Legislative Services

Senate Sends Bail Reform Legislation to House

Another of Gov. Greg Abbott's emergency items has passed midfield, as the Senate advanced Senate Bill 9, authored by Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), with a 28-2 vote on Wednesday. The measure would deny bail to defendants accused of certain violent crimes, including unlawful possession of a firearm. Two key hurdles remain: passage by a House committee and by the full chamber.

House Committees Ready for Action

Speaker Dustin Burrows announced committee assignments last week, a key organizational move that positions committee chairs to hire committee directors and staff to support committee hearings and the associated administrative duties. Notice of upcoming meetings is available online; automatic alerts by email are also available.

More of Lieutenant Governor's Priority Bills Now Filed

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced the subject matter for 25 of his 40 priority bills on Jan. 29. At that time, full bill text was only available for a few. Most have now been filed and are available to view online, including SB 19 by Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston). While Patrick has yet to announce subject matter for his remaining 15 priority bills, three have been filed:

• SB 26 by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) – Relating to public education, including the rights and compensation of public school educators and funding for teacher compensation under the Foundation School Program.
• SB 28 by Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) – Relating to a lottery game played or facilitated for play by telephone or through an Internet or mobile internet application; creating criminal offenses.
• SB 40 by Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) – Relating to the use by a political subdivision of public funds to pay bail bonds.

County Officials to Brief Legislators on Indigent Defense

In recognition of the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1963 Gideon v. Wainwright ruling, county officials will travel to Austin on March 18. Attendees will join TAC's Tuesday Morning Breakfast, then head to the Capitol to meet with lawmakers to discuss indigent defense issues and funding.

Help Lawmakers Understand Costs

Throughout the 89th Legislature, the Texas Association of Counties will assist the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) in its preparation of fiscal notes — written estimates of the costs, savings and revenue gains or losses associated with a bill or joint resolution. TAC relies on data and feedback from our members to provide the LBB with estimates of the fiscal impact of proposed bills on county finances. TAC's legislative consultants and policy analysts will contact you to solicit your input, then assemble the collected data and provide it to the LBB, which it may use to populate the local government section of the fiscal note.

If you have any questions about the fiscal note process, please feel free to send your inquiry to FiscalNotes.

For more information about this article, please contact Pete Winckler.