84th Regular Legislative Session Comes To An End, But Bills Still Await Governor Action
On June 1st, 2015, the 84th Texas Legislative Session officially came to an end. The last day of legislative session is commonly referred to as “Sine Die,” a Latin phrase which means “without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing,” though it does not represent the final point for the bills to become law. During the twenty days following the end of a regular session, the Governor of Texas has the ability to sign bills into law, pass them into law indirectly by not signing them, or to veto them. It is during these twenty days that members of the Texas House and Texas Senate find out if the bills they worked on and passed during the session will become law or not. This year, the deadline for the Governor to act falls on Sunday, June 21st.
As a recap of the 84th Session, here are several bills which were passed this session and to date have already been signed by the Governor:
• House Bill 2612 is relating to the requirement that “TxDOT conduct a thorough analysis on all TxDOT operated toll roads and present a plan to the legislature that will set us on a path to a toll free transportation system.” The report requires TxDOT to submit the report by September 1, 2016, before the 85th Texas Legislative Session.
• House Bill 2628 is relating to make core freshman and sophomore courses and credits more consistently transferable between institutions. The bill is intended to enhance efficiency in higher education.
• House Bill 1583 was signed and is intended to optimize career and technical training to meet growing demand for jobs in Texas. Specifically, the bill promotes block scheduling as a way to enhance graduation rates and performance at the associate degree and specialty certificate levels.
• Senate Bill 20 is relating to state agency contracting. The bill enhances ethics, transparency and reform in the state of Texas. The bill strengthens requirements on disclosures of conflicts of interests in state agencies, and heightens the standard for disclosing contracting and vendor information at the state level.
• Senate Bill 1049 is relating to an exemption from the franchise tax and certain filing fees for certain businesses owned by veterans during an initial period of operation in the state.
• Senate Bill 55 is relating to the creation of a grant program to support community mental health programs for veterans and their families.
• Senate Bill 339 will allow individuals with intractable epilepsy (IE) to access cannabidiol (CBD oil) to reduce seizures.
I invite you to follow the governor’s actions by going to Governor Greg Abbott or to see the bills that are before him awaiting a signature by going to Texas Legislature Online.
If you have questions regarding any of the information mentioned in this week’s article, please do not hesitate to call my Capitol or District Office. Please always feel free to contact my office if you have any questions or issues regarding a Texas state agency, or if you would like to contact my office regarding constituent services. As always, my offices are available at any time to assist with questions, concerns or comments (Capitol Office, 512-463-0672; District Office, 361-949-4603).
– State Representative Todd Hunter, District 32
Rep. Hunter represents Nueces (Part) County. He can be contacted at todd.hunter@house.state.tx.us or at 512-463-0672.
