The 89th Texas legislative session has passed the 60-day mark, halting bill filing after the March 14 deadline. Houston-area lawmakers have worked on hundreds of the nearly 9,000 bills filed with priorities including toll road funding, flood control and student health.
The session is scheduled to end June 2, barring no special sessions are called. Check out some of the bills filed by Houston-area lawmakers this legislative session.
1. Bill seeks to distribute toll funds among county precincts
Senate Bill 2722 aims to change the way collected toll funds are distributed in counties with populations of 4 million or more. The bill, filed by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, restricts the use of revenue collected for toll roads to pay off debt-related to operating, expanding, maintaining and administering services, according to draft legislation.
According to draft legislation, the remaining funding should be allocated:
30% for the municipality that contains more than 40% of the toll road miles to reimburse the cost for providing law enforcement and emergency services
65% for use on county roads spread among commissioner precincts based on number of roads managed
5% for other county departments or projects with countywide impact including road, street, highway and related-facilities projects
2. New bills target corporate, investment firm ownership of single-family homes
Rep. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, filed House Bills 2334 and 2910 in February, which would prohibit private investment firms from owning single-family homes and corporations from owning more than 10 single-family homes for rental purposes. Both bills are set to go before the Trade, Workforce & Economic Development house committee in late March, with a companion bill filed in the Senate under SB 443.
3. New bill seeks expanded Harris County Flood Control District boundaries
House Bill 2068 would allow counties adjacent to Harris County to request to join the Harris County Flood Control District, according to filings.
The bill, filed by Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston, was referred to the Natural Resources committee on March 14, according to Texas Legislature Online. If approved by lawmakers, the bill would also remove Harris County Commissioners Court as HCFCD’s governing body.
Under the bill, a HCFCD board with five governor-appointed, Texas Senate-approved members would be created, according to filings. The board would be responsible for considering the requests to join HCFCD from commissioners courts in nearby counties, but the request must ultimately be approved through an election.
HB 2068 was originally filed Jan. 24.
4. Lawmaker proposes ban on ultraprocessed food in schools
Rep. Will Metcalf put forth a bill which would ban “ultraprocessed foods” from being served or sold in public schools. House Bill 3292 seeks to ban ingredients such as brominated vegetable oil, red 40 and yellow 5; and is currently set to go before the house Public Education committee.
5. Bill banning e-cigarette stores near schools sent to committee
County and city governments would be able to ban e-cigarette stores from operating within 300 feet of a public or private school campus through House Bill 1183, which was referred to Intergovernmental Affairs on March 7, according to Texas Legislature Online. The bill was filed by Rep. Charles Cunningham, R-Humble, on Nov. 12.
