• April 14, 2011

STATE CAPITOL NEWS AND NOTES

STATE CAPITOL NEWS AND NOTES

150 150 Elect Todd Hunter

The following is a collection of news and notes from your State Capitol involving issues that affect House District 32.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING STUDY PASSES OUT OF THE HOUSE

On April 5th, 2011 the Texas House of Representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 68, otherwise known as the Human Trafficking Study bill. This is a bill that I was very proud and pleased to be able file for the 82nd session. The House voted in favor of HCR 68 with 146 yeas 0 nays. HCR 68 , requests that the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House create a joint interim study committee. The committee would be comprised of Texas House and Texas Senate members, who would meet during the interim to investigate and review the issue of human trafficking in the State of Texas.

During the 81st Legislative session, I served as the Chairman of the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence committee. While serving as Chairman of the committee, I was shocked to learn of the human trafficking issue currently existing in Texas. It quickly became clear to me that this is an issue that Texas needs to focus on and strive to shutdown in all its forms. Now that the bill has passed out of the House, it has been sent to the Senate. I am very hopeful that it will meet with the same unanimous support from the Senate that this legislation found in the House.

BILLS CONTINUE TO BE HEARD IN COMMITTEES

As the session continues, committees continue to hold public hearings on the bills which have been filed for the 82nd Legislative Session. The bills range from those that are intended to affect purely local issues to those that are meant to address issues affecting the whole state. One such bill is House Bill (HB) 742 which is being considered by the House committee on Public Education. The purpose of HB 742 is to address the issue of children who have a food or severe food allergy and ways to keep them safe while they are attending school.

HB 742 indicates that upon enrollment that a parent or legal guardian disclose to the school district that a child has a food allergy or a severe food allergy. Many times food allergies create a safety concern for children. This would enable the school district to take the necessary precautions regarding the child’s safety. The bill also requires the school district to preserve the confidentiality of the information regarding a food allergy.

CLOCK CONTINUES TO TICK AWAY AT THE 82ND LEGISLATIVE SESSION

April 11th marks the fifty day countdown to the end of the 82nd Regular Legislative Session. The 82nd Regular session will officially end on May 30th, 2011 on the day generally referred to as “Sine die”, which is a Latin phrase meaning “without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing”. The Texas House and Senate will begin taking more and more bills up for a vote in the days ahead. I highly encourage everyone to contact my Capitol or District Offices on any bills that you want to bring to our attention.

In order to help you follow any of the bills that have already been reported out of committee or any of the other bills which have been heard in any of the committees, these websites serve as a great resource:

The Texas Legislature
The Texas House of Representatives
The Texas Senate

If you have questions or comments regarding any of the information mentioned in this article or any bills which have been filed, 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).