May 9, 2019
A bill to bring some oil and gas money back home to oil producing areas moved through the Texas House on Thursday, a week after Rep. Tom Craddick‘s HJR 82 was passed….
May 9, 2019
Rep. Drew Darby‘s bill to revamp portions of the laws regarding consumer fuel pumps made it out of the Texas House on a 139-1 vote and moved on to the Senate on Thursday….
May 9, 2019
There were a few moments of disbelief when Texas Senators and others looked up to see the Lt. Governor, at the end of regular Senate business on Thursday, standing next to the Speaker of the House, who grabbed the gavel and called on Senators for motions.
Speaker Dennis Bonnen smiled when bringing down the gavel.
Sen. Jose Menendez asked the “Lite Gov” parliamentary-style, “I see you have a special guest there next to you…is this any reason why so many House bills passed out of this chamber this week?”
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick seemed to relish the inquiry.
“I think it’s an example,” he said, “to make sure everyone knows the Speaker and myself are still working closely together to get us out of here on time with property tax relief and school finance, teacher pay, doing it all.”
Speaker Bonnen gaveled out the Senate for the day.
You don’t see this too often, to say the least.
The look on at least one senator’s face seemed to say, “What happened? Did I lose an election and suddenly come back as a representative?”
— Mike Shiloh
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May 9, 2019
The Texas Senate has unanimously passed a bill that would increase inspections of quarries, sand pits, gravel pits and other aggregate production operations….
May 9, 2019
The Texas Senate will likely get a look at a bill that would open up the TERP program’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Incentive Program to more vehicles in an attempt to help reduce air pollution by removing more older diesel vehicles from the roads….
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….