Legislative Update: Urban Affairs Committee
In this week’s article, I want to follow up and give an update on this important legislative session that is well underway. March 13th marked the legislative filing deadline to file bills for the 84th Legislative Session. 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. 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 are hearing many bills and the next stage of the legislative session is in progress. Below, I have listed some of the bills that were recently before the House Committee on Urban Affairs.
• HB 60: Relating to firefighters and emergency medical technicians who bring certain claims for benefits or compensation.
• HB 1243: Relating to the reinstatement of a firefighter or police officer following a decision rendered by the Fire Fighters’ and Police Officers’ Civil Service Commission or an independent third party hearing examiner.
• HB 1428: Relating to the administration of housing funds set aside for persons with disabilities through the homebuyer assistance program.
• HB 1792: Relating to regulation of residential short-term rental units; creating offenses and authorizing a fee.
• HB 2162: Relating to municipal regulation of the use of alarm systems and camera systems; authorizing a municipal fee.
• HB 2909: Relating to the regulation by a municipality or county of the rental or leasing of housing accommodations.
• HB 2917: Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to impose term limits on the members of their governing bodies.
• HB 3089: Relating to fire protection sprinkler systems in residential high-rise buildings; creating a criminal offense.
• HB 3311: Relating to the scoring criteria for an application for a low income housing tax credit.
• HB 3393: Relating to underwriting standards for developments receiving an allocation of low income housing tax credits administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
• HB 3576: Relating to restrictions on the use, transfer, and sale of housing developments that have received certain financial assistance administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
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 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.
