The House is scheduled to reconvene today at 11a.m.*
The Senate is scheduled to reconvene today at 11 a.m. and posted their calendar for today.
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House
Yesterday the Texas House lacked the quorum required to do business (80 out of 150 members). A “call of the House” was issued with 76 ayes and 4 nays. The 4 nays were Reps. Ryan Guillen, Tracy King, Eddie Morales Jr., and John Turner. Under a call of the House, according to chamber rules, all entrances or doors leading out of the hall are locked, and members are not permitted to leave without permission in writing from the speaker. Permission was granted to the members who were in the chambers to leave later that afternoon and return today.
If the House lacks enough members to vote on legislation in the chamber, lacks a quorum, then bills passed by the Senate chamber will be unable to progress and ultimately become law. Additionally, the House will not hold committee hearings since they lack a quorum. As a result, House State Affairs which was scheduled to meet today to hear invited testimony on the electrical grid and energy market, has been canceled.
Senate
The Senate met yesterday and passed several bills out of the chamber. The Senate also briefly recessed to allow Senate Finance to vote out SB 10 (Nelson) which contains Article X funding for legislative members, staff, and agencies.
CSSB 1 (Hughes) relating to election integrity and security, including by preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state was voted out of the Senate as amended on 7/13 (22-0). Seven amendments were adopted during Senate floor discussions:
- FA 1 Hughes & Hinojosa – Defines ballot harvesting as a personal interaction with a voter and paid campaign worker in the physical presence of a ballot
- FA 2 Hughes & Zaffirini – Modifies language comparing voter identification information provided on the mail in ballot application and its secure envelope
- FA 3 Hughes – Strikes language requiring people aside from the voter to exit a vehicle during curbside voting
- FA 4 Birdwell – Temporary polling locations may be approved by the County Commissioners Court
- FA 8 Bettencourt – Training manual for poll watchers
- FA 10 – Creates an “election identification certificate” that can be used for voter identification
- FA 11 – Modifies oath for assistants helping with a ballot
SB 6 (Huffman), the omnibus bail reform bill, was passed out of the Senate on 7/14 (22-0) with two amendments:
- FA 1 Huffman – Six-page comprehensive amendment that includes consolidated bail reports, allows a bail decision to be reconsidered if a defendant is charged with a felony while out on bail for another felony, and charitable bail organizations cannot post bond for those with any priors in the last 10 years
- FA 2 Huffman – Changes the effective date for the portion of the bill that restricts the uses of bond for violent offenses; will be effective immediately if the bill received 2/3 votes
SJR 3 (Huffman) is the related constitutional amendment to SB 6 which proposes 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.
SB 7 (Huffman) relating to a one-time supplemental payment of benefits under the Teacher Retirement System of Texas was passed on 7/13 by the Senate as amended (22-0). Sen. Huffman amended SB 7 on the floor to clarify that the supplemental payment would be funded through General Revenue.