Public Information/Open Meetings/Contracts
SB 515 (Taylor), relating to the right of certain public officers to access public information, documents, records, and property, was passed to third reading in the Senate on 5/1 as substituted with 5 adopted floor amendments, including an exemption for personal office space as well as a certain fire fighter and law enforcement personal information (20-11).
SB 1440 (Campbell), relating to the attendance by a quorum of a governmental body at certain candidate events under the open meetings law, was unanimously passed out of the Senate on 5/2.
HB 20 (Capriglione), relating to the review, oversight, and reporting of certain state agency contracts was given tentative approval by the House when it passed to third reading as substituted and with 3 adopted floor amendments on 5/2. The adopted amendments would among other things: provide certain exemptions for institutions of high education and require a state agency undertaking a major information resources project to first to conduct an execution capability assessment.
HB 579 (Turner), relating to notice of certain state agency contract cost that exceeds the amount of the contract, was given tentative approval in the House when they passed the bill to third reading as substituted and with one floor amendment on 5/2 (69-64).
Education
SJR 42 (Taylor), proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation real property leased to certain schools organized and operated primarily for the purpose of engaging in educational functions, was passed out of the Senate on 5/1 (28-3).
SB 463 (Seliger), relating to the use of individual graduation committees to satisfy certain public high school graduation requirements, was passed out of the Senate on 5/1 with 2 adopted floor amendments (28-3).
SB 1030 (Taylor), relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of real property leased to and used by certain schools, was passed out of the Senate on 5/1 (28-3).
HB 136 (Bell), relating to career and technology education and workforce training, was given tentative approval in the House when they passed the bill to third reading on 5/2.
HB 486 (VanDeaver), relating to school district ad valorem tax rates, was given tentative approval in the House when they passed the bill to third reading as substituted and with one adopted floor amendment on 5/2.
Environment
SB 1395 (Creighton), relating to the powers and duties of navigation districts and port authorities, was unanimously passed out of the Senate on 5/1 as substituted with one adopted floor amendment which struck section three relating to certain surface leases and easements.
HB 3987 (Larson), Relating to the authority of the Texas Water Development Board to use the state participation account of the water development fund to provide financial assistance for the development of certain facilities, was unanimously passed out of the House on 5/2 as substituted.
SB 696 (Perry), relating to a requirement that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality obtain or develop updated water availability models for certain river basins, was unanimously passed out of the Senate as substituted on 5/2.
SB 862 (Perry), relating to the award of attorney's fees and other costs in certain proceedings involving a groundwater conservation district, was passed out of the Senate as substituted and with one adopted floor amendment on 5/2 (22-9).
Health Care
HB 727 (Guerra), relating to the use of home telemonitoring services under Medicaid, was given tentative approval in the House when they passed the bill as substituted to third reading on 5/2.
HB 1296 (Frullo), relating to prescription drug synchronization, was given tentative approval in the House when they passed the bill to third reading as substituted on 5/2.
HB 2561 (Thompson), relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, was passed unanimously out of the House as substituted and out of the 11 pre-filed amendments, 2 were adopted on 5/2 (145-0).
HB 2950 (Burkett), relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Board of Nursing and to the regulation of the practice of nursing, was given tentative approval in the House when they passed the bill to third reading as substituted and with 7 adopted amendments on 5/2.
HB 3226 (Phillips), relating to the creation of a temporary health insurance risk pool, passed out of the House on 5/2 (132-12)
SB 2066 (Hancock), relating to the attachment of a hospital lien on a cause of action or claim of an injured person who receives hospital services, was passed out of the Senate on 5/2 (25-6).
Pension
SB 2190 (Huffman), relating to the public retirement systems of certain municipalities, was passed out of the Senate on 5/1 with 4 adopted floor amendments, including a complete floor substitute, technical changes and clarifications, and a failsafe trigger for alternative methods of finance if pension funding does not improve (25-5).
Miscellaneous
SB 16/HB 300 (Nichols/King), which would reduce the fee to $40 for the issuance or renewal of the license to carry a handgun (LTC), the fiscal note on the bill anticipates a loss of $12.6 million in fiscal year 2018 and $9.4 million in fiscal year 2019 to General Revenue (GR), was given tentative approval by the House when it passed to third reading with one adopted amendment (waiving the entire fee for peace officers) on 5/2.
SB 740 (Kolkhorst), relating to the acquisition of property by an entity with eminent domain authority, was passed out of the Senate as substituted and with four adopted amendments on 5/2 (28-3). The amendments made multiple changes including: modified provisions relating to attorney’s fees, striking section 8 of the bill regarding evidence, incorporated changes made by the House, and replaced licensing & education provisions.