Governor Abbott initially released 17 agenda items for the Second Called Special Session of the 87th Legislature. On August 25, he added one more item to the call. When both chambers gaveled out for Sine Die on September 2nd, bills had been passed for every issue on the call aside from UIL sports, vaccination mandates, employment regulations, and legislative quorum requirements.
One bill has been signed by the Governor as of 9/7:
ELECTION INTEGRITY: SB 1 (Hughes) Relating to election integrity and security, including by preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state; increasing criminal penalties; creating criminal offenses.
The following bills were passed by both chambers and are on the way to the Governor for signature:
BAIL REFORM: SB 6 (Huffman) Relating to rules for setting the amount of bail, to the release of certain defendants on a monetary bond or personal bond, to related duties of certain officers taking bail bonds and of a magistrate in a criminal case, and to the reporting of information pertaining to bail bonds.
- Governor’s statement on the passage of SB 6 can be found here.
EDUCATION: SB 15 (Taylor) Relating to virtual and off-campus electronic instruction at a public school, the satisfaction of teacher certification requirements through an internship teaching certain virtual courses, and the allotment for certain special-purpose school districts under the Foundation School Program.
BORDER SECURITY: HB 9 (Bonnen | et al.) Relating to making supplemental appropriations relating to border security and giving direction regarding those appropriations.
SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP: HB 20 (Cain | et al.) Relating to censorship of or certain other interference with digital expression, including expression on social media platforms or through electronic mail messages.
ARTICLE X FUNDING: HB 5 (Bonnen) Relating to making supplemental appropriations and giving direction regarding appropriations.
FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION: SB 9 (Huffman | West) Relating to requiring public schools to provide instruction and materials and adopt policies relating to the prevention of child abuse, family violence, and dating violence.
ABORTION-INDUCING DRUGS: SB 4 (Lucio) Relating to abortion complication reporting and the regulation of drug-induced abortion procedures, providers, and facilities; creating a criminal offense.
THIRTEENTH CHECK: SB 7 (Huffman) Relating to a one-time supplemental payment of benefits under the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
CRITICAL RACE THEORY: SB 3 (Hughes) Relating to civics training programs for certain public school social studies teachers and principals, parental access to certain learning management systems, and certain curriculum in public schools, including certain instructional requirements and prohibitions.
APPROPRIATIONS:
- SB 8 (Bettencourt) Relating to the authority of a person who acquires a residence homestead to receive an ad valorem tax exemption for the homestead in the year in which the property is acquired and to the protection of school districts against the resulting loss in revenue.
- SB 12 (Bettencourt | Kolkhorst) Relating to the reduction of the amount of a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed by a school district on the residence homestead of an individual who is elderly or disabled to reflect any reduction from the preceding tax year in the district’s maximum compressed rate and to the protection of school districts against the resulting loss in local revenue.
- SJR 2 (Bettencourt | Kolkhorst) Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the reduction of the amount of a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed for general elementary and secondary public school purposes on the residence homestead of a person who is elderly or disabled to reflect any statutory reduction from the preceding tax year in the maximum compressed rate of the maintenance and operations taxes imposed for those purposes on the homestead.
PRIMARY ELECTIONS: SB 13 (Huffman) Relating to dates of certain elections to be held in 2022.
RADIOACTIVE WASTE: HB 7 (Landgraf) Relating to the transportation, storage, or disposal of high-level radioactive waste.
