How we got here
Intergovernmental Relations Manager Leah Clark presented an update to Georgetown City Council members on a handful of bills during a Feb. 25 workshop meeting. As of Feb. 24, 4,671 House and Senate bills have been filed, Clark said. The city of Georgetown is closely tracking about 1,000 of them.
“When we talk about legislation, each of these members files a bill because they think it’s a good idea,” Clark said. “When we try to talk with them, we’re offering solutions, but also trying to share with them the impacts of what their bill would do to our city and to the residents who live here. That can sometimes be difficult.”
Ahead of the legislative session, council members adopted a legislative agenda that was put together by Georgetown residents. The agenda is centered on three pillars: preserving local control, planning for growth and preserving a high quality of life.
During the workshop, Clark discussed bills most pertinent to the three themes in the city’s legislative agenda.
Preserving local control
Clark said several bills could affect Georgetown’s ability to preserve local control. According to the presentation, those proposed bills and their effects include:
- Senate Bill 19, SB 239 and SB 1252: prohibits public funds to hire lobbyists
- SB 1209: moves all general, special and runoff elections to the first Tuesday in November instead of the current Saturday elections in May
- House Bill 2683: creates a statewide framework for food truck regulations
- HB 2736: requires two-thirds of voters to approve a tax rate increase or bond election, and the vote must be held during a November election
- HB 2977: allows applicants and landowners to seek third-party reviews and inspections if the regulatory authority city does not act within 15 days
“This bill is important because it also would say that city tax dollars can't go to a nonprofit association that hires lobbyists to influence legislation,” Clark said. “It's kind of a multipronged way that would stop our ability to use lobbyists and to impact change at the Capitol.”
Clark said some organizations believe SB 1209 is a better way for people to understand what they’re voting for and if they’re voting for tax rate increases. It aims to create a uniform election date—specifically the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, for most elections, per city documents.
City Manager David Morgan said he believes the city of Georgetown has previously held both May and November elections.
“I think that's important for a fast growing city like ours to have the flexibility from a timing standpoint,” Morgan said.
Planning for growth
Clark discussed six bills that could affect the city’s ability to plan for growth. According to city documents, the proposed bills and their implications are:
- SB 673: restricts a city’s ability to regulate accessory dwelling units by prohibiting city parking regulations and limiting city height regulations
- SB 840: allows for between 125,000 and 1 million additional multifamily units to be built in Georgetown; removes the city’s ability to collect impact fees—a way the city works to limit how much existing residents pay for new growth
- SB 844: changes the threshold of affected landowners required to trigger a zoning hearing
- SB 854: mandates municipalities must allow multifamily and mixed-use developments on religious land, prohibiting them from requiring zoning changes, special permits or other land use classifications
- SB 1237: provides a tax exemption for certain property owned by charitable organizations for residents 62 years of age
- SB 1509: prohibits city regulations within extraterritorial jurisdictions
Clark presented a few bills which fall under the city’s priority to preserve a high quality of life. Per the legislative agenda, those bills include:
- SB 422 and HB 1480: expands library grants under the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to include new library construction
- HB 1909: requires painted crosswalks to be Texas-themed
At the Capitol
Georgetown officials have met with local officials’ offices several times to discuss specific issues such as the city’s density and water projects, Clark said.
As of Feb. 24, every bill request listed in the council-adopted legislative task force agenda has been filed, she said. Those draft requests include:
- SB 542 and HB 517: prevents a homeowners association from fining someone for having brown grass during a declared drought
- SB 616 and HB 1618: refiles an Aquifer Storage and Recovery bill
- SB 1290: requires package plants—or small wastewater treatment facilities—to have backup power generation
- SB 1496 and HB 3241: authorizes municipalities to receive tax revenue from a hotel and convention center project and to pledge tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to the project
- SB 1586: ensures improved security and reliability for package plants before permit approval
Additionally, SB 1586 is an attempt to put more scrutiny around the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s permit approvals, she said.
Looking ahead
The deadline to file bills is March 14, and sine die—or the legislative session’s last day—will hopefully be June 2, Clark said.
Residents can sign up to receive updates on the legislative session through the city’s website.
