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May 30, 2019
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Texas Legislature’s Most Important Bills in the 2019 Session

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By: Texas Tribune Staff –  apps.texastribune.org –

Texas’ top political leaders wrapped the 2019 session of the Texas Legislature on Memorial Day with an air of accomplishment. They passed two major pieces of legislation that they had been working toward for years — a finance boost and a bill aimed at slowing the growth of property taxes. But there were some key failures too, most notably a sales tax increase that would have allowed lawmakers to lower property taxes even more. That measure died due to lack of support. Many others died due to lack of time or a clever procedural trick by an opponent. Here are the steps of the legislative process that we tracked.

Sent to Abbott

Budget

HB 1: Sent to Abbott on May 26

The state’s two-year budget plan calls for spending roughly $250 billion on priorities including public school funding, teacher salaries and early childhood intervention programs. Read more

Property tax reform

SB 2: Sent to Abbott on May 25

This bill, a top priority of Texas’ three main political leaders, would require voter approval when local governments want to increase their property tax revenues by more than 3.5%. Read more

School finance reform

HB 3: Sent to Abbott on May 25

HB 3 would be a complete overhaul of Texas public school finance. It aims to increase per-student funding, expand pre-K offerings and lessen the state’s reliance on “Robin Hood” payments from wealthier schools. The measure also includes pay raises for veteran teachers and other school employees. Read more

Creating a state flood infrastructure fund

SB 7: Sent to Abbott on May 26

This bill would create special flood infrastructure funds to help communties harmed by natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Read more

School safety

SB 11: Sent to Abbott on May 26

In the first session since 10 people were fatally shot at Santa Fe High School, lawmakers wrote this school safety measure that would strengthen mental health initiatives in schools, require classrooms to have access to a telephone or other electronic communication, and create teams that identify potentially dangerous students. The bill was amended in the House to include the creation of a Texas Mental Health Consortium — originally part of SB 10, which died hours earlier on a technicality. Read more

Teacher pension fix

SB 12: Sent to Abbott on May 26

This bill would shore up the teacher pension fund in Texas. It would increase state contributions and give retirees a one-time additional check. Read more

“Born alive” act

HB 16: Sent to Abbott on May 23

This proposal would require doctors to treat a baby born alive in the rare instance of a failed abortion attempt. Read more

Raising the smoking age

SB 21: Sent to Abbott on May 21

This measure would raise the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21, except for military personnel. Read more

Defunding abortion providers

SB 22: Sent to Abbott on May 24

This measure would prohibit state and local governments from partnering with agencies that perform abortions, even if they contract for services not related to the procedure. Read more

Rules governing alcohol sales

HB 1545: Sent to Abbott on May 24

This bill is part of the state’s regular sunset process, which requires agencies to undergo regular efficiency reviews or face closure. Lawmakers in the Senate amended the bill to allow breweries to sell beer to go and allow individuals to hold up to 250 liquor store permits. Read more

Red-light cameras

HB 1631: Sent to Abbott on May 17

The days of red-light cameras monitoring Texas drivers may be numbered if this bill becomes law, but the devices could still linger in some communities for a few more years, as it would only prevent cities from renewing their contracts with vendors. Read more

Religious freedom

SB 1978: Sent to Abbott on May 23

Known by supporters as the “Save Chick-fil-A Bill,” this proposal would prevent government entities from taking adverse action against people or businesses based on their religion. But some members of the LGBTQ community fear it would be a license to discriminate. Read more

Repealing the Driver Responsibility Program

HB 2048: Sent to Abbott on May 23

HB 2048 would eliminate this much-maligned program, which critics say traps low-income Texans in a cycle of debt. It has survived past attempts to kill it because money from fines helps fund the state’s emergency trauma care system. The bill offers alternative funding sources for trauma care. Read more

Extending statute of limitations for sex abuse lawsuits

HB 3809: Sent to Abbott on May 24

This bill doubles the amount of time that victims of certain types of sexual abuse have to sue abusers or entities, from 15 years to 30 years after a victim turns 18. Read more

Vetoed or failed

Sales tax increase

HJR 3: Failed to pass on May 7

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen proposed increasing the sales tax by 1 percentage point and using that money to lower property taxes statewide. The measure failed to gain popular support among rank-and-file lawmakers, however. Read more

Elections

SB 9: Missed key deadline on May 19

This wide-ranging legislation would have elevated the penalty for Texans who vote when they’re ineligible — even if they did so unknowingly. They also would have been subject to a felony charge that could include jail time and a fine up to $10,000. But the bill failed to make it onto the House’s calendar. Read more

Lobbying ban

SB 13: Missed key deadline on May 19

Every session, the Texas Capitol draws lobbyists who were previously members of the Legislature. This bill would have banned members of the Texas House and Senate from certain kinds of lobbying for a period of time — about two years in most cases — after they stepped down from their elected offices. But the bill never made it onto the House agenda.

Lessen pot penalties

HB 63: Missed key deadline on May 22

People caught possessing small amounts of marijuana would have faced smaller criminal penalties — a Class C misdemeanor instead of a Class B misdemeanor — under this bill that passed in the House but was declared dead on arrival in the Senate by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Read more

Daylight saving time

HJR 117: Missed key deadline on May 22

This proposal would have eliminated twice-a-year time changes and let voters decide in November on Texas’ permanent time. Voters would choose between exempting the state from daylight saving time or observing daylight saving time year-round. Read more

Scooter regulation

SB 549: Missed key deadline on May 19

Texans would have been banned from riding electric scooters on sidewalks under this measure, which also would have required that scooter users be at least 16 years old. It also would have prohibited more than two people from riding a scooter at once. But it missed a key deadline and never made it to the House floor for a vote. Read more

Ban on certain abortions

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Source: Here’s how some of the Texas Legislature’s most important bills fared in the 2019 session | The Texas Tribune