On June 17th, the office of the Governor unveiled 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 82nd 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 82nd Legislature succeeded in sending a little over fifteen hundred bills to the Governor. Of the fifteen hundred bills, twenty four bills were vetoed by the Governor. The bills that were vetoed include:
• HB 335 which related to implementation and requirements of certain health care reform laws.
• HB 2327 pertained to the establishment and operation of a motor-bus-only lane pilot program in certain counties.
• HB 2889 which addressed the expunction of records and files relating to a person’s arrest.
• SB 191 relating to disposition of a contested case by the Texas Medical Board.
• SB 1035 pertaining to motor vehicle title services; providing penalties.
While twenty four bills were vetoed and thereby failed to make it through the final step of the legislative process, twenty seven bills passed into law without the signature of the Governor. A sample of the bills passed in to law without the Governor’s signature includes:
• HB 600 related to the composition of the districts for the election of members of the State Board of Education.
• HB 2367 addressed the creation of an advisory panel to study certain parental rights relating to possession of or access to the parent’s child.
• SB 501 which pertained to the disproportionality of certain groups in the juvenile justice, child welfare, health, and mental health systems and the disproportionality of the delivery of certain services in the education system.
• SB 683 relating to the composition of the board of directors of the Gulf Coast Water Authority.
Over fourteen hundred bills were fortunate enough to receive the Governor’s signature. The fourteen hundred plus bills signed, represent a wide range of issues ranging from changes in the Civil Remedies Code, to changes in the way the state addresses oil production. Below are a number of the bills that I worked on this session and received the signature of the Governor.
• HB 742 relating to student information required to be provided at the time of enrollment in public schools.
• HB 2973 pertaining to encouraging public participation by citizens by protecting a person’s right to petition, right of free speech, and right of association from meritless lawsuits arising from actions taken in furtherance of those rights.
• HB 2975 addressing the need for continuing education for physicians and nurses regarding the treatment of tick-borne diseases.
• HCR 68 requests the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to create a joint interim committee to study human trafficking in Texas.
I invite you to examine the complete list outlining the bills signed, passed in to law without signature or vetoed by going to www.governor.state.tx.us and looking under the news section pertaining to the 82ND Session.
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).
