The deadline for lawmakers to file bills at the Texas Legislature has officially passed, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few ways for new ideas to make it into writing this session.
Blaise Gainey, who covers state government for The Texas Newsroom, said there are a few options still available to introduce new bills, but they all present difficulties.
“There actually is still a way to file bills, although it’s very hard. You have to get four-fifths of your chamber to agree that the bill is necessary,” Gainey said. “The other way it can happen is the governor can have an emergency declaration that a bill can be filed in order to do that. So think of disaster relief.
And then also there can be bills that are amended to change drastically what they were filed as. That’s not filing a bill, but it can get a new idea into the system at this point.”
Many of the bills that were filed close to deadline reflect Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priorities, Gainey said. Patrick is the president of the Senate and sets the agenda in that chamber.
“He wants to increase water supply, curb nuclear verdicts, also establish a Texas Homeland Security Division… and protect Texas trucking,” Gainey said.
“But outside of those, the one that I found the most interesting was I think the last bill that was actually put into the system — that would give each resident in Texas $500. This is from the money that the comptroller and the state have been able to save over the past couple years.”
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However, Gainey said he thinks that bill is unlikely to get anywhere, given that lawmakers probably want to use that money to pay for other priorities.
There are also several notable bills that are being discussed in committee this week, including one about hemp production in Texas.
“This will be one of the first hearings for House Bill 1113. It’s by Rep. Briscoe Cain, and it would tighten regulations on hemp research and also establish permits,” Gainey said. “So in order to grow hemp, you’d need a permit, and it would be a crime for anybody growing hemp or producing hemp that does not have a license.
… It’s a pretty normal type of penalty, but what’s more interesting is this is coming along with SB 3. Dan Patrick wants to get rid of all THC consumables, so basically all edibles that are sold in stores. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens moving forward.”
Another bill Gainey said he plans to keep an eye on is SB 8, which relates to immigration and law enforcement.
“This would make sure that the border states are working with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement,” he said. “This new law wants all the counties with more than 100,000 people that are on the border to join a program to work with ICE so that they can learn how to properly identify whether or not somebody is legally in the United States.”
