Governor Greg Abbott announced his re-election bid in San Antonio today. In the process he laid out his vision to create a better future for Texas. Abbott said he wanted to rein in skyrocketing property taxes, reform Texas’ school finance system, combat human trafficking, boost employment opportunities for our veterans, and further grow our economy by removing government barriers.
Also today, an additional 23 bills were filed as of 5 p.m. bringing the total of bills filed for the first called Special Session to 180 bills and resolutions.
Bills can be filed that are not related to the call but what legislation is referred, set for a hearing and brought to the chamber floor will be subject to the Texas Constitution & both House and Senate rules. Generally, a bill will not progress far if the subject is not related to the call. Items on the Governor’s call to date include Sunset Call and Supplemental Call.
Today's Filed Bills
Education
- HB 150 (Giddings) Relating to the model training curriculum and required training for certain school district peace officers and school resource officers.
- HB 151 (Gooden) Relating to the administration of certain group benefits by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas; making an appropriation.
- HB 157 (Gervin-Hawkins) Relating to eligibility for admission to an educator preparation program for certification in trade and industrial workforce training.
- SB 40 (Rodríguez | Garcia | Menéndez | Watson | West | et al.) Relating to the public school finance system.
- SB 41 (Rodríguez | Garcia | Menéndez | Watson | West | et al.) Relating to the bilingual education allotment provided under the public school finance system.
- SJR 6 (Rodríguez | Garcia | Menéndez | Watson | West | et al.) Proposing a constitutional amendment requiring the state to pay at least 50 percent of the cost of maintaining and operating the public school system and prohibiting the comptroller from certifying legislation containing an appropriation unless the requirement is met.
Health Care
- HB 152 (Klick) Relating to advance directives or health care or treatment decisions made by or on behalf of patients.
- HB 153 (Klick) Relating to the issuance of personal identification documents for foster children, homeless children or youth, and unaccompanied youth.
- HB 163 (Springer) Relating to prohibiting certain transactions between a governmental entity and an abortion provider or affiliate of the provider.
- SB 43 (Zaffirini) Relating to pregnancy-related deaths and maternal morbidity, including postpartum depression.
Local Control
- HB 164 (Workman) Relating to the issuance of a permit by a political subdivision.
- SB 13 (Burton) Relating to the issuance of a permit by a political subdivision.
Taxes/Budget
- HB 154 (Phelan) Relating to the selection of the board of directors of an appraisal district; authorizing the imposition of a fee.
- HB 155 (Phelan) Relating to the authority of an appraisal review board to direct changes in the appraisal roll and related appraisal records if a residence homestead is sold for less than the appraised value.
- HB 158 (Metcalf) Relating to the rate at which interest accrues in connection with the deferral or abatement of the collection of ad valorem taxes on an appreciating residence homestead.
- HB 159 (Metcalf) Relating to the rate at which interest accrues in connection with the deferral or abatement of the collection of ad valorem taxes on certain residence homesteads.
- HB 160 (Metcalf) Relating to the selection of the chief appraiser of an appraisal district; authorizing a fee.
- HB 162 (Springer) Relating to liability for the additional tax imposed on land appraised for ad valorem tax purposes as agricultural land if the use of the land changes as a result of a condemnation.
- HB 165 (Geren) Relating to the authority of a district court to hear and determine certain ad valorem tax appeals.
Other
- HB 156 (Isaac) Relating to payroll deductions for state and local government employee organizations.
- HB 161 (Pickett) Relating to the authority of a county to end a low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and accelerated vehicle retirement program in the county.
- SB 7 (Hughes | Bettencourt | Birdwell | Burton | Campbell | et al.) Relating to payroll deductions for state and local government employee organizations.
- SB 42 (Menéndez | Garcia | Hinojosa | Lucio | Miles | et al.) Relating to the repeal of certain provisions governing state and local enforcement of immigration laws and other provisions related to immigration law.