Sen. Charles Schwertner
Rainy Day Fund withdrawal
Schwertner sits on the Senate and House budget conference committee, which reached a consensus to pull $1 billion from the Rainy Day Fund for one-time expenses.
R-Georgetown
Elected: 2012
[email protected]
Sen. Kirk Watson
Ride-hailing regulations
Watson voted against HB 100, which creates statewide regulations for ride-hailing companies and removes local rules in cities such as Austin. The bill has been sent to the governor.
D-Austin
Elected: 2006
[email protected]
Rep. Dawnna Dukes
Texting-while-driving ban
Dukes voted to concur with Senate changes to HB 62, which would implement a statewide texting-while-driving ban. This passes the bill, sending it to the governor’s desk.
D-Austin
Elected: 1994
[email protected]
Rep. Paul Workman
A-F accountability changes
Workman was part of a unanimous vote to pass HB 22 out of the House. The bill would have made changes to the A-F school accountability system but was left pending in the Senate.
R-Austin
Elected: 2010
[email protected]
Rep. Donna Howard
‘Sanctuary city’ bill
Howard was one of 52 representatives to vote against Senate Bill 4, the so-called “sanctuary city” bill that passed out of the House. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law May 7.
D-Austin
Elected: 2006
[email protected]
Rep. Gina Hinojosa
Assistance for disabled veterans
Hinojosa’s HB 217, which would allow disabled veterans to defer payment of property taxes or abate a sale to foreclose a tax lien, was sent to the governor.
D-Austin
Elected: 2016
[email protected]
Rep. Celia Israel
Bathroom bill
Israel voted against SB 2078, which contains an amendment to regulate the bathroom usage of transgender public school students. The House approved the bill May 21.
D-Austin
Elected: 2013
[email protected]
Rep. Tony Dale
Inappropriate relationship penalties
Dale voted in favor of SB 7, which would add penalties for the offense of inappropriate teacher-student relationships. The bill has been sent to the governor.
R-Cedar Park
Elected: 2012
[email protected]
3 things to know about the joint House and Senate budget plans
1. The House and Senate decided to delay major cuts to higher education by devoting further study to the issue of special items. The Senate’s initial proposal would have cut them altogether, but the compromise will examine them in the interim before taking concrete action.
2. The House and Senate went with the status quo for border security, despite federal claims to bolster funding. The conference committee draft funds border security at $800 million, the same as in the Senate’s initial draft and previous year’s budgets.
3. The combined budget would take $1 billion from the state’s savings account, the Rainy Day Fund. It would also use approximately $2 billion from a financial maneuver that would delay state funding for transportation projects. This money was earmarked in 2015.
