PRE-FILING IS UNDERWAY (Part III)
In a previous article, I began outlining several of the bills which were filed within the pre-filing period. The 83rd legislative session’s pre-filing period officially commenced on November 12th. It is important to remember that unlike our counterparts in Washington D.C., the Texas Legislature meets for only 140 days in every odd-numbered year. The established pre-filing period allows the legislature the opportunity to hit the ground running at the beginning of the session, which starts on January 8th of this upcoming year.
Since the opening of the 2012 pre-filing period, more than 454 bills were filed with the Chief Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate’s respective offices. Below is a selection of House bills which have been pre-filed:
• HB 66 is relating to the establishment of a pilot program under which high school students may accrue prepaid tuition units at public institutions of higher education by completing certain community service activities.
• HB 67 is concerning the establishment by The University of Texas System of a law school in the Rio Grande Valley.
• HB 74 seeks to create an exception to disclosure under the public information law of certain personal information contained in a citation issued for a violation of a state traffic law or local traffic ordinance.
• HB 81 is Relating to the eligibility of children and other dependents of certain military personnel or veterans for tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of higher education.
• HB 88 relates to the constitutional limit on the rate of growth of appropriations.
• HB 91 seeks to establish the designation of a juvenile court and a pre-adjudication diversion program for certain juveniles alleged to have engaged in conduct that violates certain penal laws regarding prostitution.
• HB 105 is relating to the allocation of the proceeds from taxes imposed on the sale, storage, or use of sporting goods.
Below is a selection of the Senate bills which have been pre-filed:
• SB 102 is relating to the rollback tax rate of a taxing unit other than a school district and to voter approval of a proposed tax rate that exceeds the rollback tax rate.
• SB 106 seeks to require that the Sunset Advisory Commission conduct a study and make recommendations regarding certain tax preferences that relate to ad valorem taxes and that are required or authorized by the state.
• SB 112 is relating to the requirement for and the contents of a declarations page required for certain standard insurance policy forms for residential property insurance.
• SB 116 seeks to look at the consideration of ownership interests of disabled veterans in determining whether a business is a historically underutilized business for purposes of state contracting.
• SB 121 would prohibit retaliation against state or local public employees for reporting to certain persons violations of law.
• SB 124 is related to the punishment for the offense of tampering with certain governmental records based on certain reporting for school districts and open-enrollment charter schools.
The pre-filed bills for the 83rd (R) legislative session are available for the public to view at www.capitol.state.tx.us.
If you have questions or comments regarding any of the pre-filed bills 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 Aransas, Calhoun, Nueces (Part) and San Patricio Counties. He can be contacted at todd.hunter@house.state.tx.us or at 512-463-0672
