Here is a spotlight on what happened today up at the Capitol:
Calendars
Calendars for Next Week: House | Senate | All
The Senate Local and Uncontested Calendar has been set for Monday, April 3 which has 48 bills on it – including these three:
- SB 533 (Nelson) state agency contracting
- SB 864 (Perry) re: the procedure for obtaining a right to use state water if the applicant proposes an alternative source of water
- SB 675 (Lucio) re: development of and contracting for reclaimed water facilities in certain municipalities.
House Budget Floor Debate Next Week
The House will debate both the budget for the upcoming biennium, the House Commitee Substitue for SB 1, and the supplemental budget bill, HB 2 on the Thursday, April 6. All amendments that will be offered will need to be filed by 10 am on Monday, April 3. In the last six sessions, anywhere between 200 and 475 amendments have been filed for the budget bill. Not every amendment filed will be brought up on the floor for debate but it is expected the debate could easily go into the following day. During the 84th Session, the budget bill was voted out of the House after 17 hours of discussion.
The House has adopted a calendar rule for both bills that states any amendments offered that increase funds must have an offsetting reduction.
Bills on the Move Spotlight
Tax and Budget
SB 9 (Hancock) which would tie the spending cap to a calculation that would multiply population times inflation, passed out of the Senate (20-11).
SB 729 (Buckingham), SB 797 (Perry), SB 832 (Estes) – relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects, were voted favorably from the committee on Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development
Education
SB 3 (Taylor), Sen. Larry Taylor's voucher bill, was passed out of the Senate with 9 adopted floor amendments, including one that was a bill substitute (18-13).
Health Care
HB 1148 (Davis), relating to emergency medical services and trauma care systems, was passed out of the House as substituted and with one adopted floor amendment (131-0).
HB 1622 (Thompson), relating to the personal needs allowance for certain Medicaid recipients who are residents of long-term care facilities, was voted favorably from the House Human Services Committee.
Environment
SB 1045 (Estes), relating to the consolidation of public notice requirements for certain air quality permit applications, was voted favorably from the committee on Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development.
SB 1046 (Estes), relating to sources of funding for TERP, was voted favorably from committee on Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development.
Transportation & Ports
HB 1140 (Anderson), relating to the allocation categories for state funding of public transportation, was voted out favorably from the House Committee on Transportation.
SB 28 (Creighton), would create a ship channel improvement revolving fund to fund ship channel improvements, was passed out of the Senate (30-0).
House and Senate Chamber
Both the House & Senate will reconvene Monday, April 3 at 2 p.m.
The Senate will take up their local calendar on Monday, April 3 at 12:30 p.m.
To listen to either House or Senate deliberations: House | Senate
Upcoming Committee Hearings
The latest hearing information can be found by visiting HillCo’s “Legislative News from Texas.” Please note that dates and times are subject to change and additional hearings dates may also be added at any time so you will want to re-visit the page frequently to confirm hearings.