Both the House and Senate convened today. In both the House and the Senate, Gov. Rick Perry announced emergency items for the 82nd Legislative session, which include protecting private property rights/addressing eminent domain issues, and abolishing sanctuary cities in Texas.
The House re-elected Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio and will consider the housekeeping resolution on Thursday.
In the Senate, Steve Ogden was elected President Pro Tempore. In his remarks to the Senate he laid out his solutions to address the 82nd Session budget concerns:
- Must make cuts in Article II (health care) and Article III (education)
- Expand Medicaid managed care program to current fee-for-service areas, including South Texas, resulting in a savings of $4 billion
- Fix public school finance and specifically address target revenue/hold harmless policies
- Address the underperformance of the margin tax
Discussion on a wide range of topics promises to be robust this session based on the bills filed and interim hearings that are now concluding with publications of reports. The topics below should point out the wide range of possible discussions and bills that could be addressed during this upcoming session. Last session, 7,419 bills were filed and out of those bills, 1,459 passed. It is expected that bills will have an even more difficult time passing this session due to budget constraints.
Out of all the discussion, state budget issues will remain in the forefront. Additionally, Sunset will include a total of 28 reviews of agencies in areas such as transportation, insurance, environmental quality, and energy. Agencies being reviewed include, among others:
- *Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)
- Environmental Quality, Texas Commission on
- *Insurance, Texas Department of
- Public Utility Commission of Texas
- Railroad Commission of Texas
- *Transportation, Texas Department of
- Water Development Board, Texas
*Subject to a focused, limited scope, or special purpose review
Below is a summary of the budget discussion and a spotlight on issues for the 82nd Session. Additionally, the House Research Organization (HRO) has published a report of possible topics the 82nd Texas Legislature will tackle when it convenes in regular session on January 11, 2010. Below under the “Possible Topics” are highlights of the HRO Report with additional text and a look at some of the bills that have already been filed.