Legislative Update: Committee Hearings Are Underway
In this week’s article, I want to follow up and give an update on this important legislative session that is well underway. Friday, March 13th marked the legislative filing deadline to file bills for the 84th Legislative Session. With this deadline now past, I want to take this opportunity to discuss some of the bills that have been filed and have been up for hearings in the committees that I now serve on. It is important to note, however, that while the bill filing deadline has passed, this does not mean that the dialogue has been finalized. House and Senate committees have just begun to meet and the next stage of the legislative session is in progress.
As your elected representative, I want to take this opportunity to feature some of the pieces of legislation that have been introduced and have come before committees that I serve on for this current legislative session. Below, I have listed some of the bills that were recently before the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.
• HB 48: Relating to the creation of a commission to review convictions after exoneration and to prevent wrongful convictions.
• HB 155: Relating to the use of force in defense of property.
• HB 225: Relating to the prosecution of certain offenses involving controlled substances and other prohibited drugs, substances, or paraphernalia.
• HB 326: Relating to sworn affidavits provided to support the issuance of a search warrant
• HB 460: Relating to the execution of a search warrant for taking a blood specimen from certain persons suspected of committing certain intoxication offenses.
• HB 461: Relating to the creation of an offense for smoking tobacco in a passenger vehicle with a child present.
• HB 692: Relating to compensation under the Crime Victims’ Compensation Act for damages to real property suffered as a result of a person evading arrest or detention.
• HB 896: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of breach of computer security.
• HB 1082: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of obstructing a highway or other passageway.
• HB 1286: Relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual.
I will plan to do updates on bills being considered. This will give some information on what potential laws are being reviewed.
If you would like to follow the Texas House and learn more information on news, committees or other aspects of the legislative body, you can access its website at Texas House of Representatives. The site features live streaming from the House floor, committee hearings as well as access to a number of other resources. You can also follow the the Texas Senate. The Texas Governor’s official website can be found at Office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. For important information regarding transportation in the state, feel free to visit Texas Department of Transportation. Also you can visit The Texas General Land Office, and the Texas Railroad Commission.
As a reminder, the 84th Texas Legislative session began on January 13th and is currently underway. As always, I want to hear your ideas and suggestion. Your ideas and information are important forms of feedback and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact my office.
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.
