House: Adjourned until Wed, May 4, 2011 10:00 am
Senate: Recessed until Wed, May 4, 2011 11:00 am
May 9 is the last day for house committees to report House Bills and House Joint Resolutions. For a complete list of deadlines, please visit: http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/gtli/sessions/dates.html. A calendar of the deadlines can also be downloaded at: http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/calendars/2011calendar.pdf
House
Listen to House Chamber: http://www.house.state.tx.us/video-audio/
The House has a full calendar today which includes Fiscal Matters Bills which were postponed last night. Bills on third reading will be taken up first in the House followed by postponed bills followed by the General State calendar. The complete Supplemental House Calendar with all of these bills can be found at: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/calendars/pdf/H220110504.pdf
Senate
Listen to Senate Chamber: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/bin/live.php
It has been reported the Senate may bring up the budget bill today using a procedure that would not require the usual 2/3 votes needed to suspend the rules to bring a bill to the floor. HillCo will continue to closely monitor.
Senate Calendars: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Calendars/CalendarsByDate.aspx?Chbr=S
Spotlight on Bills on the Move
The committee substitute of the Railroad Commission Sunset bill, SB 655 by Hegar, was laid out for its third and final reading on the House floor yesterday. When the bill was laid out for third reading further changes were made to the bill, additional amendments were adopted. CSSB 655 passed the House as amended with 148 ayes and zero nays. SB 655 was passed by the Senate in early April. One of the key differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill is the structure of the Commission; the Senate favors a single commissioner while the House favors the current three. This, among other differences in the bills, will be worked out in conference committee.
HB 2608 by Representative Harper-Brown is the Sunset bill for the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. The committee substitute for HB 2608 passed the House yesterday as amended with 144 ayes and 5 nays.