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Grassroots Priorities in Committee

March 22, 2021

It’s a big week for grassroots activists as bills dealing with a few of their top priorities will be heard in committee. Constitutional carry, religious freedom, and taxpayer-funded lobbying will all have their day.

Here is what is happening This Week in Texas in the #TXLege:

Numbers & Things

  • Legislative Day:
    • Monday 3/22 – Day 70/140
    • Tuesday 3/23 – Day 71/140
    • Wednesday 3/24 – Day 72/140
    • Thursday 3/25 – Day 73/140
    • Friday 3/26 – Day 74/140
  • Number of Bills Filed: 6,717 Total
    • House: 4,579 Bills
    • Senate: 2,138 Bills
  • Number of Bills Referred: 4,763 Total
    • House: 3,324 Bills (73 percent of all bills)
    • Senate: 1,439 Bills (67 percent of all bills)

House of Representatives (Convenes again on 3/22 at 4 p.m.)

  • Monday, 3/22
    • 10 a.m.: Ways & Means [POSTING]
      • HB 1869 (Burrows) – Addition to the definition of debt for tax purposes to include the requirement that it be approved by an election
      • HB 2014 (Lucio III) – Appraisal Review Board reforms
      • HB 2404 (Meyer) – Creation of a local economic development agreement database
    • 1 p.m.: Culture, Recreation & Tourism [POSTING]
      • HB 1632 (Morrison) – Creation of the TX Music Incubator Rebate Program
      • HB 2499 (Stucky) – Requiring people to wear flotation devices when being towed by a motorboat
    • 2 p.m.: Criminal Jurisprudence [POSTING]
      • HB 816 (Krause) – Creation of a commission to review certain penal laws and make recommendations.
      • HB 1086 (Moody) – Identity Theft Regulation & Business Regulation
    • 2 p.m.: Energy Resources [POSTING]
      • HB 14 (Goldman) – Creation of the TX Electricity Supply Chain Mapping Committee (Speaker Phelan Priority)
      • HB 1520 (Paddie) – Recovery and securitization of extraordinary costs incurred by certain gas utilities and authority to issue bonds
  • Tuesday, 3/23
    • 8 a.m.: Human Services [POSTING]
      • HB 1190 (Krause) – Change to the procedures required before an individual’s name is added to the central child abuse or neglect registry
      • HB 2055 (Klick) – Change to the procedures required before an individual’s name is added to the central child abuse or neglect registry
      • HB 2374 (Sanford) – Requiring efficiency audits of the Department of Family and Protective Services
      • HB 2532 (Noble) – Change to the process by which the Health & Human Service Commission Inspector General investigates and responds to complaints filed with the Department of Family and Protective Services
    • 8 a.m.: Business & Industry [POSTING]
      • HB 1818 (Patterson) – Anti “puppy mill” bill
      • HB 1826 (Martinez-Fischer) – Anti “price-gouging” bill for cleaning supplies and PPE during a disaster
    • 8 a.m.: Public Education [POSTING]
      • HB 2557 (Rogers) – School Security Volunteer Program
  • Wednesday, 3/24
    • 8 a.m.: Public Health [POSTING]
      • HB 2029 (Klick) – Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Licensing
    • 10:30 a.m.: Licensing & Administrative Procedures [POSTING]
      • HB 2119 (Burrows) – Restaurant & Third-Party Delivery Regulation
  • Thursday, 3/25
    • 8 a.m.: State Affairs [POSTING]
      • HB 525 (Shaheen) – Protection of religious organizations (RPT Priority)
      • HB 749 (Middleton) – Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Ban (RPT Priority)
      • HB 1239 (Sanford) – Prohibited suspension of laws protecting religious freedom and prohibited closure of places of worship (RPT Priority)
      • HB 1487 (Dean) – Protection of religious organizations (RPT Priority)
      • HB 1691 (Tinderholt) – Protection of religious freedoms and religious institutions during a declared state of disaster (RPT Priority)
      • HB 1950 (Slawson) – Texas Public Safety Protection Act
      • HCR 1 (Stephenson) – Prayer and use of the word God at public gatherings and 10 Commandments displays at schools and government buildings (RPT Priority)
      • HB 2362 (Harris) – Defunding police penalty (Gov. Abbott Priority)
      • HB 2483 (King, P.) – Utility facilities restoring service after a widespread outage
      • HB 2667 (Smithee) – Definition of telecommunications providers and TX Universal Service Fund
      • HB 3151 (Leman) – Defunding police penalty (Gov. Abbott Priority)
    • 8 a.m.: Elections [POSTING]
      • HB 6 (Cain) – Omnibus Election Integrity Bill
    • 10:30 a.m.: Homeland Security & Public Safety [POSTING]
      • HB 1238 (Biedermann) – Constitutional Carry (RPT Priority)
      • HB 1927 (Schaefer) – Constitutional Carry (RPT Priority)
      • HB 2900 (Hefner) – Constitutional Carry (RPT Priority)
      • HB 1911 (White) – Constitutional Carry (RPT Priority)

Senate (Convenes again on 3/22 at 2 p.m.)

  • Monday, 3/22
    • 9 a.m.: State Affairs [POSTING]
      • SB 7 (Hughes) – Omnibus Election Integrity Bill
      • SB 1234 (Hughes) – Paper Record
      • SB 1235 (Hughes) – Voter List Verification
      • SB 1112 (Bettencourt) – Signature Verification on Ballot by Mail
      • SB 1113 (Bettencourt) – Voter Registrar Role in Canceling Voter Registrations
      • SB 1114 (Bettencourt) – Citizenship Verification
      • SB 1116 (Bettencourt) – Website Election Results Posting
  • Tuesday, 3/23
    • 8 a.m.: Business & Commerce [POSTING]
      • SB 6 (Hancock) – COVID Business Liability Protection (Lt. Gov. Patrick Priority)
      • SB 14 (Creighton) – Business Freedom & Uniformity Act (Lt. Gov. Patrick Priority)
    • 8:30 a.m.: Health & Human Services [POSTING}
      • SB 1103 (Seliger) – Regulation of Nurse Aides; Occupational Registration
  • Wednesday, 3/24
    • 9 a.m.: Finance [POSTING]
      • SB 1 (Nelson) – Hearing on recommendations from workgroups on agencies for all articles
    • 9 a.m.: Higher Education [POSTING]
      • SB 480 (Miles) – Student Union Fee at University of Houston
  • Thursday, 3/25
    • 9 a.m.: Finance [POSTING]
      • SB 1 (Nelson) – Hearing on recommendations from workgroups on agencies for all articles

 

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