AN UPDATE ON THE FIREARM AND AMMUNITION INDUSTRY STUDY BILL AND OTHER BILLS TO WATCH
Over the past several months or so of 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 the March 8th deadline. 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.
On April 15, 2013 the Committee on Economic and Small Business Development heard House Concurrent Resolution 89, which calls on the lieutenant governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to provide for a joint interim regarding the recruiting of firearms and ammunition manufacturers to Texas. We will keep you posted as HCR 89 continues to move through the process.
As of March 8th, 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. Below is a selection of those House bills which have been filed to-date:
• HB 2108 is relating to a three-year high school diploma plan and cost-neutral expansion of full-day prekindergarten programs.
• HB 2131 addresses the creation of a specialty court for certain first-time DWI offenders; imposing fees for participation and alcohol monitoring.
• HB 2133 is relating to the public policy for the use of innovative and alternative water treatment technologies for water development purposes.
• HB 2143 is concerning the evaluation by the Water Conservation Advisory Council of water conservation technologies for possible inclusion in the best management practices guide developed by the water conservation implementation task force.
• HB 2166 relates to the continuation, functions, and name of the Railroad Commission of Texas; providing for the imposition of fees, the repeal of provisions for the suspension of the collection of fees, and the elimination of a fee.
• HB 2180 addresses a lender notice to contractors regarding a construction loan or financing agreement for the improvement of real property and related procedures for suspending contractors’ and subcontractors’ performance.
Below is a selection of the Senate bills which have been filed to-date:
• SB 1161 is relating to the creation of a new category of law enforcement officer who shall be designated a school marshal, the training and appointment of certain employees of a school district or open-enrollment charter school as school marshals, and the rights, restrictions, limitations, and responsibilities of school marshals; authorizing the imposition of a fee.
• SB 1168 relates to interstate cooperation to address regional water issues.
• SB 1199 is related development of a pilot program of the Texas Veterans Commission to designate municipalities as Veteran and Military Friendly Cities.
• SB 1204 is relating to the qualifications of certain electric generation projects for programs designed to encourage the capture and utilization of carbon dioxide for use in enhanced oil recovery.
• SB 1212 addresses the applicability of certain provisions concerning the transfer of exotic species to certain transfers of water that supply populous areas.
• SB 1224 deals with the use by a property owner of a common or contract carrier to send a payment, report, application, statement, or other document or paper to a taxing unit or taxing official.
The filed bills for the 83rd (R) legislative session are available for the public to view at Texas Legislature Online>
