Bill Analysis

BILL NAME SESSION ANALYSIS
SB 833 87(R) - 2021 SB 833 would amend Chapter 151, Tax Code, to authorize certain oil and gas producers who already file severance tax returns, but who do not hold sales tax permits, to file refund claims for overpaid sales and use taxes directly with the comptroller. Read More
SB 1914 87(R) - 2021 SB 1914 would require the Executive Commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission to by rule adjust for inflation the maximum amount of the fair market value of the highest valued motor vehicle that would be excluded from the resources of an applicant's household for the purposes of determining eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Read More
HB 3399 87(R) - 2021 HB 3399 would allow the Texas Department of Transportation to enter unto an agreement with the United States Department of Defense or another federal entity to allow the TxDOT to assist in road services for military installations. The bill would prohibit state funds from being used to provide these road services or in instances when payment for these projects is made from funds provided to Texas under Title 23, United States Code.Read More
SB 2247 87(R) - 2021 SB 2247 would remove all application and renewal fees for obtaining a license to carry a handgun in Texas. Read More
SB 2193 87(R) - 2021 SB 2193 would create the Matthews Ranch Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 of Blanco County to support the conservation and development of natural resources and has all the powers and duties of a municipal utility district under law. The district would be able to design, acquire, construct, finance, issue bonds for, improve, operate, maintain, and convey to this state, a county, or a municipality for operation and...Read More
SB 1471 87(R) - 2021 SB 1471 would bring state law regarding multiple employer welfare arrangements (more commonly known as Association Health Plans or AHPs) in line with 2018 rules established by the United States Department of Labor. This would have the effect of making it easier for small employers to band together to form their own AHPs and offer employer-provided health insurance to their employees. Read More
HB 1957 87(R) - 2021 HB 1957 would add new regulations to the labeling of wine produced in Texas. The bill would only allow a wine label to use an appellation of origin designating it is from a Texas viticultural area if it is 100 percent composed of fruit grown in the state. Furthermore, the bill would allow the name of the vineyard on the label only if the wine is 100 percent by volume fermented juice of grapes or other fruit grown in this state. Read More
HB 1795 87(R) - 2021 HB 1795 would require the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation to adopt a veterans' land bank program. This program would be designed to help veterans in low-income households find affordable housing. This program would allow property that is sold pursuant to foreclosure of a tax lien to be sold in a private sale to the veterans' land bank without first offering the property for any other type of sale. This would allow the property...Read More
HB 2993 87(R) - 2021 HB 2993 would make a Transportation Worker Identification Credential a valid form of identification for voting.Read More
HB 628 87(R) - 2021 HB 628 would prohibit landlords from raising the rent of a tenant who is receiving a low income housing tax credit allocation within the term of their lease.Read More
HB 3450 87(R) - 2021 HB 3450 would specify that the use of force by an employee or volunteer of a school or educational institution against a student is only justified 1) if permitted as a form of punishment under Education Code provisions relating to alternative settings for behavior management or 2) to either protect the safety of students or staff, or 3) to control, train, or educate the student or maintain discipline in a group.Read More
HB 1424 87(R) - 2021 HB 1424 would allow a person to decline to participate  in a healthcare service for reasons of conscience except for providing emergency care or life-sustaining treatment as provided by advanced directives from patients. HB 1424 would describe a reason of conscience as a sincerely held set of moral convictions arising from: a belief in and relation to God; a religious faith or spiritual practice; or a moral philosophy or ethical...Read More
HB 1381 87(R) - 2021 HB 1381 would allow the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to award library construction grants to establish new public libraries or improve existing public libraries.Read More
HB 1063 87(R) - 2021 HB 1063 would add to the Texas State Guard uniform and insignia fund, money appropriated, credited, or transferred to the fund by the legislature.Read More
HB 3988 87(R) - 2021 HB 3988 would make an attorney pro tem appointed by a justice or municipal court to represent the state, considered qualified to perform the duties of the office and entitle them to reasonable payment. It would also permit a court to order a law enforcement officer to take the fingerprints of a defendant charged with a family violence misdemeanor punishable by fine only before the final disposition of the case if they were not placed under arrest.Read More
HB 81 87(R) - 2021 HB 81 would prohibit the commissioner of education from closing down a failing school without giving the campus the opportunity to operate as a community school under a campus turnaround plan for at least two years. The bill outlines provides the broad strokes of what a campus turnaround plan would look like under a community school model.Read More
HB 1820 87(R) - 2021 HB 1820 would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to establish rules requiring more specific location requirements with latitude and longitude on reports for emission events. This bill also requires the commission to conduct a study on the efficacy of imposing a penalty of not less than $1 per pound of each excess or unauthorized pollutant released during an emission event.This bill would triple the penalty for knowingly...Read More
HB 4067 87(R) - 2021 HB 4067 would require the Office of Small Business Assistance to create and administer a disaster recovery assistance program for small businesses, to aid small businesses with general tax and finance information, referrals to lawyers, and information regarding or assistance securing state and federal funding.Read More
HB 2473 87(R) - 2021 HB 2473 would establish a Music Therapist Advisory Board within the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to provide technical assistance in the issuance of a Music Therapist License. Such a license would be required in order for a person to use the title of "licensed professional music therapist" or any other designation that would imply that person is a music therapist. HB 2473 then would establish many regulations upon this license....Read More
HB 2054 87(R) - 2021 HB 2054 changes the definition of "massage parlor" to "sex parlor" and allows both municipal and county regulation under sexually oriented business regulations.Read More