View this email in your browser

The TEXAS Insider

Happy Friday

Please forward this or email us about anyone you think would be interested in this newsletter!

News from across the State

Texas has experienced extremely frigid temperatures as an arctic blast hit the state. In Fort Worth, one man passed away, and seven others were hospitalized. (More here)

More than a million homes and businesses were without power across the United States on Friday. (More here)

The Sexual Assault Survivors' Task Force (SASTF) Issued a Second Biennial Report to the Legislature. SASTF was created in the 86th session (2019) by House Bill 1590. The SATSF is led by survivors and various state agency representatives.

Some recommendations include:

• Promoting access to medical exams for adult and child survivors by synthesizing and modernizing existing statutes.

• Add more training related to trauma and investigations for Texas Peace Officers.

• Link to the full report.

Governor Abbott granted clemency to two Texans recommended by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Here is an outage map provided by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). (Outage map here)

Texas Border Efforts:

Operation Lone Star (OLS) began in March 2021, responding to rises in illegal immigration. In May last year, Governor Abbott issued a disaster declaration across 48 counties along the Mexico Border. This declaration directed the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to use every resource available to enforce all applicable federal and state laws. Most of the OLS funding came during the second legislative session in 2021 via HB 9 by Representative Greg Bonnen (R-Galveston).

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, there have been over 336,000 migrant apprehensions and more than 23,000 criminal arrests. Texas DPS has seized over 354 million lethal doses of fentanyl. The state of Texas began busing migrants to Washington, DC, in April. Since then, they have expanded busing efforts to several cities nationwide. Migrants have to agree to be bused, and the program is costing the state over $20 million.

• 8,700 migrants to DC

• 4,500 migrants to New York City

• 1,500 migrants to Chicago

• 520 to Philadelphia

Governor Abbott has called on the Federal Government to pay back the state of Texas for its over $4 billion investment in Operation Lone Star. More than 400 Texas National Guard soldiers have been mobilized to the El Paso border to deploy equipment such as armored vehicles and concertina wire. Last November, Abbott declared that over 10,000 troops had been deployed to protect the border.

Since then, deployment has dropped to around 5,000 service members as the department has contracted out some duties, shut down a base camp, and sent home some soldiers focused on logistics. Recently the state of Texas was forced to transfer over $359.6 billion from the state prison system (TDCJ) to fund Operation Lonestar through the next ten months. The money transferred from TDCJ was the same amount allocated from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) allocated by state legislators during the 87th session.

Regarding the Texas border wall, in September the state awarded nearly $307 to build fourteen miles of new barrier along the Texas-Mexico border.

The Texas Senate created a committee on Border Security during the Interim, focused on better understanding the scale of the situation and how the billions and state funds are being used. Judging from the numerous committee hearings, funding for Border Security is likely to only increase in many elected officials' eyes. The problem is only getting worse. Governor Abbott's staff has said that they will continue pushing the Federal Government for funding to pay back the costs thus far incurred by the state,

It doesn't appear this issue is going away anytime soon, and the legislative is poised to consider many different approaches in determining the future of Texas Border Security. (Full report by the Governor’s Office)

Looking at the Legislature

Education Legislation:

We've decided to highlight specific legislation in your interests during the prefiling period.

HB 38 by Representative Murr (R- would restructure the current public education funding model. For instance, the legislation would change maintenance and operations taxes to "enrichment." The new-non-revenue Enrichment Rate = (Last year's Levy - Last Year's Debt Levy)/(Current total value - New Property Value.) It would also increase the tax rate for sales tax from 6.25% to 12% in some cases.

SB 205 by Senator Eckhardt (D-Austin) Would allow any higher education institution of this state, after consulting with relevant stakeholders, to ban the carrying of handguns on campus. This would expand the current statute beyond private and independent institutions to include public colleges like the University of Texas.

Election Legislation:

SB 119 by Senator Menendez (D-San Antonio) would create, among other things, a system to automatically register new citizens to vote following their issuance of naturalization by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

SJR 7 by Senator Zaffirni (D-Laredo) Would propose a constitutional amendment allowing persons under eighteen to vote in a primary election if they are eighteen by the general election. (Constitutional amendments need the support of ⅔ of both chambers, and then they are put on the ballot for Texas voters to decide.

SB 260 by Senator Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) Would require voter registrars to deliver an address confirmation notice to voters if their residence is listed as a commercial post office box or similar location not corresponding to residency.

Border Security

HB 884 by Representative Sam Harless (R-Houston) would allow Federal Customs and Border Patrol officers to arrest for felony offenses under state law.

State Budget:

Over the summer, the Texas Comptroller projected that the state will have an extra $27 billion to spend over the 2023 legislative session. This is on top of the nearly $13.6 billion in the state savings account, often nicknamed the rainy day fund. During the recent election, Governor Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick emphasized support for putting most of the state surplus into property tax relief. There are rumors that the surplus will be even more than the projected $27 billion.

The surplus is primarily due to inflation, and high energy prices, creating record-high tax revenues. Elevated prices have increased sales tax revenue and, subsequently, the state coffers.

The state budget process is well underway as state agencies released their Legislative Appropriations Request during the fall, outlining their various needs and desires to improve state efficiency.

Abortion

HB 776 by Representative Brian Harrison (R-Waxahachie) Would, among other things, ban any treatments for sex reassignment surgeries, puberty blockers, and more for minors.

SB 123 by Senator Carol Alvarado (D-Houston) Would, among other things, change “living unborn child” in certain statutes to embryo or fetus and require the physician to prioritize the pregnant patient’s medical or mental health. This would change the current laws to focus more on the pregnant patient if there were potential complications in the pregnancy.

Your Legislators

Representative Gary VanDeaver has filed nine bills as of 12/23/22.

One of the most recent HB 1067 deals with the potential annexation of school district territory by annexation. Among other things, it would change the timing for parts of the petition process. Suppose a board of trustees fails to adopt a resolution approving the detachment and annexation before the 45th day after a petition has been received. In that case, it is to be considered disapproved.

Senator Bryan Hughes has filed one bill as of 12/23/22. He recently signed onto SB 330 by Senator Hall (R-Canton), which deals with the resiliency of the electric grid and already has fourteen co-sponsors across both parties.

Last session, Senator Hughes filed 189 bills, so expect to see more as we get closer to the start of the session.

Thanks for reading!

Slower news cycle with the upcoming holiday’s so these may be a little shorter until the beginning of the new year.

We are still reading through the over 300 page election audit report and that will likely be a major focus of our next newsletter.

Please forward this to anyone who may be interested.

Copyright (C) Want to change how you receive these emails?You can update your preferences or unsubscribe