate of nine bills intended to reverse the influx of renewable electricity generation into the state’s largest power grid and “ensure steel in the ground in two to three years.” “We do not want to go the way of other states that have overbuilt renewables to their detriment,” Patrick told reporters in a Thursday press conference. Patrick said the package will ensure the development of at least 10,000 megawatts in new dispatchable generation. The slate requires that half of that amount comes online by the end of 2026.


• Texas Senator Files Bill to Hold Credit Card Issuers Liable for Abortion Transactions, The Texan, 09 March 2023, Excerpts. A Texas lawmaker has introduced a bill to hold credit card companies criminally liable for processing transactions related to abortion-inducing drugs. State Sen. Drew Springer (R-Munster) [State Senator for Willow Park] filed Senate bill (SB) 1440 [Legiscan], which prohibits transactions by credit card issuers who “process a transaction for the provision of an abortion-inducing drug by courier, delivery, or mail service.” The pregnant women for whom the drug is intended would not be held liable under these provisions.

• Texas Senator Files ESG Crackdown Bill Prohibiting ‘Social, Political, or Ideological’ Investing, The Texan, 09 March 2023, Excerpts. Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), who’s been the tip of Republicans’ rhetorical spear in the Legislature on the issue, filed Senate Bill (SB) 1446 [Legiscan] this week. SB 1446 would prohibit state pensions or any agent working on their behalf from considering “social, political, or ideological” factors in their fiduciary decision-making; rather, only “financial factors” may be considered, defined as decisions that would have a “material effect” on the portfolio’s return on investment.


• Citizens Testify for Taxpayer-funded Lobbying Ban in Texas Senate, Texas Scorecard, 13 March 2023, Excerpts. Proposed legislation to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying is moving in the Texas Senate, receiving a hearing in the State Affairs Committee on Monday. A long-standing practice in the halls of the Texas Capitol, taxpayer-funded lobbying refers to cities, counties, and other local governments or taxing entities spending money to lobby the Legislature. Often, it is done in an effort to take on pro-taxpayer policies such as property tax relief and reform or measures of increased accountability and transparency. Senate Bill 175 by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R–Galveston) would prohibit public funds from being used to hire registered lobbyists.

• Texas House Committee Hears Testimony on Protecting Businesses From Vaccine Mandates, Texas Scorecard, 09 March 2023, Excerpts. After years of pandemic orders and costly preventative measures for many businesses, the Texas House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee heard testimony on potential legislation that would protect businesses from having to enforce vaccine mandates State Rep. Cody Vasut (R–Angleton), the author of House Bill 609 and a member of the committee, explained in a hearing Wednesday that the legislation would protect businesses that don’t wish to mandate vaccines for employees and contractors from potential lawsuits regarding disease exposure claims.


• Lawmaker Makes Good on Promise, Files Legislation to Ban Drag Shows for Children, Texas Scorecard, 09 March 2023, Excerpts. State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R–Royse City) has introduced the newest bill that would ban erotic performances, like drag shows, in the presence of minors. House Bill 4129 [Legiscan] would prohibit sexually oriented businesses from allowing a child to enter its premises or allowing an erotic performance to take place in front of a minor. The bill would also allow for the attorney general or appropriate district or county attorney to bring action or injunction against a person who violates or threatens to violate the bill.


• Texas lawmakers propose historic investments to broadband and water infrastructure — but voters will have the last word, The Texas Tribune, 07 March 2023, If passed during this legislative session, this would be the state’s biggest investment in broadband, but some local officials question whether it would make the service more affordable in areas with few providers. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan revealed House Bill 9 [Legiscan] and House Bill 10 [Legiscan], which seek to create the Texas Broadband Infrastructure Fund and the Texas Water Fund, respectively.


• Lawmakers could no longer “double dip” into pension funds under newly filed bill, The Texas Tribune, 03 March 2023, Excerpts. State Sen. Joan Huffman filed a bill Friday that would bar longtime lawmakers from increasing their annual take-home pay by $140,000 by dipping into their pensions before they retire. Senate Bill 1509 [Legiscan] would repeal a provision in state law, passed in the 2021 session, that allowed longtime lawmakers who had maxed out their annuities in the state’s Employees Retirement System to “double dip” by collecting their pension payments while still continuing to work and collecting a salary.

 

Week of Friday 10 March 2023

• Texas bill requiring 10-year prison sentences for gun felonies faces opposition from criminal justice and firearm advocates, The Texas Tribune, 09 March 2023, Excerpts. Under Senate Bill 23 [Legiscan], all felonies involving a gun would incur a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. It’s meant to curb crime, despite the lack of correlation between harsher sentences and crime rates.



• Legislation Seeks to Reform Local Legal Notice Laws, the Texan, 03 March 2023, House Bill (HB) 622 [Legiscan] by Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) would give local governments more options to publish required legal notices, providing greater circulation.


• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and senators unveil package of bills aimed at improving Texas’ power grid, The Texas Tribune, 09 March 2023, Excerpts. The bills would allow the state to hire companies to build emergency gas-fueled power plants, among other ideas for swinging the state’s power balance away from wind and solar.

Senate Bill 6, [Lexiscan] which would direct the state to hire one company or more to build up to 10,000 megawatts of new gas-fueled power generation that can be activated during emergencies.

Senate Bill 7, [Legiscan] which would allow power generators to bid a day ahead on providing a specific service separate from the everyday energy market.

Senate Bill 2012 [Legiscan], which would provide parameters for a proposal that the Public Utility Commission put forward earlier this year to incentivize companies to build more dispatchable power, or at least keep existing dispatchable power online.

Senate Bill 1287 [Legiscan], which would require the Public Utility Commission to set a cap for how much Texans would have to pay for power producers to connect to the state’s power grid — and require the companies to pick up the rest of the cost.


• New Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Bans Filed in Texas Legislature, The Texan, 07 March 2023, Excerpts. This year, Middleton, now a senator, has again filed [SB175, Legiscan] a taxpayer-funded lobbying ban for all political subdivisions. Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Austin) filed [HB3538, Legiscan] an identical version in the House. Under the bill, all localities would be prohibited from using taxpayer dollars to pay for lobbying activities. It’d also create a civil cause of action for which any taxpayer or resident within the political subdivision could sue the governmental entity. The provision also carries a “loser pays” mechanism, meaning if the individual succeeds in his suit, the political subdivision must pay attorneys fees and court costs.


The legislation would also prohibit any county judge or commissioners from using public dollars in serving on any association. The provision is aimed at entities like the Texas Municipal League (TML) or Texas Association of Counties, bodies funded by public dollars from the localities they represent that lobby the Legislature on issues.

• Legislation to Ban Taxpayer-funded Lobbying Filed in the Texas House, Texas Scorecard, 06 March 2023



• State Rep. Bryan Slaton Spearheads New TEXIT Bill, Texas Scorecard, 06 March 2023, Excerpts. State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R–Royse City) has filed House Bill 3596 [Legiscan], which, if passed, would put to voters in the next general election the question of whether Texas will leave the union or stay.


• Legislation Filed to Give Tax Credit to Couples Who Stay Married and Have Kids. Texas Scorecard, 02 March 2023, Excerpt. As filed, House Bill 2889 [Legiscan] would offer couples who stay married and have never been divorced a 10 percent property tax credit. The bill also gives families of four or more biological or adopted children a 40 percent property tax credit.


 

Week of 03 March 2023

• Texas senators, facing criticism, soften proposed ban on Chinese purchases of land, The Texas Tribune, 02 March 2023, The measure, endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott, originally would have banned citizens of China, Iran, Russia or North Korea from buying land in Texas. Under a new version considered Thursday, the ban wouldn’t apply to dual citizens or lawful permanent residents.


• Lawmaker Files Bill Targeting City Leaders Convicted of Crimes, Texas Scorecard, 01 March 2023, State Sen. Hinojosa’s bill calls for the removal from office of municipal leaders convicted of certain criminal offenses.


• Texas’ foster care system has been in shambles for years. Here’s how lawmakers want to fix it., The Texas Tribune, 02 March 2023 Texas legislators are considering increasing the Department of Family and Protective Services’ budget, giving extended relatives more money to care for kids and notifying the subjects of child abuse investigations of their rights.


• Republicans Propose Legislative Committee to Police Constitutional Violations, ‘Texas Sovereignty’, The Texan, 24 February 2023, Excerpts. Rep. Cecil Bell Jr. (R‐Magnolia) and Sen. Bob Hall (R‐Edgewood) filed bills to create a legislative committee designed to nullify “federal actions” deemed by Texas to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Bell filed House Bill (HB) 384 [Legiscan] in November, and Hall filed Senate Bill (SB) 313 [Legiscan] last week. The bills were referred to each chamber’s state affairs committee. The proposed Joint Legislative Committee on Constitutional Enforcement would be composed of six members from each chamber of the Legislature, appointed by the speaker of the House and the lieutenant governor. A maximum of four members from each chamber could be in the same political party.


• Legislative Primacy at Center of Proposals Filed by Texas House Chairman, The Texan, 28 February 2023, Excerpts. It is a common theme across the United States that legislative bodies have ceded, willingly or otherwise, governing authority to the other two branches, or other levels, of government. A two-bill pair by state Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), chairman of the House Calendars Committee, aims to claw back some of that lost ground in Texas — the latest chapter in this political trench warfare.


The first, House Bill (HB) 2127 [Legiscan], is dubbed the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act. Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) has authored the Senate version. The legislation lays out an array of preemptive provisions over local governments.


“[I]n recent years, several local jurisdictions have sought to establish their own regulations of commerce that are different than the state ’s regulations [that] have led to a patchwork of regulations across this state that provide inconsistency,” the bill reads.


• A Texas lawmaker wants voters to decide whether legislators deserve a raise, The Texas Tribune, 27 February 2023, Excerpts. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, has proposed an amendment to the state constitution to raise legislator pay and tie it to teachers’ pay, saying it would give lawmakers a living wage and allow a broader range of Texans to serve.


• Texas Lawmaker Files Legislation to End COVID Mandates, Texas Scorecard, 22 February 2023, Excerpts. In response, Kolkhorst filed Senate Bills 1024 [Legiscan], 2025, and 1026 [Legiscan] to solidify certain executive orders from Abbott and to end COVID mandates. / “This series of bills will put an end, once and for all, to ineffective and crushing restrictions on our personal liberties that we saw during COVID-19,” said Kolkhorst. “One of the most important actions we take is to learn from our lessons and make sure we put safeguards in place for future generations. This legislation is aimed at preventing future repeats of these controversial public health measures, which did little to slow the spread of the virus and did serious damage to the economy and education systems.”

• Disaster Powers Reform Filed in Texas Legislature as Gov. Abbott Backs Issue The Texan, 23 February 2023, Three years after COVID emergency powers were first deployed, momentum builds behind reforming the Texas Disaster Act.

 

Week of 24 February 2023

• Bills Filed to Mandate Voter Approval of Local Debt, Scrap Small Counties Exception for Rate Increase, The Texan, 21 February 2023, Excepts. Two Texas senators have filed legislation to eliminate non-voter-approved debt issuance by local governments and scrap a 2019 provision that allows low-population counties to raise property tax rates above the new limits. Sens. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) and Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) filed three bills together — Senate Bill (SB) 976 by Middleton and SB 977 and SB 978 by Bettencourt — as a kind of “divide and conquer” strategy.


First, the slate aims to move all debt issuance by political subdivisions under the voter-approval umbrella. There are a few different mechanisms in state law by which cities and counties may issue debt for projects without needing to seek voter approval. The most-used example of that is through Certificates of Obligation (CO), of which the statewide total reached $22 billion in 2020. During the last session, the Texas Legislature reformed the mechanism, limiting the circumstances in which COs may be used; this was a response to incidents such as Bexar County’s CO to purchase a 45-foot tall floating head statue and Amarillo’s use of it to build a water park.


• Speaker Dade Phelan endorses Medicaid expansion for new mothers, repeal of “tampon tax” in first batch of 2023 priorities, The Texas Tribune, 23 February 2023, Excerpts. House Speaker Dade Phelan on Thursday unveiled four of his priority bills for the legislative session, which included Democratic goals like the extension of Medicaid eligibility for new mothers to one year and the exemption of feminine hygiene products and diapers from sales taxes, in a nod to the bipartisan tone he has set for the chamber.


Phelan, a Beaumont Republican in his second term as leader of the House, also threw his support behind bills authored by two Republicans to crack down on how companies collect and monetize private data and to protect children from what he deemed “addictive algorithms” by digital companies. Phelan said the list of four bills is a “starting point” for the House of Representatives and that more bills with his support will be announced soon.



• Transportation Conference Speaker Urges Support for Express Toll Lanes in North Texas, The Texan, 20 February 2023, Excerpts. At the Tarrant Transportation Summit in Hurst on February 17, the Reason Foundation’s Robert Poole urged local officials to support revenue-funded express toll lanes to help ease traffic congestion in North Texas.Poole is the Reason Foundation’s director of transportation policy and Searle Freedom Trust transportation fellow. He was invited to speak at the transportation forum organized by Tarrant County Commissioner Gary Fickes (R-Pct. 3).


• Hughes Files Legislation Seeking to Prevent State Bar from ‘Discriminating’ Against Attorneys, The Texan, 21 February, 2023, Excerpts. With several recent controversies regarding disciplinary action by the state agency that regulates the practice of law in Texas, legislation seeking to protect attorneys from certain types of discrimination through occupational licensing has been introduced in the upper chamber of the Texas Legislature. Senate Bill (SB) 559 by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) prohibits the Texas Bar from adopting rules, policies, and penalties that would limit an applicant’s ability to obtain a license to practice law or burden a currently licensed attorney’s ability to maintain or renew their license based on constitutionally protected speech and expressions.

• Abbott Doubles Back, Doubles Down on Outlawing Government Pandemic Restrictions, The Texan, 22 February 2023, Excerpts. The most surprising component of Gov. Greg Abbott’s largely unsurprising slate of emergency items this session is a prohibition on COVID-19 restrictions and directives — not because of what the governor hasn’t done, but because of what he did.


Now, Abbott too is settling in the posture that disaster powers need reform, especially as it pertains to COVID-19 and pandemics broadly. In his State of the State, Abbott said, “People have been coming to Texas in search of liberty for almost 200 years. We must protect that liberty.”


“That’s why I’m announcing an emergency item to end COVID restrictions forever,” he asserted. “We must prohibit any government from imposing COVID mask mandates, COVID vaccine mandates, and from closing any business or school because of COVID. These actions will help Texas close the door on COVID restrictions.”


• Midland, Odessa Lawmakers Announce Similar Proposals To Increase Funding For Energy-Producing West Texas, The Texan, 20 February 2023, Excerpts. Midland Rep. Tom Craddick has filed legislation known as the ‘GROW Texas Fund’ while Odessa Rep. Brooks Landgraf is proposing the ‘STRONG Defense Fund.'

Dueling proposals have been filed in the Texas House of Representatives by two West Texas lawmakers that seek to bring more oil and gas tax dollars back to the region that generates them.


Rep. Tom Craddick (R-Midland) has refiled his legislation, dubbed the Generate Recurring Oil Wealth (GROW) Texas Fund. The two-part proposal works by creating an account where surplus revenue generated from the oil and gas industry would be deposited and then dispersed back to counties where the tax money is generated, largely in the Permian Basin, to help pay for increased costs and meet growing infrastructure and public service needs due to the energy boom.



• Focus Turns to Texas House Leadership on Legislation to Ban Child Gender Modification, The Texan, 27 January 2023, Excerpts. Legislation to prohibit medically modifying the gender of children is quickly becoming one of the most visible social issues for the Texas Legislature to tackle this session. With bills filed in both chambers seeking to address the issue with a variety of approaches, all eyes are turning towards key leaders in the House of Representatives for signals on what fate the issue faces in that chamber.


The Texas Senate is expected to readily pass legislation, with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently highlighting legislation that passed the upper chamber last session and members like Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) saying he is “confident” in legislation passing this session as well.


Not a bill, but your money…

 

Week of 17 February 2023

• Texas Lawmakers Propose Constitutional Amendment to Deny Bail for Violent or Sexual Offenses, The Texan, 15 February 2023, Excerpts. A pair of lawmakers want to let Texas voters weigh in on whether some violent suspects may be detained without bail prior to trial. Authored by Sens. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) and Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen), Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 44 [Legiscan]would amend the Texas Constitution to allow judges and magistrates to deny bail for suspects accused of violent or sexual offenses or the continuous trafficking of persons.


An identical proposal filed by Huffman in 2021 garnered bipartisan support and easily passed the Senate in a 27 to 3 vote during a third special session, but failed to obtain the two-thirds majority needed in the state House.


While there is no federal constitutional right to bail, the Texas Constitution guarantees a right to bail except for charges of Capital Murder or for defendants with multiple felonies. If two-thirds of each chamber approves SJR 44 this session, the proposal will be placed on the November 2023 ballot.



• Proposed Fund Would Facilitate Water Supply Projects for Rural Areas and Small Cities, The Texan, 14 February 2023, Excerpts. Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) will advance legislation this year to create a “Water for Texas Fund” that would subsidize water supply projects for lesser populated areas of the state. / The fund would be administered by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), the agency tasked with overseeing water projects throughout the state. Senate Bill (SB) 837 [Legiscan] and its enabling constitutional amendment state it would be funded by money allocated to it by the Texas Legislature, dividends earned on investments by the fund, and other transfers allowed by law. / While the final amount is not settled — far from it — Perry told The Texan he hopes for $3 billion across two purposes: $1 billion for new water projects, and $2 billion to fix leaking wastewater pipe systems.


• The Back Mic: Abbott Backs Local Preemption Bill, The Texan, 17 February, 2023, Excerpts. House Calendars Committee Chairman Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) received a resounding endorsement from the state’s top elected official for his Regulatory Consistency Act. House Bill (HB) 2127 [Legiscan] prohibits localities from passing rules that exceed that which is authorized by state law. Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) filed the Senate companion.... Gov. Greg Abbott threw his support behind the proposal. “Time is money, and these bureaucrats do not understand that [with the regulations they pass],” Abbott said. The legislation also would allow individuals to sue offending localities in any county of the state and specifically waives those political subdivisions’ governmental immunity in these cases.


• The Back Mic: House Committee Receives Budget Briefing, The Texan, 17 February, 2023, Excerpts. Breakdown of Budget Blueprint. The House Appropriations Committee began consideration of HB 1, [Legiscan] the budget, this week and provided a breakdown of specific items within it. Per documents provided to the committee by the Legislative Budget Board, the $289 billion blueprint includes $15 billion for property tax cuts. That segment is broken down as:

  • $3.1 billion to compress rates next biennium accounting for growth in property values

  • $2.2 billion to maintain previous compression from last session

  • $9.7 billion to fill the proposed Property Tax Relief Fund for new cuts

Outside of property taxes, the budget blueprint includes:

  • $30.5 billion for road maintenance and expansion projects

  • $4.6 billion toward border security operations

  • $2.5 billion for another state university endowment fund

  • $2.4 billion in golden pennies school funding that cannot be recaptured

  • $1.8 billion to supply a 5 percent pay increase to all state employees

• Federal: Sens. Cruz, Capito, Cramer, Kennedy Fight To Expedite U. S. Natural Gas Exports, Senator Ted Cruz website, 16 February, 2023, Excepts. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation... reintroduced the Natural Gas Export Expansion Act, which would expedite the federal approval process for exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) and increase free trade, particularly as European countries are rapidly seeking new sources of clean, reliable energy. in addition to creating and supporting thousands of domestic jobs, this legislation would help to fortify our nation’s energy security, reduce emissions at home and abroad, and strengthen America’s strategic and economic relationship with our allies.


 

Week of 10 February 2023


• My Proposed Legislation: Reining in Rogue DAs, Phil King Newsletter, 04 February 2023, Excerpts. Senator King serves Senate District 10 in the Texas Legislature. / Case in point: should a District Attorney be able to pick and choose which laws he or she decides to enforce? Of course not, but increasingly that’s what is happening across the country and even here in Texas. That’s why I have filed SB 404 [Legiscan], legislation to provide tools to rein in out of control DAs who categorically refuse to enforce the law. Under this proposal, prosecuting attorneys would be monitored by a newly reconstituted Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council (PACC), an entity with authority to file a petition to remove a prosecutor from office for incompetency or misconduct. Confidence in our rule of law can not be undermined by those who turn a blind eye to crimes and offenses they deem unnecessary to prosecute.


• Texas Lawmaker Wants to Rein In Bureaucracy, Texas Scorecard, 07 February 2023, Excerpts. State Rep. Brian Harrison filed legislation to prohibit judges from deferring to state agencies’ interpretations of Texas laws. Earlier this week, Harrison submitted House Bill 1947 [Legiscan] and House Bill 1948 [Legiscan], both of which would limit the influence of state agencies in interpretations of Texas law. / HB 1947 would end the practice of judges automatically siding with a state agency in its interpretation of a statute, agency rule, or guidance document issued by the agency. Instead, the measure would require judges to evaluate the rule separately from the agency’s interpretation.

• Texas Lawmaker Calls for Prohibition on Defunding District and County Attorneys, The Texan, 07 February 2023, Excerpts. In a follow-up to the statewide prohibition on defunding police, Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) has filed legislation to punish large counties that reduce budgets for district and county attorneys’ offices.


In 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Huffman’s “Back the Blue” legislation penalizing large counties that defund law enforcement agencies. The law requires counties with a population of more than one million to seek voter approval to reduce law enforcement budgets. If a county does so without seeking voter approval, then county officials may not increase taxes above the “no-new-revenue” rate.


The language of the 2021 law specifies that these counties may not defund law enforcement agencies “with a primary responsibility for policing, criminal investigation, and answering calls for service,” but last year, the Harris County Attorney’s Office suggested that a district attorney is not a part of law enforcement. Filed Tuesday, Huffman’s Senate Bill 740 [Legiscan] would add“prosecutor’s offices” to the list of agencies that may not be defunded, including “a county attorney with criminal jurisdiction.”


• Bill to ban Chinese citizens and government from buying Texas land gains steam among Republicans, The Texas Tribune, 20 January 2023, Excerpts. Gov. Greg Abbott said this week that he would sign a proposed bill banning citizens and foreign entities from four countries, including China, from buying Texas land. / Filed in November by Brenham Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, Senate Bill 147 [Legiscan] would ban citizens, governments and entities from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing land here, part of what she and other Republicans have said will help stem foreign influence in Texas. / The bill would also prohibit the purchase or acquisition of property by a “governmental entity” of the four countries; by a company headquartered in the four countries; and by a company “directly or indirectly controlled” by a government of the four countries.


• Bill Would Bar Chinese Interests from American Farmland, The Foreign Desk, 03 February 2023, Excerpts. U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, have introduced the “Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act” in the House of Representatives aimed at keeping members of the Chinese Communist Party from owning American agricultural real estate. / “Agriculture is Eastern Washington’s number one industry. We simply cannot allow companies from China to lock down our resources and undermine our farmers and ranchers’ ability to feed the world,” said Rep. McMorris Rogers in a statement. “Americans should not be forced to rely on China for the food they put on the table. Prohibiting the Chinese Communist Party from purchasing farmland in the United States is a no-brainer that will support domestic food production and decrease our dangerous dependence on foreign adversaries.”



• Amount Spent By Local Governments On Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Increasing, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, 02 February, 2023, Excerpts. A recent report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) indicates that an increasing amount of taxpayer money is being spent by local governments for the purposes of hiring contract lobbyists to go to Austin. / The report indicates that upwards of $75 million was spent by local governments collectively to lobby the Texas State Legislature in 2021. Just two cycles earlier, in 2017, that number was $41 million, meaning the amount of taxpayer money spent by local governments has nearly doubled in that time.


• Rep. Schatzline Introduces Bills to Ban Child Gender Modification, Raise Age of Consent in Texas, The Texan, 06 February 2023, Excerpts. Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth) has filed a pair of bills to address child gender modification and raise the age of consent to 18 years old. / Schatzline explained his House Bill (HB) 1532 [Legiscan] as “banning gender modification surgeries for minors by giving the Texas Medical Board authority to revoke the license of physicians who participate in these procedures and remove professional liability insurance, and require DFPS to investigate cases as child abuse.” / Schatzline has also filed HB 1559 [Legiscan], the “Proper Age of Adulthood Act,” to raise the age of consent in Texas from 17 to 18 years old.

 

Week of 03 January 2023

• In Texas’ first post-Roe legislative session, there’s a new political power dynamic on abortion, The Texas Tribune, 23 January 2023, Excerpts. For decades, the abortion battle lines in the Texas Legislature were as clearly drawn as they were deeply entrenched. This session, Democrats are the ones stoking outrage and trying to circumvent the courts, while many Republicans are hoping to sidestep the issue entirely.


A main target is companies that help pay for employees’ out-of-state abortions. Rep. Jared Patterson, a Republican from Dallas, has filed a bill that would prevent those companies from receiving tax incentives from the state.


Rep. Briscoe Cain, a Republican from Deer Park, has promised to file a bill that circumvents district attorneys who won’t bring abortion-related charges. Cain has not yet filed that bill; he did not respond to request for comment.


The Attorney General would also be permitted to seek financial penalties from any district attorney who “prohibits or materially limits the enforcement of any criminal offense,” under two bills filed in the House and the Senate.


“Rather than adopt politically-motivated virtue signaling and blanket immunity for criminals, district attorneys have a duty to evaluate the merits of each alleged crime on a case-by-case basis to ensure the public safety of Texans,” said state Rep. David Cook, a Republican from Mansfield who filed the legislation alongside state Sen. Tan Parker of Flower Mound, in a press release.


House Speaker Dade Phelan mentioned the role of district attorneys in curbing crime rates in his opening remarks to the House. / “If rogue district attorneys will not uphold the law,” Phelan said, “it is time to rein them in.”


 • Reining in Rogue District Attorneys, Texas Scorecard, 24 January 2023, Excerpts. Under proposed legislation, the state’s attorney general would be permitted to file suit against district attorneys, criminal district attorneys, and county attorneys who willfully disregard Texas law.


State Rep. David Cook (R–Mansfield) and State Sen. Tan Parker (R–Flower Mound) partnered together to introduce identical legislation in their respective chambers designed to rein in rogue district attorneys.

    

The legislation comes after some district attorneys in cities around Texas claimed they will not prosecute abortion crimes. 

 

Week of 27 January 2023

• Trustees prepare to advocate for AISD during Legislative Session, Aledo ISD website, January 2023, Excerpts. An important role of school board trustees and school districts is to advocate for their district’s students and staff and the community as a whole. Even before the 2023 Legislative Session began on January 10, Aledo ISD Trustees and administrators met with the district’s local legislators - Senators Drew Springer and Phil King and State Representative Glenn Rogers - to share the legislative priorities of Aledo ISD. / Included are priorities that fall under the following main categories: protect local control, including the rights of local parents and citizens; protect and increase public school funding; support Texas public school students and educators and permit local parents and citizens to hold their public schools accountable; and require accountability and transparency to Texans for the use of local and state tax dollars. / “People are often surprised to learn how much of our local decision-making is impacted by mandates coming from Austin,” Board Member Lear said. “From property tax rates, to curriculum and testing requirements, to funding calculations, it is important we stay active with our legislators to make sure they understand the priorities of our Bearcat community and the impact their legislation has on our continued success.”


• Legislation Seeking to Block Hostile Nations from Owning Land in Texas Draws Controversy, The Texan, 26 January 2023, Excerpts. Growing concerns among some lawmakers regarding the ownership of land and resources by foreign nations hostile to the United States have prompted a variety of bills filed at both the state and national level to address the issue. / State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) is one of those lawmakers, who has filed [Senate Bill 147, LegiScan], which she says aims to protect Texas land against ownership by foreign governments, specifically China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia. / As filed, SB 147 prohibits the future sale of real estate to the aforementioned governments, companies controlled by them, or citizens of those respective countries. / The bill has drawn strong pushback from Democrats, who point to the provision prohibiting ownership of land by foreign citizens and say the bill would prevent immigrants seeking citizenship from participating in the “American experience” and deny them the right to own land. / Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has signaled support for the legislation, claimed those objections are a “mischaracterization of what the bill seeks to do” in a statement to reporters. Abbott added that no one knows what the final language of the bill will look like and restated the legislation’s intended goal of preventing foreign nations that are hostile to the United States from owning land. “It does not impact at all people who are citizens or who plan to become citizens,” he said.



• Texas lawmaker makes third attempt to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying, The Center Square, 24 January 2023, Excerpts. Advocates for banning taxpayer-funded lobbying are hoping this legislative session that the Republican-led legislature will ban the practice.


State Sen. Mays Middleton, R-Wallisville, introduced SB 175 [Legiscan] to ban taxpayer lobbying this session after he filed bills to ban the practice as a state representative in the last two legislative sessions. SB 175 would amend Chapter 556 of government code to prohibit political subdivisions from using public funds for lobbying activities. It also would prohibit political subdivisions from paying nonprofit state associations or organizations that primarily represent political subdivisions or hire or contract with lobbyists, according to the bill language.


Nearly 95% of Republican voters in the March 2020 primary election voted in favor of a ballot proposition supporting the ban, which is also a legislative priority of the Republican Party of Texas. And a University of Texas and Texas Tribune poll found that 69% of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents support a ban.


Currently, state law prohibits state agencies from engaging in taxpayer-funded lobbying, but it doesn’t prohibit local governments from doing so. According to the Texas Ethics Commission, local governments spent nearly $75 million in 2021 to hire registered lobbyists to promote their agenda in the state legislature.


In 2019, Middleton filed HB 281, but House Calendars Committee Chairman Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo, never scheduled it for a floor vote. Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, also filed SB 29 to ban the practice but House lawmakers gutted it to such an extent that its weakened version didn’t pass.


In 2021, Middleton and Hall filed similar bills again. This time, SB 10 was also drastically watered down and didn’t pass.


In 2020, Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted his opposition to the practice being used by the Democratic-controlled Austin City Council. He said, “Austin – don’t even try to defend taxpayer-funded lobbying. It is indefensible that you tax residents to get money that you use to hire lobbyists to support legislation to allow you to tax even more.”


Advocates for taxpayer-funded lobbying argue their efforts benefit taxpayers. The Texas Municipal League, for example, which represents 1,170 cities and 16,000 mayors, says its advocacy is important for “empowering Texas cities to serve its citizens.” Its legislative toolkit provides “tips for grassroots involvement,” how to write letters to elected officials and “testify at the capitol,” among other activities.


But groups like it and many others, Quintero told The Center Square, are able to hire lobbyists “armed with public money” who can “wine-and-dine lawmakers in ways that the average Texan cannot. In addition, these lobbyists can also make campaign contributions and give aid of other sort, making them a powerful anti-taxpayer force.”


• Why Texas Is Right to Try to Put an End to Taxpayer Funded Lobbying, The Washington Gazette, 20 April 2021, Excerpt. The Texas State Senate passed a bill last week that would eliminate the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, and the House looks poised to pass it as well. Few states have enacted such statutes, making the Lonestar State one to watch in the coming weeks. / This has been a long-running legislative effort, with a similar bill coming close to passing in 2019. But this time around, Republican support has grown. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick issued a statement on the Senate’s vote stating, “The vast majority of Texans in both political parties have long-supported ending taxpayer-funded lobbying and it is a top priority for me. Texas voters simply do not want the local officials they have elected to represent them spending their tax dollars on hired-gun lobbyists who often have no connection to their community and may be working against their interests.” / Governor Greg Abbott has also indicated his support, as has House Speaker Dade Phelan.


• New bill would ban certain foreign entities from purchasing land in Texas, [Senate Bill 147, LegiScan], The Center Square, 14 January 2023, Excerpts. A bill has been filed in the Texas legislature that would ban citizens, governments and entities of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing land in Texas


Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst filed SB 147 [LegiScan], to ban certain foreign governments and entities associated with them from purchasing real property in Texas.


It follows an executive order issued by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year but includes fewer countries and far less prohibitions.


The bill was filed after the Texas legislature unanimously passed the “Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act” banning all contracts or agreements with foreign-owned companies related to critical infrastructure in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law in 2021. / The legislature acted after a Chinese billionaire and former Chinese People’s Liberation Army general bought over 130,000 acres of land just miles from Laughlin Air Force base in Val Verde County, the largest air force pilot training base in the U.S.


• Legislation Filed to Ban Chinese Communist Party From Buying American Land, [Senate Bill 393 Legiscan], Texas Scorecard, 16 January 2023, Excerpts. Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Kerrville filed legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to protect American real estate from the Chinese Communist Party’s influence.


• Bill filed to strengthen Texas’ employment verification process [HB 602 Legiscan], The Center Square, 13 January 2023, Excerpts. The Texas Public Policy Foundation and a state Republican representative from north Texas are hoping the state legislature will approve stronger E-verify laws after a record nearly 1.8 million illegal foreign nationals were apprehended in Texas in fiscal 2022.


As people from over 150 countries pour into Texas, current state law doesn’t have provisions that Florida has, implemented by the Florida legislature and governor in 2020.


State Rep. Matt Shaheen, a Republican from north Dallas, introduced HB 602 [LegiScan], which would require political subdivisions to participate in the federal electronic verification of employment authorization program, E-Verify. Political subdivisions, defined in the bill, include a county, municipality, school district, junior college district, other special district or other subdivision of state government.


In 2015, the Texas legislature passed a bill Abbott signed into law requiring state agencies and higher education institutions to register and participate in E-Verify for all newly hired employees.


Currently, no state law requires private companies to comply with E-Verify. Special interests and Texas businesses that have lobbied against stronger employment verification laws, critics argue, do so because they may be exploiting migrants to profit off cheap labor and unintentionally or intentionally participating in forced labor and human trafficking.


Willow Park Civics Research













Comments

Commenting has been turned off.
bottom of page