FINAL OUTCOME OF LEGISLATIVE BILLS (PART V) FROM GENERAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION
On June 14th, the office of the Governor determined the final outcome of the bills which had managed to pass out of both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate during the Regular Session of the 83rd Texas Legislature. During the twenty days following the end of a regular session, the Governor of Texas has the ability to sign bills in to law, pass them in to law without a signature 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 during the session will become law or not.
The 83rd Texas Legislature succeeded in sending a little over fourteen hundred bills to the Governor. Here are some of the bills that were passed in to law:
• House Bill (HB) 2792 which is related to the circumstances under which an appraisal review board hearing shall be closed to the public.
• HB 2818 pertains to certain local option elections and the permits and licenses that can be issued in areas that approved the sale of certain alcoholic beverages in a local option election.
• HB 2952 which addresses the period of time allowed for issuance of decisions by the commissioner of education in certain appeals against school districts.
• HB 2972 is relating to exempting premiums for certain insurance covering stored or in-transit baled cotton from surplus lines insurance premium taxes.
• HB 2982 addresses the power of the Railroad Commission of Texas to adopt and enforce safety standards applicable to the transportation by pipeline of hazardous liquids, carbon dioxide, and natural gas in rural locations.
• HB 3005 pertaining to the authority of the Texas Workforce Commission to use certain unemployment compensation funds for reemployment activities.
• HB 3028 is related to the use of the skills development fund and other funds available to the Texas Workforce Commission to support certain joint credit courses offered by school districts under agreements with lower-division institutions of higher education.
• HB 3093 pertains to the powers and duties of the Department of Information Resources and the Legislative Budget Board regarding information resources technologies of state agencies.
• Senate Bill (SB) 1289 pertained to certain business entities engaged in the publication of mug shots and other information regarding the involvement of an individual in the criminal justice system; providing a civil penalty.
• SB 1322 which is related to the provision of durable medical equipment and home health care services through informal and voluntary networks in the workers’ compensation system; providing penalties.
• SB 1368 is relating to public information pertaining to the official business of governmental bodies and to contracts by certain state governmental entities that involve the exchange or creation of public information.
• SB 1525 addresses including disability awareness training in risk management programs required for members and advisors of student organizations at post-secondary educational institutions.
• SB 1538 pertains to evaluating the performance, including computing dropout and completion rates, of public schools designated as dropout recovery schools.
I invite you to examine the complete list outlining the bills signed, passed in to law without signature or vetoed by going to Office of the Governor Rick Perry.
If you have questions regarding any of the information 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 represents Nueces (Part). He can be contacted at todd.hunter@house.state.tx.us or at 512-463-0672.
