THE 82ND LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS
The 82nd Legislative Session officially began this Tuesday at noon with the swearing in of the 82nd Legislature. With the session beginning I thought it would be a good idea to continue to outline a cross section of the bills which were pre-filed in the months leading up to the session. Since November 8, 2010, legislators have been pre-filing bills at the Texas State Capitol in advance of the 82nd Legislative Session. During the pre-filing period more than 900 pieces of legislation were filed with the Chief Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate’s respective offices. One such piece of legislation was House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 29 in which I am proud to be the author of and will take the opportunity to highlight in this article. In the upcoming series of articles I intend to continue to outline and present to you the bills as they are filed in their respective chambers.
HCR 29 otherwise known as the Cruise Ship Industry Bill calls for the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to provide for a joint interim legislative study, regarding the development of the cruise industry on the Texas coast between Calhoun and Cameron Counties. According to statistics released in 2007 the cruise industry generated over $38 billion in total U.S. economic output. Unfortunately Texas only received approximately $1 billion of the total amount of direct spending generated by the cruise industry, which represents only a small fraction of the market. In contrast California and Florida combined have seen the greatest economic advantage from the cruise industry with an approximately 75% share of the market. It is clear that Texas needs to focus on bringing a larger percentage of the cruise industry to the coast. Please do not hesitate to contact my Capitol or District Office if you would like more information on Cruise Ship Industry Bill.
In addition to HCR 29, other House Concurrent Resolutions were pre-filed. Below is a portion of those resolutions:
• HCR 16 seeks to affirm that the State of Texas claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States, serving notice to the federal government to cease and desist certain mandates, and providing that certain federal legislation be prohibited or repealed.
• HCR 18 urges Congress to propose and submit to the states an amendment to the United States Constitution providing for a federal balanced budget.
• cease and desist certain mandates is in memory of Don Meredith, former SMU and Dallas Cowboys quarterback and longtime sportscaster.
If you would like to follow any of these resolutions or other bills that are filed and working their way through the process, these websites are a great resource:
• The Texas Legislature
• The Texas House of Representatives
• The Texas Senate
If you have questions or comments regarding any of the pre-filed resolutions 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).
