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March 20, 2007
March 9 was the last day for lawmakers to file a bill without having to seek the four-fifths consent of colleagues.
To date, almost 4,000 bills have been filed in the House and 2,000 in the Senate. Obviously, we don't have the time or space to write about every one of them. So please accept our apologies in advance for not mentioning your favorite. But there are some interesting last minute filings and trends.
Here are some of the interesting bills that we found, organized by policy area:
Taxation. It wouldn't be the Texas Legislature without several tax bills getting filed. These fall into roughly two categories: changes to the state's revised franchise or margin tax and property tax reform.
On the property tax front, there are - of course - several bills that would cap appraisals or make it easier for taxpayers to put city and county tax increases on the ballot for a rollback election.
The key revenue cap bills are HJR 53 by Rep. Ken Paxton (R-McKinney), which tightens restrictions on growth of state and local spending, HB 2553 by Rep. Bill Callegari (R-Katy), and HB 3534 by Rep. Carl Isett (R-Lubbock). Isett's HB 3533 and HJR 2 limit state spending increases.
Two bills address government-funded lobbying. HB 1517 by Paxton requires additional disclosure of the practice. HB 1753 by Rep. Frank Corte (R-San Antonio) would prevent organizations that receive dues money from local governments from lobbying.
Another set of bills pertains to the revised franchise tax or margin tax. Chairman Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) has his own package of technical corrections bills to the tax.
And several industry groups have bills of their own to fix what they perceive as problems with the tax.
Property appraisals and taxation is another common topic for bill filings. One member to watch carefully on all tax issues is Rep. John Otto (R-Dayton), an accountant who is rapidly becoming the House leadership's resident expert on all taxation issues. His HB 3490 would prevent appraisal districts from suing homeowners whose appraisal is reduced on appeal. HB 3491 requires that at least two appraisal district board of directors members not work for a taxing unit. HB 3492 adjusts the comptroller's property value study for the effects of successful tax appeals. The study can be used to cut aid to school districts if the comptroller thinks property is under-appraised in that county. He has several other property tax bills worth noting.
Two other bills worth noting are by Rep. Fred Hill (R-Richardson). HB 3194 seeks to expand arbitration for property owners who are dissatisfied with the ruling of the Appraisal Review Board to more classes of property.
HB 3195 seeks to simplify the "truth in taxation" notices posted in local newspapers that explain property taxes to residents by requiring cities to clearly state in large type that they are raising taxes.
Advanced directives. Another issue to watch is the advanced directives/futile care issue. This deals with a medical provider's ability to stop serving a patient who is being kept alive artificially (respirator, feeding tube, etc.). Under current law, a physician can certify that a patient is terminally ill and beyond the reach of further care. A hospital's medical or ethics committee reviews the decision. If the committee agrees, the physician is released from any obligation to treat the patient after a 10-day notice is given to the family. If the family can find another provider, the patient can be transferred to him.
Some in the pro-life community prefer the "Treatment Pending Transfer" concept, which continues a doctor's ethical obligation to treat the patient until a new medical provider is found for the patient.
Key bills to watch in this regard are HB 1094 by Rep. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), HB 3474 by Rep. Dianne White Delisi (R-Temple) and HB 3970 by Rep. Jodie Laubenberg (R-Parker)
Education. Lots of interesting education bills go into the hopper every session. Here are a few of this year's most interesting ones.
HB 3828 by Rep. Geanie Morrison (R-Victoria) and SB 1029 by Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) set up a performance funding system for higher education based on test scores in a manner similar to that championed by Gov. Rick Perry.
Rep. Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands) has filed HB 1403, with a caption "relating to the structure, powers, and duties of the State Board of Education and the commissioner of education." As filed, the bill helps the board, by reinstating health insurance to board members and allowing the board to hire its own staff. It also voids the term limits that prevent Perry from reappointing the current board chairman. But with a caption that broad, the bill could be a vehicle for all sorts of amendments.
The laptops versus textbooks debate may also resurface this year, though in a manner more palatable to some members of the State Board of Education (SBOE). Eissler's HB 1632 increases the existing allotment system. His HB 3419 switches from direct state purchase of textbooks to creation of an allotment that districts can use to buy instructional materials.
A similar proposal was considered in 2005 as HB 4. The two parts of HB 4 most objectionable to SBOE members were removed from HB 3419, namely allowing publishers to bypass the board's approval process and requiring school districts to use a certain portion of their allotment on technology. The bill as filed does get rid of the state's conforming textbook list. The board has used the threat of exclusion from the conforming list to encourage elementary reading publishers to put more phonics in the books. The Senate companion to HB 3419 is SB 1698.
Another Eissler Bill, HB 3425, sunsets the accountability system and creates a two-year review of it. The review panel is currently composed of the chairmen of the House and Senate education committees, one additional member of each house, one teacher, one principal, two other educators, four representatives of business, and the commissioners of education and higher education.
Transportation. Taking a page from the political playbook of Carole Keeton Strayhorn's failed gubernatorial campaign, many lawmakers this session have filed legislation that abolishes or restricts the Trans-Texas Corridor and future toll roads in some form or fashion.
* CDAs. HB 2772 by Rep. Lois Kolkhorst and SB 1267 by Sen. Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) would place a two-year moratorium on the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) ability to enter into comprehensive development agreements (CDA) with private contractors. The bill already has 98 House co-sponsors and 25 Senate co-sponosors. TxDOT's authority to use CDAs would expire in 2009 in SB 1467 by Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas).
HB 3715 by Rep. Mike Krusee (R-Round Rock) would allow TxDOT to issue bonds to enable the agency to terminate a comprehensive development agreement.
SB 965 by Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) would allow the North Texas Tollway Authority to enter into comprehensive development agreements.
* Legislative oversight, public disclosure. HB 2775 by Rep. Dan Gattis (R-Georgetown) and SB 1375 by Carona would require TxDOT to obtain the Attorney General's approval prior to entering into a CDA larger than $250 million. The bills also direct the Comptroller to conduct quarterly revenue projections for each project. TxDOT must also publicly disclose its contracts within 10 days of entering into an agreement with a private developer. SB 1151 by Shapiro contains similar provisions.
Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Lewisville) filed legislation that would require toll entities to publicly disclose information about its proposed agreement with TxDOT before a contract is signed.
* Limit length of contracts. Kolkhorst's HB 3646 would limit the length of certain transportation contracts to no more than 20 years.
* Tolls. Legislation by Nichols would prohibit TxDOT from converting existing roadways into toll roads. SB 995 by Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) would require the collection of tolls to cease once the project is paid off.
* Gasoline tax. Carona's SB 1929 indexes the gasoline tax to increases in the consumer price index. |
