The overview
Local state reps Cecil Bell Jr., Steve Toth and Will Metcalf have filed 71 bills regarding topics such as daylight savings time, cell phone use in schools and election laws.
Meanwhile, State Sen. Brandon Creighton filed five bills regarding topics such as property tax, and State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst filed 19 bills related to issues such as health care and education.
A closer look
Through Dec. 3, Metcalf filed seven bills, including:
- House Bill 1393: This bill would have Texas observe daylight savings time year-round.
- House Bill 1428: This bill seeks to repeal a section of the Texas Government Code that gives Montgomery County’s statutory probate courts jurisdiction over eminent domain.
- House Bill 668: This bill would change the date a handgun license needs to be renewed from the date the license expires to on or before the first anniversary of the date the license expires.
- House Bill 1258: If passed, this bill would require school district boards or the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school to adopt a policy prohibiting students from possessing a cell phone while on school property during the school day.
- House Bill 962: Require health care providers to report each potential vaccine-related injury of a patient to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting Systems.
- House Bill 995: This bill would have all school board election candidates change from the current nonpartisan structure to partisan, which means candidates would have to register with a political party to run for school board positions.
- Senate Bill 462: If passed, this bill would have local workforce development boards that keep a waiting list for childcare services prioritize the children of childcare workers who are eligible for those services.
- Senate Bill 521: This bill seeks to have higher education institutions also consider an applicant’s performance on a standardized test when it comes to admission decisions.
- Senate Bill 317: This bill would require the removal and alteration of historical monuments and markers to go before a vote either by a governing body or a general election for approval.
- Senate Bill 320: This bill would reduce the limit a home’s appraised value can be increased year over year from 10% to 5% of the previous year’s value.
Legislators will begin the process of moving through bills filed across the state starting Jan. 14. State senators and representatives can file additional bills until March 14, at which point any new bills must be approved before being submitted to the Legislature. To search through the bills that have been filed, visit https://capitol.texas.gov/search/billsearch.aspx.
