There are 25 days left in the Texas legislative session.
Texas House of Representatives
- Convenes at 10 a.m.
- Will consider 93 bills total, 47 for the first time (CALENDAR)
- HB 1566 – State Rep. Jim Murphy (R–Houston) – Extends Ch. 313 tax abatements for 10 years
- HB 4242 – State Rep. Morgan Meyer (R–Dallas) – Extends Ch. 313 tax abatements for two years
- HB 1632 – State Rep. Geanie Morrison (R–Victoria) – Creates TX Music Incubator Program allowing eligible music venues and music festival promoters to apply for a rebate of mixed beverage gross receipts and sales taxes paid for up to $100K. It has a negative fiscal note of $20M+. Its Senate companion, SB 609 – State Sen. Carol Alvarado (D–Houston), will likely be substituted as it passed the Senate a few weeks ago.
- HB 1396 – State Rep. James White (R–Hillister) – Omnibus law enforcement reform bill modeled off of concepts included in former President Trump’s executive order relating to “Safe Policing for Safe Communities”
- HB 1683 – State Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R–Odessa) – Prohibits the enforcement at the state level of any federal statute, order, rule, or regulation as it relates to regulating oil and gas operations that are not already in existing state law
Texas Senate
- Does not convene today; convenes next on Monday, May 10, at 4:30 p.m. (INTENT CALENDAR)
Legislative Priorities Update: (Status)
- HB 6 – State Rep. Briscoe Cain – Omnibus election integrity bill was laid out and substituted by SB 7 – State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola). The bill deliberations lasted for several hours, causing a bottleneck for yesterday’s calendar. The House had convened at 10 a.m. and did not adjourn until 3:30 a.m. this morning. SB 7 was subject to a few amendment attempts (some of them successful) and a point of order that was eventually withdrawn but caused more than a two-hour delay. It was passed to its third and final reading today by a vote of 81 in favor and 64 in opposition. Assuming passage today, it will almost inevitably go to a conference committee, where it is unclear what its final prospects are. (Gov. Abbott priority)
- HB 1900 – State Rep. Craig Goldman (R–Ft. Worth) – After initially being postponed and recommitted last week due to a technical issue on the bill, it was finally heard yesterday on second reading. The bill deals with punishing local governments that “defund” law enforcement. It was passed to its final reading today by a vote of 91 in favor and 55 in opposition. (Gov. Abbott priority)