The Texas Insider

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Happy Wednesday!

Written by: Jay Williamson

Statewide News Round-Up

House Committees are expected to be announced this week, which will pick up the pace of the legislature. Something to watch is the number of Democratic Chairs appointed by Speaker Phelan (R-Beaumont), which has been a significant point of contention between conservative factions in the House GOP. 

Governor Abbott has announced his State of the State (Governor's version of the State of the Union) for February 16th in San Marcos. The Governor will update Texans on his priorities for the 88th Legislative Session and outline his plans for building the Texas of tomorrow. Depending on Abbott's priorities, he may use this time to declare his "emergency items," which are the only issues the legislature can vote on in the first sixty days of the session. The address will air on 16 Nexstar television stations across the state. (Official press release)

Abbott has also sent a letter to President Joe Biden requesting a Presidential Disaster Declaration for counties in Southeast Texas impacted by severe storms and tornadoes January 23rd-25th. (Official press release)

The Texas' teacher pension fund has officially divested from investment firms accused of "boycotting" the oil and gas industry. Almost 2 million educators and retirees participate in the pension fund, which is worth about $173 billion. (The sixth-largest such pension fund in the US) This comes in the wake of a 2021 law prohibiting state funds from investing in companies that divest from oil, natural gas, and coal companies. It's yet to be seen the potential impact on the fund or how many assets were divested. (More here)

Senator Charles Schwertner was arrested in Austin just after 2 a.m. Tuesday on a DWI charge. Schwertner is an Orthopedic Surgeon based in Georgetown and the current chair of the Senate Committee on Business & Commerce. (More here)

During a recent press conference, Senator Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) unveiled a new slate of proposals to address school safety following the Uvalde massacre. The legislation would require The Texas Department of Public Safety to create robust mass shooting response training for all public safety entities, improve radio infrastructure for communication between public safety entities, and replace a Confederate monument with a memorial to honor victims and survivors of mass gun violence. (More detail on his proposals)

Texas House Democrats are set to caucus Wednesday morning regarding school vouchers.

Tuesday, Representative Salman Bhojani (D-Euless) hosted a press conference to announce a bipartisan bill package he designated as the "Religious Freedom Agenda." Bhojani and Representative Jacey Jetton (R-Fort Bend) highlighted the importance of promoting religious diversity in Texas and ensuring that Texans of all religions have equal holidays and protections. The three bills announced were HB 1882, HB 1883, and HB 1884. These bills would, among other things, expand the persons authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony, as well as the "optional holidays" to include All Saints Day, Passover, and more.

The Legislative Black Caucus laid out legislative priorities for the 88th session. Representative Shawn Thierry (D-Houston) spoke on proposals to end the disproportionate rates of maternal mortality affecting black women in Texas. Some data mentioned: "And highlighted that Black women (with a college degree) are at 60% higher risk of maternal death than White or Hispanic women with a high school education. The state is ranked in the bottom ten nationally for maternal mortality."

• Prohibiting arrests of fine-only offenses.

• Establishing a disciplinary matrix for police officers to hold them accountable.

• Giving police departments better data as it relates to hiring officers.

Some other issues mentioned by members related to expanding financial aid for college students and, in general, ensuring a targeted approach to all legislation that impacts communities of color.

Early this week, Senator Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) and Representative Jeff Leach (R-Allen) both filed legislation to legalize sports gambling in Texas. (More on the gambling legislation)

Austin couple Amanda and Josh Zurawski joined First Lady Jill Biden during Tuesday's State of the Union address. Zurawski nearly died after being denied medical intervention because of Texas' abortion laws. They'll highlight the administration's desire to address abortion access. Zurawski's water broke when only 18 weeks pregnant, despite the fetus being unable to survive. Her doctor refused to induce labor, ultimately resulting in her developing sepsis. (More on her story here)

Legislative Report

Over 2,792 bills have been filed as of 2/08/23.

110 days till Sine Die (Last day of the legislative session)

30 days till bill filing deadline

State Budget 

Senate Finance is continuing to meet on the state budget this week, and we'll provide a review on Friday.

Elections

HB 1944 by Representative Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston)would allow a person occupying a voting station to use a wireless communication device to access ballot or candidate information downloaded before the person entered the polling place.

HB 1451 by Representative Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) would create an online voter registration system managed by the Secretary of State. Persons interested in registering could complete a digital application over the internet where they would provide some form of state-accepted identification. 

Education

HB 2012 by Representative Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) would add protections for any teacher at a public school or institution of higher education by not letting them be prohibited from displaying the national motto. 

HB 2009 by Representative Steve Allison (R-San Antonio)would require each school district or open-enrollment charter school to implement a mobile panic alert system to send emergency alerts that would, among other things, notify the nearest first responders and allow coordination between public safety agencies. 

SB 763 by Senator Middleton (R-Galveston) would allow school districts to employ a chaplain instead of a school counselor to perform the duties of a school counselor. Chaplains employed under this subsection would not be required to be certified by the State Board of Education. 

Energy

HB 1984 by Representative Cody Vasut (R-Brazoria) would require the Public Utility Commission to establish a reasonable allowance for capital costs incurred by interconnecting generation and electric energy storage resources within the ERCOT transmission system. The generation or energy storage resources must bear any costs exceeding the allowance. 

SB 624 by Senator Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) would establish permitting requirements for renewable energy generation facilities. The Public Utility Commission would regulate this process. 

Economic Development

SB 770 by Senator Tan Parker relates to digital asset services providers. This would add regulation to electronic platforms that allow the trading of digital assets like cryptocurrency. These platforms would be required to refrain from commingle customer funds, use their funds to secure or guarantee a transaction other than a transaction for the customer contributing the funds, and make it impossible for a customer to withdraw their funds entirely. 

SB 543 by Senator Cesar Blanco would, among other things, allow municipalities to transfer property between entities they have entered into an economic development agreement. Before transferring property, cities must provide notice to the public, and they cannot transfer property acquired via eminent domain.

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