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 8, 2019
A bill fast-tracking the recovery of some non-ERCOT electric generation investment has passed the Texas Legislature….
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
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
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 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 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….
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……
April 25, 2019
A bill to bring oil and gas money back home to producing areas was passed to the full Texas House on Wednesday (4/24)….
April 29, 2019
The Texas Senate has passed Sen. Kel Seliger‘s SB 1394 allowing haircutters to be mobile, which would greatly benefit oilfield workers in West Texas who are in remote locations far from barbers and cosmetologists….
April 23, 2019
A bill to separate the governance of the board of Pilot Commissioners for Harris County courts from that of the port commissioners of the Houston Port Authority of Harris County passed the Texas Senate 30-1 on Monday…
April 17, 2019
A move to streamline existing Railroad Commission regulations on compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas occupational licenses passed the House 135-4 on Wednesday….
April 17, 2019
The committee substitute for Rep. Drew Darby‘s bill to clarify who owns the water produced from oil and gas wells when that water is picked up for recycling or other good use passed the state House on Tuesday and is now in the Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development committee after its first Senate reading….
April 17, 2019
Rep. Ed Thompson‘s bill to help keep plastics out of landfills has passed the Texas House and had a first reading in the Senate….
April 16, 2019
A bill aimed at lessening the number of lawsuits over how people are paid at natural gas utilities passed 103-38 in the Texas House on Monday….
Witnesses, including one in litigation with San Miguel Electric Coop, say they fear bill will undermine private property rights; Texas Mining and Reclamation Association argues that bill does not
April 16, 2019
Just who might have interested legal standing in Railroad Commission hearings in contesting permit renewals and bond releases was the center of testimony before the Texas House Energy Resources committee on Monday….
April 16, 2019
Misinformation could be environmental and anti-fossil fuel activists’ weapon of choice in the future, according to legal experts speaking at a Houston convention.,,,
April 11, 2019
In “pursuit of efficiency and consistency,” a bill was passed by the Texas Senate to transfer the duty of regulating gasoline and diesel fuel pumps and fuel quality from the state Department of Agriculture to a “true regulatory entity,” the Texas Dept. of Licensing and Regulation, as the bill’s sponsor put it….