MORE BILLS TO WATCH: INCLUDING AN UPDATE ON FIREARM RELATED LEGISLATION
Over the past few weeks’ articles, I have been outlining bills which have been filed during the 83rd Texas Legislative Session. Members and their staff have been working on drafting and filing bills in the House and the Senate for the past several months leading up to March 8th. March 8th represented the 60th day of the Legislative Session and the final day to file bills in both the Texas House and the Texas Senate.
As of March 8th of this month, 5,944 bills, joint resolutions, and concurrent resolutions have been filed with the Chief Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate’s respective offices. Of the 5,944 total bills, joint resolutions, and concurrent resolutions which have been filed, 4,046 of those bills were filed with the Chief Clerk of the House and 1,898 were filed with the Secretary of the Senate’s offices. Below is a selection of those House bills which have been filed to-date:
• HB 1340 is relating to consent to the immunization of certain children.
• HB 1346 addresses the collection and recycling of computer and television equipment by certain retailers; providing for the imposition of administrative penalties.
• HB 1443 is relating to the dedication of certain unclaimed lottery prize money to fund the repair, restoration, and permanent dry berth of the Battleship “Texas.”
• HB 1608 is concerning warrants issued to obtain location information from wireless communications devices and to public access to law enforcement or prosecutor requests for certain related location or communication information.
• HB 1627 relates to the allocation of revenue derived from state gasoline and special fuels taxes.
Below is a selection of the Senate bills which have been filed to-date:
• SB 593 is relating the authority of a property owners’ association to regulate the use of certain lots for residential purposes.
• SB 614 relates to an electric utility surcharge to assist owners of certain historic structures with electric bill payments and to promote energy conservation and efficiency.
• SB 639 is related to the sale of beer, ale, and malt liquor by a brewer or beer manufacturer to a wholesaler or distributor and contractual agreements between those entities.
• SB 657 is relating to procedural requirements for adopting and filing a school district budget and voting requirements for setting a property tax rate by the governing body of a taxing unit, including a school district.
• SB 730 addresses the temporary exemption of certain tangible personal property related to data centers from the sales and use tax.
• SB 765 deals with the establishment and duties of an event oversight committee for an event eligible to receive funding through a major events trust fund; limiting payments from the fund to reimbursement for attracting unique events to Texas.
The filed bills for the 83rd (R) legislative session are available for the public to view at Texas Legislature Online.
On March 14, 2013 the Homeland Security and Public Safety held a public hearing to allow for public input relating to several pieces of firearm legislation. Among those pieces of legislation were HB 700 (relating to the authority of a person who is licensed to carry a handgun to openly carry the handgun; providing penalties) and HB 972 (relating to the carrying of concealed handguns on the campuses of and certain other locations associated with institutions of higher education). We will keep everyone up-to-date on the progress of these bills.
If you have questions or comments regarding any of the filed bills or any of the firearm legislation mentioned in this article, please do not hesitate to call my Capitol or District Office. 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 currently represents Part of Nueces County. He can be contacted at odd.hunter@house.state.tx.us or at 512-463-0672.
