May 9, 2019
A bill is headed for the full Texas Senate is aimed at moving state responsibility for a federal pollutant discharge program from the Railroad Commission to the TCEQ in allowing the discharge of water into rivers and streams….
May 9, 2019
A bill calling for quick notification of local areas where a radioactive substance has been released into the environment is was voted out of the Senate Natural Resources committee on a 10-0 vote Thursday and will go before the full Senate….
May 8, 2019
A bill fast-tracking the recovery of some non-ERCOT electric generation investment has passed the Texas Legislature….
May 8, 2019
A Texas Senate committee on Wednesday heard details on a bill to move state responsibility for a federal pollutant discharge program from the Railroad Commission to the TCEQ in allowing the discharge of water into rivers and streams…
May 8, 2019
Between disappointments with school funding and property taxes, policy differences, the pollen and ragweed and rain, there’s been a lot of coughing at the Capitol lately and Sen. Brian Birdwell is no exception, but he did have a uniquely humorous comment about it on Wednesday.
Seized by a coughing fit about a-third of the way through a meeting of the Natural Resources committee, the chairman grabbed a Kleenex and said, “Excuse me.”
Then he sputtered, “Man, I need a stiff drink.”
There was laughter in the room, but by this point in the legislative session there are a lotta people in and out of the Capitol who feel the same.
— Mike Shiloh
May 8, 2019
Increased public transparency for tax abatement zones are called for in a bill heard in Senate committee on Wednesday….
May 8, 2019
A bill to protect electrical linemen on Texas roads and highways is moving through the Texas House, getting its second reading on Wednesday….
May 7, 2019
A bill to allow an electric utility to sell, lease or assign a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity to bring electric service within the same power region has passed through the state legislature with its passage on Tuesday in the Texas House.….
May 7, 2019
Damage to critical private property infrastructure such as electrical power generation, oil and natural gas production, water treatment and telecommunications facilities becomes a third degree felony under a bill that passed 99-45-2 in the Texas House on Monday……
May 7, 2019
If a company wants to proceed with paying for minor facilities changes related to air emissions,such as construction (or modifications), even though the company has not yet been issued a full TCEQ permit it can do so under a bill that passed the Texas House 97-48 on Monday…..
May 6, 2019
Diverting money from the Texas oil and gas severance tax is one of the components of legislation to boost public schools while reducing property taxes, but it still looks like all possible tools to raise money are still on the table….
May 6, 2019
As the number of energy brokers in Texas increases, a bill intended to bring them under registration requirements with the Public Utility Commission is now ready for debate in the Texas House after passing the Senate three weeks ago….
May 6, 2019
by Destin Sensky
Despite the “Big Three” touting their unified support for increasing sales tax to provide for property tax relief, the Texas Senate voted to strip a measure requiring such an increase from school finance legislation and voted to cut spending and dedicate existing revenue instead.
On Monday, the Texas Senate held a marathon debate over House Bill 3, the education spending bill. After considering more than one hundred amendments, the chamber passed the measure by a vote of 26 ayes, 2 nays, and 3 members present not voting.
The debate began with the bill’s sponsor, Senate Education Committee Chairman Larry Taylor (R–Friendswood) moving to strip a provision from the bill that made property tax relief proposals contingent on the passage of an increase in the state’s sales tax….
May 5, 2019
A bill sponsored by Sen. Judith Zaffarini to clarify state law over the use of power storage batteries made it through the Texas Legislature on Friday with passage by the House….
May 4, 2019
Pooled tracts of land on which there is on oil and gas drilling will now have a minimum of two years before they can be dissolved under a bill that’s passed the Texas Legislature….
May 4, 2019
A bill to “streamline existing Railroad Commission regulations of compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as liquefied petroleum gas (LP) occupational licenses” has passed through the Texas Legislature with a final vote in the Senate 31-0 on Friday….
May 4, 2019
A bill to “fix” the Railroad Commission‘s oil and gas cleanup fund and give the RRC faster access to needed cash has passed both the Texas House and Senate….
May 4, 2019
A bill to encourage the diversion of some plastics from landfills has made its way through the Texas Legislature, passing the Senate on Friday 31-0….
In addition to talk of raising the oil & gas severance tax, raising the motor vehicle tax by ten cents would be another alternative
May 4, 2019
While some in the Texas Legislature, including a low-profile bipartisan group that’s looking at alternatives to raising the sales tax, consider ways to pay for increased education spending before the end of this session (see the story below, Increase in Oil & Gas Severance Tax “On the Table” To Raise Texas Revenue), Sen. Paul Bettencourt has already submitted a proposal that indicates dedication of projected severance taxes could pay for planned education spending increases……
May 2, 2019
A bill that essentially “gets the General Land Office out of the electricity business” has cleared the Texas Legislature with its unanimous passage on Thursday from the Senate….