House passes state budget after long debate




 

 

After 17 hours of floor debate and hundreds of amendments considered, the Texas House of Representatives on April 1 passed House Bill 1, a state budget for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 that appropriates $209.8 billion.

The vote was 141 in favor to 5 against, with nay votes cast by Reps. David Simpson, R-Longview; Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler; freshman Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving; freshman Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington; and freshman Molly White, R-Belton.

The House version of the state budget, a 3.8 percent increase over the current 2014-2015 state budget, draws no funds from the Economic Stabilization (“rainy day”) Fund. Senate concurrence with the HB 1 is necessary for the state budget to be finally adopted. SB 2, the Senate version of 2016-2017 state budget, has been pending in the Senate Finance Committee since March 25.

On April 1, on a vote of 148-0, the House also passed HB 2, supplemental appropriations and funding adjustments for various state agencies. Notably, the legislation, in addition to amounts previously appropriated for 2014- 2015, appropriates some $768 million out of the general revenue fund to the Teacher Retirement System to prevent the impending insolvency of the state agency’s TRS-Care health care fund.

House Appropriations Committee Chair John Otto, R-Dayton, the primary author of HB 1 and HB 2, stood true to his Feb. 25 House floor announcement, in which he said the House would fully fund health care for retired public school employees and their dependents.

Bills gain Senate approval

SB 20 by Senate Finance Chair Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, would amend the rules state agencies must obey in making contracts with private sector vendors.

Nelson’s bill would: require the creation of a centralized clearinghouse at the Office of Comptroller to keep a record of all contracts signed by state agencies; require state agencies to post active contracts and proposed contracts on their state website; require state agencies to keep documentation relating to a contract for four years after it ends; and require state agency heads to personally sign off on all contracts worth more than $1 million.

SB 6 by Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Galveston, would remold the current system used to rate schools in terms ranging from “exemplary” to “unacceptable” and replace it with an “A” through “F” rating system to begin in 2017.

Taylor said his bill would make it clear to parents and school administrators which schools are succeeding and which are failing within a district. Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, added an amendment to the bill requiring school districts to publish the reasons a campus received its grade along with the rating.

SB 538 by Senate Health and Human Services Committee Chair Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, was crafted in light of the state’s Ebola response last year. Among its attributes, the bill clarifies the chain of command during a disease emergency and requires protective equipment for healthcare workers or first responders to be stockpiled and ready. This response regimen would apply when or if the governor declares a state of infectious disease emergency.

DPS seizes marijuana load

Texas Department of Public Safety on April 1 announced more than two tons of marijuana with an estimated value of more than $24 million were seized on March 30 after a state trooper pulled over a tractor trailer in Starr County for a commercial vehicle inspection on U.S. 83 west of Roma.

During the inspection, the trooper discovered 174 bundles totaling 4,040 pounds of marijuana concealed inside the pressure washer skid being towed on the flatbed trailer. The driver was arrested and placed in federal custody.

Distracted driving takes toll

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and Texas Department of Transportation has kicked off its annual “Talk, Text, Crash” campaign to urge drivers to give their full attention to the road.

“Nearly 1 in 5 traffic crashes in Texas is caused by a distracted driver. Last year, 468 people were killed because someone took their attention off the road. How important is a fleeting distraction when it could end in the death of someone, perhaps even one of your loved ones?” TxDOT Deputy Executive Director John Barton asks in a campaign news release.

ED STERLING is the Director of Member Services at Texas Press Association.


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