Elections
Gov. Greg Abbott called a special runoff election for Tuesday, April 21 to fill the unexpired House term of Sen. Jose Menendez (HD124). Fewer than 2,000 people voted during the initial election to fill the seat.
Calendars & Bills Passing Stats
The Senate local and uncontested bills calendar and the House Local and Consent calendars are calendars for consideration of local and noncontroversial bills. On April 9, both the House and Senate did vote take up several bills on these calendars and vote them out of the chamber.
Click on the following link for the House and Senate Calendars.
The Senate has passed 212 bills up from the 98 last week.
The House has passed 57 bills up from 10 bills last week.
Of note, in the House, 173 bills have been reported out of committee and are awaiting movement to calendars, the Senate has reported out 61 bills that waiting to move to calendars.
Budget
Senate Finance has voted out the budget bill with their substituted langue and the Senate Committee substitute for HB 1 has been placed on the Senate Intent calendar for April 13 and will most likely be debated in the Senate on Tuesday, April 14.
- Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 1
- Summary of Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 1
SB 9 (Hancock) as substituted was passed out of the Senate Chamber as amended on April 9 with 19 ayes and 12 nays. The legislation redefines how the spending cap is determined – by using population growth plus inflation rather than personal income to calculate the cap. Two adopted floor amendments changes the bill from requiring a constitutional amendment to instead making a statutory change where the Legislative Budget Board will set the rate and they can use CPI in the methodology.
HB 8 (Otto) would separate state and federal funds into two accounts. As federal funds would not be deposited in GR, they no longer would be part of the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) cap calculation. The fund is also commonly referred to as the Rainy Day Fund. For the 2018-19 biennium, the ESF cap would decrease from an estimated $16.7 billion to an estimated $11.8 billion. The bill was passed out of the House on April 8 with 147 ayes and 0 nays and will now move over to the Senate for further consideration.
HJR 8 (Otto) states when the comptroller acts to prevent the amount of the ESF from exceeding the limit the funds will go into a dedicated account that will be spent only for the purpose of retiring state debt early. HJR 8 was voted out of the House on April 7 with 142 ayes and 2 nays and will now move over to the Senate for further consideration.
Bill text, if available, can be found by searching on Texas Legislature Online: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/
Transportation
HB 122 (Pickett) amends the Transportation Code to prohibit the Texas Transportation Commission from issuing obligations for certain highway and mobility projects under the Texas Mobility Fund after January 1, 2015 – and was passed out of the House with 2 floor amendments on April 9 with 128 ayes and 0 nays. The bill will now move over to the Senate side for further consideration.
Tax Cuts
On April 8 the House unveiled a tax-relief proposal that would reduce the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax to 6 percent and provide a 25% cut in the margins tax. A HillCo report is available on the press conference for all HillCo Clients who have log in credentials.
Health Care
The House Insurance Committee met on April 8 and heard multiple bills related to in and out-of-network provider issues as well as balance billing. Some of the bills attempt to expand the availability of mediation for balance bills while some attempt to address out-of-network provider reimbursement. The committee discussed the relationship between providers and health insurance plans and how to strike a balance between provider charges and insurer reimbursement in order to ease the financial burden on the consumer. A HillCo report is available on the hearing for all HillCo Clients.
Education
HB 4 (Huberty) – Relating to a high quality prekindergarten program provided by public school district was passed out of the House as amended on April 9 with 128 ayes and 17 nays. The bill will now move to the Senate side for further consideration.
HB 1759 (Aycock) – Relating to the public school finance system has been set for a public hearing in House Public Education on April 14. There are 18 bills currently set on that agenda.
SB 4 (Taylor) – Relating to school choice programs for certain students eligible to attend public school was taken up on April 7 during the Senate Education hearing. During the committee hearing it was noted the bill was filed as a shell bill and incorporates much of the language from CSSB 642 (Bettencourt). After three amendments were adopted, the bill was voted favorably from the committee as substituted and will now move to calendars.
Environment
HB 2892 (Murr) – Relating to the procedure by which the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality may designate a watercourse as navigable will be heard in House Committee on Natural Resources on April 15.
HB 669 (Bell) – Relating to the authority of a public utility agency to provide water and sewer service and enter into contracts will be heard in House Committee on Natural Resources on April 15.
Upcoming Hearings
House and Senate Committee hearing will continue next week, the latest 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.
The standing committee hearings as well as floor discussions, live and archived, can be listened to at the following links: House | Senate. Please note that formal hearings may not be broadcasted.
Chamber
The House will reconvene Monday, April 13 at 2pm. House Calendar
The Senate will reconvene Tuesday, April 13 at 2pm. Senate Calendar
Video Broadcasts: House | Senate
