Despite delays and disruptions from COVID-19 and the winter storm, there were 7,148 bills and constitutional amendments introduced during the 87th Regular Legislative Session. When the session concluded, 1,081 bills were sent to the governor, and he vetoed 21 of them, including the entire appropriation for the legislature. As expected, thousands of these bills affected county government, extending the recent trend to micromanage local policies and programs. Most of our legislative efforts were directed toward preventing additional unfunded mandates and other legislation that would require property tax increases. With a united program and strong participation by county officials, we were able to avoid much of the negative attempts to limit local decision-making. Unfortunately, special interest groups will likely continue their attacks on local governments and our taxpayers in the special sessions. As we prepare for another round of high activity, below is a summary of significant actions during the regular session.
BILLS THAT PASSED
Good Bills:
H.B. 4 – Expansion of telemedicine.
H.B. 5 – Expansion of broadband services.
H.B. 54 – Prohibits sheriff contracts with reality TV shows.
H.B. 362 – Authorizes county electronic competitive bidding.
H.B. 2201 – Requires Railroad Commission to establish standards for oil and gas disposal facilities.
H.B. 2223 – TxDOT overweight truck study.
H.B. 3774 – Reduces the constitutional County Judge supplement affidavit to 18 percent from 40 percent of functions.
H.J.R. 99 – Constitutional amendment to authorize county transportation tax increment financing, limited to 65 percent of new revenue.
S.B. 157 – Simplifies annual eminent domain report for counties under 25,000.
S.B. 160 – Repeals mandatory annual road reports.
S.B. 598 – Allocates $39 million for replacement of voting machines without paper trail.
Problem Bills:
H.B. 1869 – Requires including COs and tax warrants in the M&O rate; excludes vehicles, equipment, roads, courts, law enforcement, jails, and other designated infrastructure.
H.B. 2073 – Requires quarantine paid leave for firefighters, peace officers, detention officers, and EMT for work exposure to any communicable disease.
H.B. 2581 – Requires that price be at least 50 percent of score in competitive sealed proposals.
H.B. 3069 – Reduces claim deadline against architects, engineers, and contractors from 10 years to 8 years.
S.B. 1 – The state budget has an immediate impact on county budgets and the local property tax rate. When the legislature underfunds public education and state-mandated services, local property taxes must be increased to meet the burden. This state budget continues to rely upon an increase in local school taxes to fund public education and lower the state share of this cost. S.B. 1 contains an estimate of a 6.2 percent increase in local school taxes in the next two years. The state budget fails to meet the need for funding for juvenile probation, indigent criminal defense, and attorneys in CPS cases, and it will require increases in county property taxes for these mandates.
S.B. 22 – Creates benefit presumption for firefighters, peace officers, detention officers, EMT for COVID-19.
S.B. 23 – Requires election for law enforcement budget reduction or re-allocation in counties with population over 1 million.
S.B. 230 – Commissioners Court may authorize virtual Commissioners education except in first year.
S.B. 476 – Requires adult sexual assault response plan and team. Allows multicounty team in counties under 250,000.
S.B. 876 – Vehicle registration in any county.
S.B. 967 – Limits local public health order to 15 days unless extended by Commissioners Court.
S.B. 968 – Requires county wellness checks for utility outages and disaster declarations.
S.B. 1438 – Eliminates the 8 percent disaster voter-approval rate for droughts and epidemics. Requires property damage or increased expenditures from disaster to use remaining 8 percent disaster rate, instead of 3.5 percent rate.
BILLS THAT FAILED
Good Bills:
H.B. 123 – Repealing limit on number of counties converting to countywide voting.
H.B. 228 – Optional Electronic Court Recording.
H.B. 262 – County reimbursement from estate for statutory probate judge costs.
H.J.R. 32 – Prohibiting Unfunded Mandates.
H.J.R. 39 – Two-thirds vote to divert dedicated funds.
S.J.R. 18 – Optional Homestead Exemption on dollar basis.
Problem Bills:
H.B. 3 – Limits disaster declarations by the governor and the County Judge. Cannot restrict business operations without legislative approval.
H.B. 277 – Requiring appointed counsel at bail hearings.
H.B. 768 – Requiring video posting of Commissioners Court meetings in counties over 5,000.
H.B. 905 – Withholds County Judge salary if local order restricts business operations.
H.B. 906 – Prohibits disaster order that distinguishes between essential and nonessential businesses.
H.B. 1406 – Allows lawsuits against county for disaster declaration or public health order.
H.B. 3315 – Mandating pretrial diversion program for 17-year-olds.
H.B. 3967 – Unrestricted sale of fireworks.
S.B. 10/H.B. 749 – Restricting legislative communications by counties.
Jim Allison, General Counsel