History will define the 81st Legislative Session by the Gang of 11s ousting of Speaker Craddick a 76-74 party split five-day Voter ID chubbing the TxDOT meltdown and the relatively easy passing of a fiscally sound $182 billion budget.
THE GOOD:
Education
Much of this session focused on education with a relatively high number of significant education bills passing through the chambers. Legislators amended the Top 10 Percent" rule to ease the college admissions process for Texas flagship schools. The University of Texas fought hard for this change as roughly 80 of their 2008 freshman class were required admittance under the current rule.
A new school accountability bill amended high school graduation requirements as well as grade promotion requirements.
Texas Universities now have access to new funding and incentive pools specifically designed for Tier One Universities and geared towards emerging research schools. The State Budget has allotted $12 billion in federal economic stimulus money to help cover education and health care.
Backpacks and school supplies were added to the annual August sales tax holiday week in an effort to help all families better prepare their children for a greater education.
A new University Expansion law will recognize various Texas A&M University campuses as stand-alone institutions thereby removing barriers to the use of tuition revenue bonds for university expansions.
Business
Lawmakers raised the franchise tax exemption from $300000 to $1 million which will provide a tax break to roughly 40000 small businesses.
Texas movie industry now has the ability to create more jobs with financial incentives from the Texas movie and film office to bring productions to Texas.
Safety
Tanning beds are now prohibited from offering services to anyone under the age of 16.5.
The booster seat age limit has been raised from 4 years to 8 years for those children riding in a passenger vehicle.
The ability for human trafficked victims to sue their traffickers and seek related damages from the traffickers and other organizations involved. According to Texas Sex Trafficking and Obliteration Project the Texas border is one of the largest points of illegal entry into the U.S. because traffickers can move victims across without documents. Around 25 percent of all human trafficking victims are in Texas the majority in Houston; and Houston is a nationally known hot-spot for international trafficking. A task force is to be instilled to establish policies and procedures for preventing and prosecuting human trafficking.
A proposed smoking ban for bars and restaurants and an increased smoking age both failed to pass this session. Though Republicans were split on the issue ultimately it seemed the bill infringed too greatly on individual liberties.
Eminent Domain
New eminent domain language will be voted on as a constitutional amendment. Voters will vote on amending the state constitution to place scricter limits on when the government is able to take away private property.
THE BAD:
A bill requiring warnings in fish markets for pregnant women on the birth defects caused by fish mercury level failed to pass. Requiring notice of the long term effects and proven scientific evidence linking high mercury level with birth defects should have been a no-brainer for legislators to put into law.
A bill allowing the University of North Texas at Dallas to establish a new public law school passed but the school has a lot of work on its hands. Many feel the education level will be sub-standard compared with Texas current law schools.
Ultrasound Bill: Under this legislation doctors would have been required to offer an ultrasound to women seeking abortions. Carried by Senator Patrick the bill became watered down and eventually died.
A bill to allow concealed handguns on campus looked like it had a shot of passing but ultimately failed. The University of Texas opposed this bill.
Legislation to regulate dog and cat owners who bred large numbers of pets failed. The bill would have helped prevent poor conditions in puppy mills.
THE UGLY
TxDOT sunset created a slew of personal vendettas and inadequate resolutions. In the final days of session Senator Carona pushed hard to keep the local option gas-tax amendment in the bill and may have been the biggest cause of the bills failure. The House sent a last minute resolution to save TxDOT but a failure to account for $2 billion of transportation bonds kept the measure from passing in the Senate and the two chambers adjourned without passing the bill. Many believe Governor Perry has no choice but to call a special session to pass this legislation.
The Voter ID bill caused the largest controversy of the session resulting in a five day chub-a-thon by House Democrats. The bill calling for photo identification or two forms of non-photo ID before casting a ballot created contentious debate over race fraud and more.
The possibility of legalized casinos stirred about the usual distaste and debate among members and constituents alike though much of the dissension occurred behind closed doors and between competing lobbyists.
SBOE Chairman Don McLeroy was on a roller coaster ride this session. After contentious debate over proposed science curriculum guidelines (specifically guidelines for how teachers discuss evolution) that took place during SBOE meetings earlier this year the Senate chose not to re-confirm McLeroy as chairman of the board. Both support and opposition groups lobbied hard on the confirmation.
History will define the 81st Legislative Session by the Gang of 11s ousting of Speaker Craddick a 76-74 party split five-day Voter ID chubbing the TxDOT meltdown and the relatively easy passing of a fiscally sound $182 billion budget.
THE GOOD:
Education
Much of this session focused on education with a relatively high number of significant education bills passing through the chambers. Legislators amended the Top 10 Percent" rule to ease the college admissions process for Texas flagship schools. The University of Texas fought hard for this change as roughly 80 of their 2008 freshman class were required admittance under the current rule.
A new school accountability bill amended high school graduation requirements as well as grade promotion requirements.
Texas Universities now have access to new funding and incentive pools specifically designed for Tier One Universities and geared towards emerging research schools. The State Budget has allotted $12 billion in federal economic stimulus money to help cover education and health care.
Backpacks and school supplies were added to the annual August sales tax holiday week in an effort to help all families better prepare their children for a greater education.
A new University Expansion law will recognize various Texas A&M University campuses as stand-alone institutions thereby removing barriers to the use of tuition revenue bonds for university expansions.
Business
Lawmakers raised the franchise tax exemption from $300000 to $1 million which will provide a tax break to roughly 40000 small businesses.
Texas movie industry now has the ability to create more jobs with financial incentives from the Texas movie and film office to bring productions to Texas.
Safety
Tanning beds are now prohibited from offering services to anyone under the age of 16.5.
The booster seat age limit has been raised from 4 years to 8 years for those children riding in a passenger vehicle.
The ability for human trafficked victims to sue their traffickers and seek related damages from the traffickers and other organizations involved. According to Texas Sex Trafficking and Obliteration Project the Texas border is one of the largest points of illegal entry into the U.S. because traffickers can move victims across without documents. Around 25 percent of all human trafficking victims are in Texas the majority in Houston; and Houston is a nationally known hot-spot for international trafficking. A task force is to be instilled to establish policies and procedures for preventing and prosecuting human trafficking.
A proposed smoking ban for bars and restaurants and an increased smoking age both failed to pass this session. Though Republicans were split on the issue ultimately it seemed the bill infringed too greatly on individual liberties.
Eminent Domain
New eminent domain language will be voted on as a constitutional amendment. Voters will vote on amending the state constitution to place scricter limits on when the government is able to take away private property.
THE BAD:
A bill requiring warnings in fish markets for pregnant women on the birth defects caused by fish mercury level failed to pass. Requiring notice of the long term effects and proven scientific evidence linking high mercury level with birth defects should have been a no-brainer for legislators to put into law.
A bill allowing the University of North Texas at Dallas to establish a new public law school passed but the school has a lot of work on its hands. Many feel the education level will be sub-standard compared with Texas current law schools.
Ultrasound Bill: Under this legislation doctors would have been required to offer an ultrasound to women seeking abortions. Carried by Senator Patrick the bill became watered down and eventually died.
A bill to allow concealed handguns on campus looked like it had a shot of passing but ultimately failed. The University of Texas opposed this bill.
Legislation to regulate dog and cat owners who bred large numbers of pets failed. The bill would have helped prevent poor conditions in puppy mills.
THE UGLY
TxDOT sunset created a slew of personal vendettas and inadequate resolutions. In the final days of session Senator Carona pushed hard to keep the local option gas-tax amendment in the bill and may have been the biggest cause of the bills failure. The House sent a last minute resolution to save TxDOT but a failure to account for $2 billion of transportation bonds kept the measure from passing in the Senate and the two chambers adjourned without passing the bill. Many believe Governor Perry has no choice but to call a special session to pass this legislation.
The Voter ID bill caused the largest controversy of the session resulting in a five day chub-a-thon by House Democrats. The bill calling for photo identification or two forms of non-photo ID before casting a ballot created contentious debate over race fraud and more.
The possibility of legalized casinos stirred about the usual distaste and debate among members and constituents alike though much of the dissension occurred behind closed doors and between competing lobbyists.
SBOE Chairman Don McLeroy was on a roller coaster ride this session. After contentious debate over proposed science curriculum guidelines (specifically guidelines for how teachers discuss evolution) that took place during SBOE meetings earlier this year the Senate chose not to re-confirm McLeroy as chairman of the board. Both support and opposition groups lobbied hard on the confirmation.
