The House and Senate will reconvene on Monday, April 29 at 10am and 11am respectively.
Video Broadcasts: House | Senate
Calendar: House | Senate
Upcoming Committee Hearings: Legislative News from Texas
Key Dates of Interest Coming Up
Monday, May 6 (119th Day) – The last day for House Committees to report HBs & HJRs
Dates of Interest
29 days until Sine Die – May End of Session Deadlines
Budget
The House and Senate Conferees for HB 1 met on Tuesday, April 23 for an organizational hearing and to hear from the legislative budget board (LBB). Initial Issue Dockets and Rider Comparisons & Summary of Differences for House Bill 1 are now available on the LBB site.
Leading up the various articles will be:
Rep. Longoria and Sen. Huffman will be on Article I, IV, V.
Rep. Davis and Sen. Kolkhorst will be on Article II.
Rep. G. Bonnen and Sen. Taylor will be on Article III.
Rep. Walle and Sen. Nichols will be on Articles VI, VII, and VIII.
Property Tax Legislation
HB 2 (Burrows) came up on the House calendar last week and was postponed on the calendar until April 30. SB 2 (Bettencourt) which came out of the Senate earlier in the month was voted out of the House Committee on Ways and Means favorably as substituted (8 ayes -3 nays) on April 25 and it can now be substituted for HB 2 which, as noted above, is on the Tuesday House floor calendar.
School Finance Legislation
HB 3 (Huberty) was taken up in Senate Education on Thursday, April 25. Highlights of the legislation laid out include but are not limited to: Raising the basic allotment to $5,880, reverse the trend of declining state share and recapture, resources to implement a full day high quality pre-K, and reforming the STAAR test.
For more details click on the read more link below the Senate Education article below. After almost eight hours of testimony the bill was left pending. Sen. Taylor noted the bill could be voted out of committee either this week or next.
Sunset Bills
The Sunset Bill for the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission (TABC) HB 1545 (Paddie) was voted out of the House on April 26 as substituted with 5 floor amendments (137 ayes – 1 nay). The bill will now move over to the Senate side for further deliberation. The Sunset safety net bill on the Senate side SB 619 (Birdwell) has been placed on the Senate Intent Calendar. The companion bill is in committee on the House side.