Texas Senate

Subject: Parents Come First, Senate Joint Resolution 29 (SJR 29)

• Author: State Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SJR 29 seeks to propose an amendment to the Texas Constitution establishing a parent’s right to direct a child’s education. If approved by voters, Article I of the Texas Constitution would secure a parent’s right to make choices within the public school system or to choose an alternative including private (homeschool and parochial included), access and view instructional materials and library books, attend meetings of a school’s governing body, and access school records regarding their child, including the child’s health records. The wishes of a parent for their children should always take precedence over the direction of their child’s education. For these reasons, TFR supports SJR 29.

Subject: Informed Consent, Senate Bill 177 (SB 177)

• Author: State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 177 seeks to require healthcare providers to first obtain informed consent before administering a COVID-19 vaccination while also preventing penalties from being imposed against individuals who refuse to receive such a vaccination. SB 177 would also allow the Texas Attorney General to bring a suit against individuals who violate provisions of the legislation including in junction and the prevention of repeat violations. For these reasons, TFR supports SB 177.

Subject: Election Integrity, Senate Bill 220 (SB 220)

• Author: State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 220 seeks to amend current law to require the Texas Secretary of State (SOS) to appoint a state election marshal from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to investigate election violations. The State Election Marshal would in turn appoint election marshals in each of the DPS regions. SB 220 also seeks to provide for emergency judges, appointed by the eleven regional administrative law judges across the state, to be able to hear cases of reported violations as well as provide for a cause of action to enjoin a party from continuing the alleged violation behavior. Elections should be as secure as possible. For this reason, TFR supports SB 220.

Subject: Pro-Property Rights, Senate Bill 785 (SB 785)

• Author: State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 785 seeks to amend current law relating to the ownership of geothermal energy and associated resources below the surface of land by clarifying that the landowner owns the geothermal energy and associated resources and is entitled to drill for or produce those resources. SB 785 secures property rights for property owners. For this reason, TFR supports SB 785.

Subject: Pro-Property Rights, Senate Bill 986 (SB 986)

• Author: State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 986 seeks to amend current law to clarify that local governments may not impede upon the eviction process. Many local governments used emergency authorities to enact ordinances that distorted market processes. TFR supports the preemption of local governments over-asserting themselves in an area by which they have no jurisdiction.

Subject: Takes Away From Property Tax Relief, Senate Bill 1243 (SB 1243)

• Author: State Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: SB 1243 seeks to allow those who receive grant funds from the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act passed by the U.S. Congress for the purposes of broadband development not to have those grants subjected to the franchise tax. Though there remains a question over whether the state should tax those grants to begin with, as they represent taxpayer money collected by the federal government, by allowing an exemption from the tax, they would also simultaneously be taking millions of dollars away from the property tax relief fund, which benefits all property tax payers, due to how the fund, school funding, and the nature of the franchise tax works in Texas. For these reasons, TFR opposes SB 1243.

Texas House of Representatives

Subject: Misuse of the Rainy Day Fund, House Joint Resolution 3 (HJR 3)

• Author: State Rep. Greg Bonnen (R-Friendswood)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: HJR 3 seeks to amend the Texas Constitution by changing the name of the National Research University Fund to the Texas University Fund and seeks to dedicate $3.5 billion from taxpayer money to increase the total money invested in the fund. HJR 3 also dedicates a continuous revenue source of interest accrued on money that is part of the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) or “Rainy Day Fund”. The ESF was not designed as a slush fund for higher education. For this reason, TFR opposes HJR 3.

Subject: Misuse of the Rainy Day Fund, House Bill 1595 (HB 1595)

• Author: State Rep. Greg Bonnen (R-Friendswood)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: HB 1595 is the enabling legislation for HJR 3. Ultimately HB 1595 seeks to change the mechanisms by which money allocated to the fund is dispersed to various higher education institutions across the state using a structured and tiered funding model. With the constitutional amendment, HJR 3 seeking to dedicate a continuous revenue source of interest accrued on money that is part of the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) or “Rainy Day Fund”, TFR believes that the ESF was not designed as a slush fund for higher education. For this reason, TFR opposes HB 1595.

Subject: Increasing Benefits for Certain Medicaid Beneficiaries, House Bill 54 (HB 54)

• Author: State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: HB 54 seeks to increase the personal needs allowance for Medicaid-enrolled residents of nursing facilities, and other long-term care facilities from a minimum of $60 per month to $85 per month. The federal minimum requirement for the allowance is $30, meaning Texas already allows for double that. HB 54 is estimated to cost taxpayers an additional $17.4 million through the biennium as well as be subjected to an increase in costs every year thereafter. For these reasons, TFR opposes HB 54.

Subject: Authorizing an Increase in Fees, House Bill 1912 (HB 1912)

• Author: State Rep. Angie Chen Button (R-Garland)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: HB 1912 seeks to raise the maximum student union fee that the University of Texas at Dallas may charge a student to $100 per semester from its current fee of $60 per semester. Students already experience an increase in tuition costs every year because of irresponsible higher education policies, we should not be raising fees on students but lowering fees while providing for necessary improvements out of existing resources. For these reasons, TFR opposes HB 1912.

Subject: Authorizing an Increase in Fees, House Bill 3059 (HB 3059)

• Author: State Rep. Tracy King (D-Uvalde)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: HB 3059 seeks to allow the export fees that groundwater districts can impose to be raised by nearly 1000%. In an economic environment by which Texans are reeling from near-record inflation and higher costs of goods and services, adding an additional burden to some Texans is not warranted. For this reason, TFR opposes HB 3059.

Subject: Decrease Barrier to Entry, House Bill 1846 (HB 1846)

• Author: State Rep. Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: HB 1846 seeks to require the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to test and issue Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) to out-of-state students, thereby reducing barriers to entry for an industry already short on potential workers. For these reasons, TFR supports HB 1846.

Subject: Chicken Freedom, House Bill 92 (HB 92)

• Author: State Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: HB 92 seeks to prohibit any municipality, county, or property owners’ association from adopting a regulation that prohibits activities like growing fruits and vegetables, raising chickens or rabbits, or installing a solar-energy device, rainwater harvesting system, or standby electric generator. HB 92 ultimately allows for the role of government to remain as that of the protection of life and property, and not burdening Texans with onerous regulations preventing them from fending for themselves or providing for their families. For these reasons, TFR supports HB 92.

Subject: Medicaid Expansion for Doulas, House Bill 465 (HB 465)

• Author: State Rep. Shawn Thierry (D-Houston)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: HB 465 seeks to provide a pilot program that would expand Medicaid coverage to that of Doulas, based on recommendations by the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee. The pilot program would provide for the medical assistance reimbursement for Doula services, coaching, and support services provided during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and the postpartum period. The pilot program is estimated to cost taxpayers nearly $1 million through the biennium, and an additional nearly $400,000 every year thereafter. For this reason, TFR opposes HB 465.

Subject: Burdensome Regulation, House Bill 899 (HB 899)

• Author: State Rep. Armando Walle (D-Houston)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: HB 899 seeks to allow Harris County specifically the ability to regulate noise in a residential area that resides in an unincorporated portion of the county by creating a Class C misdemeanor offense (Maximum fine of $500). HB 899 does not adequately define what constitutes a residential area, and in a county where many residential areas are not clearly zoned, enforcement could be problematic. For this reason, TFR opposes HB 899.

Subject: Pro-Taxpayer, House Bill 1038 (HB 1038)

• Author: State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: HB 1038 seeks to require the Texas Bond Review Board to submit a biennial report on the state’s lending and credit support programs which would include details on the amount of state money (taxpayer money) lent through or debt supported by each program and estimates of default costs associated with them, among other information. HB 1038 seeks to provide both transparency and accountability via oversight to taxpayers in an effort to understand the risk and rewards involved in each program as well as to avoid the misuse of such resources. For these reasons, TFR supports HB 1038.

Reminder: Vote Notices are provided to both Texas state lawmakers and the general public in advance of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility’s position on issues to be rated as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Index prior to votes being taken in each legislative chamber.

Disclaimer: We reserve the right to consider amendments to legislation that may be introduced without notice as a part of issues to be rated as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Index. We will make every effort to provide notice on amendments that are pre-filed