2023 - 88th Legislative Session

The Regular Session of the 88th Legislature will adjourn sine die today, ending the first post-pandemic session with a somewhat normal return to Capitol operations. The session was not nearly as strange as the last session, at least not until the end. Last week, the generally low-profile House General Investigating Committee emerged with a blockbuster action: 20 articles of impeachment against AG Paxton. The full House on Saturday approved the articles on a vote of 121-23, despite outcries from Paxton supporters, including Cruz and Trump. This follows the previous blockbuster a couple of weeks ago of a once in a 100-years member expulsion.

With the May 29th sine die in sight, the anxiety associated with moving or killing bills has intensified. Major leadership priorities are still in play. Both chambers have inched towards agreement on the budget, but the linchpin of significant property tax relief (which requires the state to match the tax reductions by increasing its share of public school funding) has slowed the process. With the House passage of SB 3 and SJR 3, however, there’s positive news on that front. Those bills offer a compromise that combines key elements of both the Senate and House tax relief plans, with an expected $21B savings to taxpayers. The bills now go back to an uncertain Senate.

After a week of long and intense evenings, the House wrapped up its calendars for House bills on second reading, leaving 100’s of bills stranded and dead. Lots of last-ditch efforts on gun control, but no gains. Struggles continue for vouchers. Interestingly, gambling forged a tentative victory with sports betting gaining a first-ever 101 votes for a possible constitutional amendment. It now proceeds to an uncertain future in the Senate. Casino gaming went down,unable to achieve the 100 House votes needed for its required constitutional amendment.

With numerous legislative priorities still in play, including the budget, property tax relief,and vouchers, long days and nights are ahead with just over 3 weeks remining in the session.Floor debate has reached a peak as both houses push to get their own bills out. In the House,formal wind down rules kick-in next week with Thursday being the last day to pass House billson second reading. After this round of activity, each chamber’s focus will move to bills from theother house.

The committee hearing phase of the session is rapidly shutting down, narrowing theflow of bills to the House and Senate floors. In the House, for those bills that make it out ofcommittee, the task of getting set or reached on a calendar looms as floor agendas growlonger. For some bills stuck in committee, the search now begins for a moving germane bill onwhich to hitch a ride.

The House appropriations bill, HB 1, sailed through the House last week. Upon receipt,the Senate quickly substituted its version, setting up the usual conference committee work-out.Today, the House overwhelmingly passed its version of property tax relief which focuses on appraisal caps. Under the bill, caps are expanded to cover not just residential homesteads, but all real property, including business and commercial. Lt. Gov. Patrick and Sen. Bettencourt continue to express dissatisfaction with the House approach, favoring the Senate’s already passed homestead exemption expansion approach, combined with the SB 5 business property tax exemptions and credits. On the TBLF front, the Senate version of the BOC bill, SB 1514, was heard last Tuesday in B&C. The hearing was smooth with no push back. The only question came from Sen. Zaffirini, who queried Chairman Schwertner about whether there was anything in the bill that she‘should be worried about’. Schwertner responded with a smile ‘not that he was aware of, but to please let him know if she finds something’. He could actually speak with confidence as his staff did an extremely thorough vetting of the bill.

Committee and floor action continue to accelerate. The House appropriations bill, HB1, will be heard on the floor next Thursday, which will activate a bevy of amendment activity aswell as anticipatory member preoccupation. Lots of positive TBLF developments this week. In the House, HB 19, the business courtsbill, moved out of JCJ with a tight 5-4 vote on Wednesday. On the same day, the Senate version,SB 27, was taken up by the Jurisprudence Committee in a relatively smooth and efficienthearing. HB 4279, the BOC bill, was heard on Monday in B&I, and was well received. We expectthe Senate version, SB 1514, to be heard this coming Tuesday in B&C.

The committee hearing phase of the session continues to ramp up as the bottleneck ofbill referrals resolves. Included in the increased committee action was HB 19, the businesscourts bill, which was heard in a 4-hour debate in JCJ on Wednesday. HB 4279, the BOC bill, willbe heard in B&I on Monday. The one duty the Legislature must complete this session, passing a biennial statebudget, is progressing. HB 1, the appropriations bill, passed out of committee this week and willoccupy precious floor time in the coming weeks as it makes its way through the process.On the revenue side, the Senate passed a $16.5B package of priority property taxreduction bills (SBs 3,4 &5 and SJR 3) setting up its position in the House, which has its ownideas on property tax relief. Part of the House plan, HB2 and HJR 1, is out of committee. Allthose bills are linked in the attached SBOT Legislative Tracking Report.

As of last Friday’s filing deadline, the House and Senate bill count (excluding resolutions)hit a historical high of 7,865. It’s an approximate 13% increase over bills filed at this point lastsession. We continue to sort through the pile-up. Committee hearings in both houses ramped up significantly this week. The Senate evenundertook floor debate on several bills, including a contentious elections bill. Committeereferrals will continue to catch up next week.

Today marks the 60th day of the session; more consequently, it's the deadline for the free filing of general bills. As always, a mad scramble is underway. The previously discussed drafting and referral delays have made the scramble a little more intense. The TBLF experienced another productive week with all remaining bills of primary interest being filed by extremely capable sponsors. This includes the Senate version of the business courts bill, SB 27 by Sen. Hughes, which fills the bill slot previously reserved by Lt.Governor Patrick for the issue. As we enter the session's committee hearing phase, accelerated bill referrals in both houses will feed ever increasing committee activity.

On Tuesday Chairman Murr filed the business courts bill (HB 19). Speaker Phelenprovided a simultaneous endorsement by adding the issue to his list of legislative priorities. TheSpeaker released the following related statement: “House Bill 19 by Representative Murr would create a business courtsystem in Texas, strengthening the state’s already strong pro-business reputationthat has driven economic and job growth to the state. A specialized court systemfor complex business cases in the state would establish a new avenue for thosecompanies to solve their legal matters in a fair, streamlined and consistentmanner.” House committees continued organizational meetings, as bill referrals accelerated.Bill filing also accelerated; the TLC is now at full throttle in pushing out bills. As the 60-day filingdeadline approaches (March 10th), expect an enormous amount of filing activity next week.

This week Governor Abbott, Lt. Governor Patrick, and Speaker Phelen continued to refine and push their separately declared legislative agendas. There’s clear overlap on many issues, but some different directions also appear to be emerging.Governor Abbott released his 2024-2025 budget proposal. Tracking his State-of-the-State address, the Governor provided another strong endorsement for specialized business courts as follows: “Despite its business-friendly reputation, Texas is among a dwindling number of States without specialized business courts. To continue growing the ninth-largest economy in the world, Texas needs to provide businesses with a forum where their complex commercial disputes can be resolved by judges with experience and expertise in business law. I recommend the 88th Legislature approve and fund the creation of business courts in which complex commercial litigation will be heard by judges chosen for their specialized expertise.” The pace of bills coming out of TLC has quickened. This week saw the House and Senate leadership refer hundreds of bills to committees, but there’s still many more to go. House committee organizational meetings will continue next week.

Thursday evening, in a statewide televised appearance, Governor Abbott delivered his bi-annual State-of-the-State address from San Marcos (in a Noveon Magnetics manufacturing facility), not in the Capitol before a joint session. He declared 7 "emergency" items that could generate legislative action during the session's first 60 days: property tax reduction, banning covid restrictions, school choice/vouchers, school safety, bail reform, border security, and the fentanyl crisis. The Governor also mentioned other legislative priorities, which included the establishment of a dedicated business court system for Texas. An amazing first for the issue.Otherwise, the Legislature met briefly this week for essentially housekeeping matters,then recessed until next week. The Senate Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee continued hearings on respective budget bills. Other committees await bill referrals.The overall number of filed bills is still relatively low and will ramp up significantly as more bills are released from TLC. Again, this weekly BLS report comes in multiple parts: 1) a short opening commentary on general legislative activity, 2) an overview section focused on selected bills of interest to the BLSand the TBLF (categorized by the 11 general subject matter categories synched to the larger SBOT Legislative Tracking Report), and 3) the complete SBOT Legislative Tracking Report. Bill cites are interactive throughout for quick reference.

On Wednesday, Speaker Phelan announced House committee chairmen and membership. Not surprisingly (after last session’s walkouts by Democrats), there was a reductionin the number of D chairmen (from 13 to 8). None of the high-profile D leadership, who were chairmen last session, retained those coveted positions. In the house, Rep. Oscar Longoria (D-Mission) will now take the lead as chairman of our substantive committee, Business & Industry ("B&I"), with Rep. Cody Vasut (R-Angleton) as vice-chairman. Interestingly, B&I now has majority of Democrats, an interesting twist considering the reduction of D chairmen. Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake) takes over as chairman of Pensions, Investments& Financial Services (“PIFS”). Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) will continue to lead the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee (“JCJ”). The TBLF looks forward to working with all these important committee chairmen and members. With House committee assignments now complete, the referral of bills can commence.The backlog of un-referred bills is immense, just as is the backlog of un-filed bills. The next several weeks will see a sharp incline in activity. Next Wednesday evening, Governor Abbott will deliver his biennial State-of-the-State address with statewide television coverage. Continuing a format used last session (thought atthe time to be pandemic driven), the Governor will not address a joint session in the Capitol butwill present from a San Marcos Chamber of Commerce facility to a limited physical audience(including legislators, of course).

The severe winter storm impacting central and north Texas this week completely shut down the capitol. The Senate and House reconvened briefly, but took no action, and adjourned until Tuesday, February 7th. Despite the delay in legislative activity, it’s anticipated that the Governor will deliver his State-of-the-State address to a joint session on Wednesday, February 15th, with live statewide television coverage. Speaker Phelan continues to consider committee leadership and members for the House’s 34 substantive committees. Announcements in that regard are now expected next week. Senate Finance Chair, Joan Huffman (R-Houston) and House Appropriations Chair, Greg Bonnen (R-Friendswood) have filed each chamber’s initial version of a proposed biennial budget (SB 1 & HB 1). This commences the primary session task of how to address (and spend or save) the approximate $33 billion surplus. As noted, this weekly BLS report comes in multiple parts: 1) a short opening commentary on general legislative activity, 2) an overview section focused on selected bills of interest to the BLS and the TBLF (categorized by the 11 general subject matter categories synched to the larger SBOT Legislative Tracking Report), and 3) the complete SBOT Legislative Tracking Report. Bill cites are interactive throughout for quick reference.

The 88th Texas Legislature convened on January 10th, with the traditional pomp and ceremony, highlighted with a return of inauguration ceremonies and physical parties. The leadership in both chambers is set with Lt. Governor Dan Patrick continuing to lead the Senate and Speaker Dade Phelen (R-Beaumont) reelected in the House. With an approximate $33 billion surplus projected by Comptroller Hegar, both chambers followed an opening-day script that stressed strong commitment to historical-level property tax reduction. The Senate quickly confirmed its committee leadership. Senator Charles Schwertner (R- Georgetown) will continue his role as chairman of our substantive committee, Business & Commerce (B&C). This will be his first full session as chairman, and we look forward to working with him. Chairman Schwertner and his staff are currently reviewing TBLF initiatives. Lt. Governor Patrick has expanded the committee membership from 9 to 11. In the House, Speaker Phelan is in the process of studying member preferences for committee service. We expect committee assignments shortly. The bill filing process is underway and experiencing the usual front-end bottleneck. Committee referrals will be log-jammed for several weeks. As in the past, this weekly BLS report comes in multiple parts: 1) a short opening commentary on general legislative activity, 2) an overview section focused on selected bills of interest to the BLS and the TBLF (categorized by the 11 general subject matter categories contained in the larger SBOT Legislative Tracking Report), and 3) the complete SBOT Legislative Tracking Report. Bill cites are interactive throughout for quick reference.