The Texas Insider

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Happy Friday!

Written by: Jay Williamson

Statewide News Round-Up

Thursday afternoon, Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) released a statement announcing the session's first slate of Texas House priorities. The four bills he focused on were:

• House Bill (HB) 4 by Representative Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake) would grant Texans new online rights, including the ability to crack down on how companies collect and profit from their personal data. "Texas Data Privacy and Security Act"

• HB 12 by Representative Toni Rose (D-Dallas) would extend Medicaid eligibility to mothers in Texas a year after their child's delivery, significantly increasing the length of time moms can access critical postpartum health coverage.

• HB 18 by Representative Shelby Slawson (R-Stephenville) would give Texas parents tools to stop addictive social media algorithms and prevent companies from collecting private information about their children. "Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act"

• HB 300 by Representative Donna Howard (D-Austin) would exempt essential baby items, like diapers, wipes, and feminine hygiene products, from the state's sales tax.

In response to this release, the state GOP Chairman Tweeted "Is this real?" and other conservative activists expressed frustration with what the Speaker considered priority issues. (More Here)

Phelan responded this morning by Tweeting, "More to come," referencing an article saying the Speaker is prioritizing women, children, and security for the 88th session. (More here)

Governor Abbott announced the formation of a Statewide Street Takeover Task Force to help combat the rise in "dangerous street takeovers happening across Texas." The Governor directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to address the recent takeovers across several communities across the state. The task force will be led by members of DPS' Criminal Investigations Division, Texas Highway Patrol, Aviation Operations Division, and Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies statewide. (Official Press Release)

This comes in the wake of a recent takeover in Austin last week that saw a police officer hospitalized, damage to numerous city vehicles, and various busy intersections shut down. (More here)

Abbott also did a recent interview outlining which type of gambling proposals he'd be the most open to. His priority is avoiding gaming operations on every street corner. Abbott doesn't want to see slot machines in every gas station or airport jet bride; he'd prefer a destination resort, sort of like a "gaming version of the Great Wolf Lodge." Any gambling expansion would have to be approved by the voters of Texas, as it would require amending the Texas constitution, which can only be done by a vote of the people.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick will be out of the office until March 1st or 2nd due to a dental issue. (Official Tweet)

Both the House and Senate have begun the bill referral process, which is the first step for legislation and is followed by committee hearings. The Texas Senate will have its first official committee hearing on legislation next week. Senate State Affairs will discuss five bills, one of which is SB 2 by Senator Bryan Highest, which is a Lt. Governor priority bill raising the criminal penalty for illegal voting. (Committee Notice) Other Senate and House committees will have organizational meetings next week, and more should start hearing legislation over the next two weeks.

The Senate Nominations Committee will also meet next Monday to evaluate and confirm the appointments for various important state agency heads, boards, and commissions. Some of the nominees appearing include Jane Nelson, the current Secretary of State, Texas Workforce Commissioner representing Labor Alberto Trevino, Lawrence Bryan Long of the State Public Safety Commission, and more.

Thursday, the House also created a new Select Committee on Community Safety, chaired by Ryan Guillen (R-Rio Grande City). The committee will be focused on the possession, use, sale, and transfer of firearms and ammunition; and associated criminal offenses and penalties as it relates to community safety. (Official Press Release)

The University of Texas System announced Wednesday that it had paused all new policies promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion at its 13 campuses. UT System Board Chair Kevin Eltife acknowledged the importance of promoting diversity but added that “certain DEI efforts have strayed from the original intent to now imposing requirements and actions that, rightfully so, has raised the concerns of our policymakers around those efforts on campuses across our entire state.” UT System and Eltife did not specify which DEI efforts he considered to have crossed a line. (Learn More Here)

Committee Schedule for Next Week:

Monday - Senate Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs, Nominations, State Affairs. House Appropriations Subcommittee, Public Health, and Ways & Means.

Tuesday - House Subcommittee on Article II, Human Services, Insurance, Public Education, Criminal Jurisprudence, Urban Affairs, Homeland Security & Public Safety committees.

Wednesday - Senate Criminal Justice and Natural Resources & Economic Development committees. House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence.

Thursday - Senate Border Security

Legislative Report

Over 3,973 bills have been filed as of 2/24/23.

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

14 days till bill filing deadline

Social Media

HB 2790 by Representative Jay Dean (R-Longview) would require school districts and charter schools to deploy technology disabling access to social media and social networking websites on devices connected to the school internet.

Elections

SB 119 by  Senator Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio) would require the voter registrar of each county to automatically register a resident of the county eligible to vote upon issuance of a certificate of naturalization by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

HB 2776 by Representative John Bucy (D-Round Rock) would, among other things, allow disabled voters to request email transmission of balloting materials via email.

HB 2299 by Representative Justin Holland (R-Rockwall) would increase the penalty for illegal voting to a state jail felony.

Education

HB 2661 by Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston) would eliminate end-of-course exams required for graduation.

SB 981 by Senator Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) would require the State Board of Education to develop training for school board trustees on a parent's rights regarding the education of the parent's child. The Texas Education Agency would also need to design a handbook explaining a parent's rights regarding the education of the parent's child.

Civic Duty

HB 2015 by Representative Jeff Leach would increase the age to be exempt from jury service from seventy to seventy-five.

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Happy Friday!!

by Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston) would eliminate end-of-course exams required for graduation.