The 85th legislative session
Gov. Greg Abbott prepares to deliver his State of the State address surrounded by (left to right) Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, Sens. Donna Campbell, R-San Antonio, and Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and House Speaker Joe Straus.
The 85th Texas Legislative session is in full swing. Open since January 10, an estimated 6,000 bills will be proposed by the end of the session by a total of 31 Texas Senators and 150 Texas Representatives. These legislative sessions convene every odd-numbered year to write new laws and to find solutions to problems facing Texas. The convoluted process behind passing these laws is crucial to every single Texan’s wellbeing and has evolved to fit the plethora of issues facing the most diverse Texan communities.
This year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott presented his most pressing issues in his State of the State address urging legislators to focus on banning sanctuary cities, overhauling Texas’ broken child welfare system, implementing ethics reforms for legislative bodies, and supporting resolutions for conventions of states to amend the U.S. Constitution.
He has already taken matters into his own hands. When Sally Hernandez, Travis County’s Sheriff, pledged to reduce cooperation with federal immigration authorities to protect immigrants, Governor Abbott cut 1.5 million dollars in criminal justice grants to Travis County. Despite the Governor’s exhortations and actions, it is important to keep in mind that these are just the main focuses of one governing body, and there are numerous issues being debated this session.
The House of Representatives, led by speaker Joe Straus, has notably shown interest in public education and school finances while the Senate, led by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, has expressed a higher level of interest in hot button social issues like LGBTQ+ rights and immigration. Here’s a breakdown of the top five issues being contended this session:
LGBTQ+ Rights: Lt. Governor Patrick made banning transgender friendly bathrooms a priority this session. The Texas Association of Business, a conservative lobbyist group, has recently released a study arguing that the Republican-led measures to limit transgender bathroom rights would severely hinder the Texas economy. This issue will definitely be disputed in both chambers of Congress. SB92 introduced by Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) would repeal city ordinances in cities like Austin and Houston, protecting LGBTQ+ residents from housing and job discrimination. This bill would essentially restrict local governments from protecting LGBTQ+ people in any commercial activity, which according to Equality Texas would leave about 8 million people unprotected.
Education: The public finance system in Texas has long been a contentious topic as school districts require increases in funds for the education of non-native English speakers and for the basic amount of funding per student. This year, Lt. Governor Patrick has also led the discourse in the divisive issue of school choice which refers to using state tax-payer money for students enrolled in private institutions. Sen. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) presented SB3, known as the school voucher bill. Education vouchers would allow parents to access state funds for private school tuition and other school related expenses. The bill would also create scholarships granting businesses tax credits donating toward student’s private school tuitions. On opposing grounds, Democratic lawmakers argue that sending scarce state resources away from struggling public schools would only be detrimental. As a watchdog for taxpayers dollars, Democrats also argue that imposing unreasonable accountability to the public for institutions that are not subject to the state’s education regulations is not in the least acceptable.
Child Protective Services: Since the last session, lawmakers have held several hearings to consider “Band-Aid” fixes for the most pressing issues, including high caseworker turnover rates and high numbers of children who might have been in danger but were not seen by caseworkers in an appropriate amount of time. Although the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services approved 150 million dollars last year to hire more caseworkers, more permanent solutions will definitely be presented this session.
Abortion: Governor Abbott stated that he was aiming to eliminate all state funding to Planned Parenthood therefore also cutting away access to healthcare for low income women and men. Representative Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) is presenting a bill to eliminate an exception that allows abortion of fetuses incompatible with life outside the womb. On the other hand, Representative Donna Howard D-Austin is presenting a new bill that would enact harsher penalties for assault on abortion clinic employees and volunteers.
State Budget: A state budget is the only bill that has to be passed every session, although this year, it may come with a few hiccups. Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced that lawmakers will have 104.9 billion dollars to work with in the crafting of the 2018-2019 budget, which is a 7% decrease from two years ago. The lack of funds originates from the drop in oil and gas prices, which in turn decreased the amount of tax revenue coming in from these goods.
From financial to social issues, all affect either your life or someone near you. If any of these issues seem important to you, or you wish to give a voice to your worries, a great resource to find your representative and how to contact he/she is www.house.state.tx.us/members/find-your-representative-. Your local representatives are always looking for more opinions and points of views from their constituents regardless of age, sex, religion, etc therefore don’t hesitate to reach out. I’ll be providing regular updates on the status of bills. We would love to hear your opinions, so make sure to leave any questions or comments down below!