88th Texas Legislature | NTC State Report  Monday, March 20, 2023 Quick Takes House and Senate Committee hearing activity is picking up with a large volume of bills. NTC weighs in on regional priority bills. House and Senate clash over competing property tax relief proposals. Former State Senator Jane Nelson was confirmed as the 115th Secretary of State. North Texas Unites is this Thursday, March 23, at the Capitol.  State Report The 88th Texas Legislature has reached its midpoint; seventy days remain in the regular session. The Senate has passed a handful of bills to the House, where they are pending referral to House committees. However, both chambers still have a significant number of bills waiting to be referred to committee, including more than 1,500 House bills. The House has yet to schedule a calendar of bills to be considered on the House Floor. At the end of last week, only nineteen bills were pending before the House Calendars committee. That number is expected to substantially increase in the next few weeks as more bills are heard and voted from committee. Over 300 House and more than 70 Senate bills are scheduled for committee hearings this week.  The NTC will be active in House and Senate hearings this week, weighing in on a series of bills related to our regional priorities. We are supporting two in House Higher Education today. HB 8 by Representative Gary VanDeaver establishes a statewide funding plan for community colleges, and HB 15 by Representative Senfronia Thompson creates a Mental Health and Brain Research Institute for the state. The NTC also supports SB 28 by Senator Charles Perry which provides funding for the Texas Water Development Board. SB 28 is being heard in Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs this morning.  On Wednesday, a series of public school voucher bills are scheduled for Senate Education. The NTC will register our opposition to these bills that transfer tax dollars from public schools to private entities.  Legislation related to some of the priorities of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan were heard in committee last week, including property tax relief proposals. Separate committee hearings were conducted in House Ways & Means and Senate Finance on bills related to the two chambers different approaches to property tax relief. The House leadership, through HB 2 filed by Representative Morgan Meyer, favors legislation that would reduce the appraisal cap on homesteads from 10% to 5% annually. It would also expand the appraisal cap benefit to commercial property owners. HB 2 was left pending following public testimony. Senator Paul Bettencourt presented SB 3 to the Finance Committee in the Senate last Wednesday. This proposal, supported by all 31 senators, would increase the mandatory homestead exemption for school district property taxes from $40,000 to $70,000. It was voted favorably from committee following public testimony and will head to the Senate Floor soon. Former State Senator Jane Nelson was unanimously confirmed as the 115th Texas Secretary of State by her former Senate colleagues last Wednesday. In this capacity, Secretary Nelson serves as the Chief Election Officer for Texas and oversees the repository for official and business records required to be filed with the Office of the Secretary of State. She also serves as the Chief International Protocol Officer for Texas as well as the liaison to Governor Greg Abbott for Texas Border and Mexican Affairs. Governor Abbott recently exercised his gubernatorial appointment power to fill several vacancies, including some high-profile appointments. Two reappointments and one new appointment were announced for the University of Texas System Board of Regents, and three new appointments were made to the Texas A&M University Board of Regents. All of his recent appointment news can be found here. The House convenes at 2 pm today, while the Senate will meet at 3 pm. For questions regarding the legislative session, please reach out to Patrick Brophey. Join us on March 23, 2023, as we travel to Austin for North Texas Unites. This full-day event will feature a variety of meetings with members of the North Texas delegation and end with an evening reception at the Capitol. The NTC team has noted several large-scale events are taking place in Austin during the week of North Texas Unites, so we encourage you to purchase your ticket and book your hotel as soon as possible! March 23, 2023 | 9:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. | Austin, Texas Individual Ticket Prices: $150.00 REGISTER

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