The Texas Legislature meets in regular session for 140 days in odd-numbered years. During the even-numbered years, the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives conduct hearings, prepare reports, and draft legislation on issues assigned by the lieutenant governor and speaker of the house. Although many other subjects will be addressed in the 8,000 bills introduced during the regular session, these interim charges provide insight into the priorities of the legislative leadership.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has issued 15 pages of interim legislative charges to the 13 standing Senate committees. The entire list of charges is available at ltgov.texas.gov. Below is a summary of the most important county-related issues. The County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas will monitor these hearings, present testimony and other information, and report the recommendations to our Commissioners Courts.
Border Security Committee
- Securing the Texas-Mexico Border: Review state and local agencies’ participation in border security.
Finance Committee
- Continue cutting property taxes. Additionally, establish and report on the cost of eliminating all property taxes. Evaluate and report on how much state revenue would need to be generated to replace foregone property tax revenue, and from what source.
- Mental Health Services and Inpatient Facilities: Monitor the implementation of Senate Bill 30, 88th Legislature, Regular Session, with regard to appropriations made for expanding mental health services and inpatient facilities across the state.
Health and Human Services Committee
- Access to Health Care: Evaluate current access to primary and mental health care.
Local Government Committee
- Make recommendations for further property tax relief and reform, including methods to improve voter control over tax rate setting and debt authorization.
- Extra-Territorial Jurisdictions: Study issues related to the implementation of Senate Bill 2038 and House Bill 3053, 88th Legislature, Regular Session, and make recommendations to secure and enhance the protection of landowners’ property rights.
- Local Government Spending of Directly Distributed Federal Funds: Examine how local governments spend funds directly distributed to them by the federal government.
Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee
- Protecting Local Taxpayers: Examine current use and imposition of local option hotel occupancy taxes.
State Affairs Committee
- Maintaining Election Security: Identify threats to Texas’s election integrity. Make recommendations to address countywide polling issues, such as increased wait times, longer travel distances, supply shortages, and reporting irregularities. Evaluate current laws that prohibit political subdivisions and public school districts from using government resources for illegal electioneering.
Transportation Committee
- Reviewing Historic Accomplishments in Transportation: Review the implementations and outcomes of key transportation funding and policy initiatives since the 84th Legislature. Report on trends or patterns to guide future planning and governance.
Veteran Affairs Committee
- Veteran Mental Health: Review current programs that provide direct and indirect mental health services to veterans in Texas. Identify barriers to accessing mental health resources for rural veterans.
Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee
- Water System Reliability: Evaluate water systems in Texas and identify opportunities to better equip those systems to serve the public.