Bill Analysis

BILL NAME SESSION ANALYSIS
HB 1812 87(R) - 2021 HB 1812 would require that to be considered for nomination by convention, a candidate for public office must pay a filing fee or submit a valid petition in lieu of the filing fee.Read More
SB 325 87(R) - 2021 SB 325 would allow a school district to design a model for the delivery of cooperative health care programs for students and their families which would include provisions for the delivery of mental health services. The bill would also allow school-based health centers to provide health care services, including mental health services and mental health education. Read More
HB 2843 87(R) - 2021 HB 2843 would allow "the donation of property or a building, structure, or other facility by a municipality" to the federal government in connection with a toll bridge across the Rio Grande river. Read More
HB 1340 87(R) - 2021 HB 1340 would limit the applicability of the law of parties to defendants in capital murder cases. A conspirator in a capital murder case would only be guilty as a party if they were a major participant in the conspiracy, they acted with reckless indifference to human life, and the capital murder was committed in the furtherance of an unlawful purpose. When a jury considers the culpability of a defendant found to be a party in such...Read More
HB 4534 87(R) - 2021 HB 4534 would require the Employees Retirement System of Texas to conduct a study to evaluate potential reforms to improve the financial health of the retirement system.Read More
HB 2063 87(R) - 2021 HB 2063 would require state agencies to implement a shared family leave pool, allowing state employees to donate unused sick or leave time to the pool for the benefit of qualified state employees to take time off to attend to certain enumerated family concerns after they have exhausted their own paid time off. Contributions to the pool would be voluntary. Read More
HB 2308 87(R) - 2021 HB 2308 would make changes to the required affidavit for a suit filed by a governmental entity that requests permission to take possession of a child without prior notice and a hearing, and require that certain findings be made by a court. The bill would also create a process by which an alleged child abuser could voluntarily agree to a court order to leave the home where the child resides rather than have the child experience the trauma...Read More
HB 463 87(R) - 2021 HB 463 would prohibit convicted felons from serving as poll watchers. It would also render anyone who has been convicted of an election-related offense ineligible to serve as poll watcher.Read More
SB 538 87(R) - 2021 SB 538 would enable the Department of Information Resources to expand their cooperative contract offerings and bulk purchases to products and services in demand from two or more agencies, or other eligible customers. SB 538 would make eligible customers to now include political subdivisions of this state; hospitals, public safety entities, volunteer fire departments, private or independent institutions of higher education, private schools,...Read More
HB 2136 87(R) - 2021 HB 2136 requires proposed marine vessel projects in the diesel emissions reduction incentive program to spend at least 55% of their hours of operation in certain intercoastal waterways or bays over the lifetime of the project.Read More
SB 44 87(R) - 2021 SB 44 would allow a state employee who is a volunteer of an organization that is a member of the Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster to be granted leave to participate in disaster relief services without a deduction in salary or loss of vacation time, sick leave and other benefits if the supervisor approves the leave and the leave is for a state disaster declared by the governor. Leave granted may not exceed 10 days.This...Read More
HB 1695 87(R) - 2021 HB 1695 would require each local workforce board to establish and implement a graduated reimbursement rate system for child-care providers in that region based upon the child-to-caregiver ratio and group size for each provider. Facilities with the lowest child-to-caregiver ratios would receive the highest reimbursement rate. HB 1695 would require the Health and Human Services Commission to examine and implement new strategies to the...Read More
SB 1438 87(R) - 2021 SB 1438 would place strict limits on current statutory authority allowing certain taxing units to use a higher voter-approved tax rate calculation after a disaster. The bill would only allow a taxing unit to calculate at the higher voter-approved tax rate if any part of the taxing unit is located in a declared disaster area and the disaster caused physical damage to property located in the taxing unit. The bill would...Read More
HB 1488 87(R) - 2021 HB 1488 would establish that a state agency is not required to submit a report to the legislature after the 10th anniversary of the date of their first submitted report. This would place a statutory limit on reporting requirements to prevent unnecessary indefinite reporting. Read More
HB 3276 87(R) - 2021 HB 3276 would require the general custodian of election records to implement a video surveillance system that retains a record of all areas containing voted ballots from the time the voted ballots are delivered to the central counting station until the canvass of precinct election returns. The video recorded is an election record under existing law and shall be retained by the general custodian of election records...Read More
HB 1509 87(R) - 2021 HB 1509 would create a new habitual offender sentencing enhancement for Class A misdemeanors, elevating a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony if the defendant has been convicted four or more times of any Class A misdemeanor or felony within the prior 10 years. At least one of the prior convictions would have to have been a felony of some degree for the enhancement to apply. A conviction under this new enhancement would not qualify...Read More
HB 1646 87(R) - 2021 HB 1646 would prohibit a health benefit plan issuer from changing an enrollee's benefit coverage of a prescription drug in a manner that negatively impacts the enrollee, on renewal of of the plan, from the coverage that had been agreed on upon the year prior.Read More
HB 2692 87(R) - 2021 HB 2692 would ban the disposal of or storage of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel in Texas except only for on-site storage by current and former operating nuclear reactors and nuclear test reactors located on university campuses.The bill would update regulations regarding low-level radioactive waste to make the regulations more consistent with current needs and to modernize the regulations to make them more relevant...Read More
SB 2202 87(R) - 2021 SB 2202 would require the State Board of Education to adopt essential knowledge and skills for students' civic knowledge, including an understanding of the fundamental moral, political, and intellectual foundations of the American experiment in self-government, the history, qualities, traditions, and features of civic engagement in the United States, the structure, function, and processes of government institutions at the federal, state,...Read More
HB 1080 87(R) - 2021 HB 1080 would prohibit schools from restricting University Interscholastic League (UIL) participation of students who receive outpatient mental health services from a mental health facility.Read More