Quick Takes
- Sen. Hancock’s Governor for a Day Celebration raises nearly $250,000 for Donate Life Texas.
- Senate priority bill reaches the House floor for debate this week.
- Timelines condense for legislation with one week remaining before the House committee report deadline.
State Report
A long week of session ended abruptly for the House Friday afternoon when Speaker Dade Phelan announced they would be adjourning due to impending bad weather moving across the state. There were more than thirty-five bills remaining on second reading when the announcement was made. These bills have moved to the top of the second reading bills listed on the General State Calendar today when the House convenes at 1 pm. It is not uncommon at this time in the legislative session for the House to adjourn with bills remaining on the calendar, thereby further compressing the narrowing window for bills to timely pass the lower chamber. Speaker Phelan also informed members that the House will be meeting Monday through Friday as well as Saturday morning this week. Meanwhile, the Senate adjourned for the week last Thursday. However, they are expected to meet for their first Friday of the session this week. They convene at 11 am today.
Over the weekend, the NTC participated in Senator Kelly Hancock’s Governor for a Day Celebration. As Senate President Pro Tempore, Hancock (SD 9) was sworn in as Governor following tradition of the ceremony on Saturday, April 29. The weekend-long celebration benefitted Donate Life Texas, raising awareness and funding for the state’s official tissue, eye, and organ donor registry nonprofit. Sen. Hancock lived with a rare kidney disease for more than thirty years before receiving a healthy kidney from a live donor, his son-in-law, in 2022.
As House and Senate budget conferees continue to work on HB 1 and the supplemental budget, SB 30, the full legislature is continuing to advance other bills, including priority legislation. While the dueling property tax relief proposals continue to linger along with other high-profile bills, the House is scheduled to take up more than ninety bills today on second reading. This includes HB 1620, the sunset safety net bill, and HB 19 which would create a business court in Texas. HB 19 has been identified as a shared priority between the House and Senate leadership. On Tuesday, the full House will take up one of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s priority bills: SB 14, which prohibits gender modification treatments for certain children. Besides the budget, this is the first leadership priority bill to be taken up by the non-originating chamber. It is expected to pass, but the final vote will likely follow contentious discussion and debate among House members.
Due to the rapidly approaching May 8th deadline for House committees to report House bills, we can expect to see an increase in the number of formal meetings announced so that pending legislation may be voted on by House committee members. Many House and Senate committee chairs have not scheduled hearings for this week or, in the alternative, have scheduled meetings consisting of bills primarily from the other chamber. As it becomes more apparent a bill will not timely advance on its own, we can anticipate an uptick in the volume of amendments being offered on the Floor, especially in the House, as members try to revive their legislation through another bill.
The House Calendar has been scheduled through Tuesday, and the Senate Notice of Intent Calendar for today is posted online. Both chambers intend to conduct a Local Calendar Tuesday, May 2nd. Through the end of last week, three bills had advanced to Governor Greg Abbott. This number will substantially increase in the next few weeks as the final month of the 88th legislative session is underway.
For questions regarding the legislative session, please reach out to Patrick Brophey.
