Bills on the Call

Redistricting

SB 4 (Huffman) relating to the composition of districts for the election of members of the Texas Senate was placed on the House calendar for 10/15.

SB 6 (Huffman) relating to the composition of the districts for the election of members of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Texas was voted out of House Redistricting (8-6) on 10/13.

SB 7 (Huffman) relating to the composition of districts for the election of members of the State Board of Education was placed on the House calendar for 10/15.

After 17.5 hours of debate, HB 1 (Hunter) the House’s redistricting plan was voted out of the House (83-63) with 37 amendments on 10/12. The bill now moves to the Senate and will be heard in Senate Redistricting on 10/15. The current map can be found here.

ARPA Appropriations

SB 8 (Nelson) relating to making supplemental appropriations and giving direction regarding appropriations was placed on the House calendar for 10/15.

HB 160 (Wilson) relating to making supplemental appropriations for education initiatives, institutions, and related agencies and giving direction regarding appropriations was voted out House Appropriations (22-3). The bill now moves to the House floor for further deliberation.

HB 161 (Capriglione) relating to making supplemental appropriations relating to health and human services and giving direction regarding appropriation was voted out of House Appropriations (26-0). The bill now moves to the House floor for further deliberation.

Youth Sports

SB 3 (Perry) relating to requiring public school students to compete in interscholastic athletic competitions based on biological sex was voted out of the Senate (19-12) and referred to House Public Education on 9/27.

HB 25 (Swanson) relating to requiring public school students to compete in interscholastic athletic competitions based on biological sex passed in the House with three amendments on 8/14 (76-54). The bill will now move to the Senate for further consideration.

State & Local Vaccine Mandates

SB 51 (Hughes) relating to prohibited COVID-19 vaccine mandates and vaccination status discrimination and to exemptions from certain vaccine requirements was voted out of Senate State Affairs (5-3) on 10/14.

Employer Vaccine Mandates

HB 155 (Oliverson) relating to exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine requirements was left pending in House State Affairs on 10/13.

Restraint of Dogs

SB 5 (Lucio) relating to the unlawful restraint of a dog was voted out of House State Affairs (7-1) on 10/5.

Property Tax

SB 1 (Bettencourt) relating to the provision of direct relief from ad valorem taxes to certain property owners in this state was placed on the House calendar for 10/15.

Constitutional Amendment on Bail Reform

SJR 1 (Huffman) proposing a constitutional amendment requiring a judge or magistrate to impose the least restrictive conditions of bail that may be necessary and authorizing the denial of bail under some circumstances to a person accused of a violent or sexual offense or of continuous trafficking of persons didn’t meet the vote threshold and failed to pass in the House (75-38) on 10/14.

Illegal Voting Penalties

SB 10 (Hughes) relating to increasing the criminal penalty for committing certain offenses relating to elections was passed by the Senate (18-13) on 10/5 and referred to the House Select Committee on Constitutional Rights and Remedies on 10/6.

Higher Education

SB 52 (Creighton) relating to authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds to fund capital projects at public institutions of higher education was first placed on the Senate calendar on 10/15.

Miscellaneous

SB 47 (Bettencourt) relating to processes to address election irregularities was passed by the Senate (17-14) on 10/5.

SCR 3 (Nichols) urging Congress to pass legislation that would grant licensing authority for public school bus drivers to the states was voted out of House Transportation unanimously on 10/13.