For a slide show featuring some of the more bills so far, click here:
- Texas legislators introduced some odd bills.
For recent articles on a handful:
- Houston lawmaker's bill threatens Texas' craft beer industry.
The microbrew business has boomed in the past couple years thanks to reforms passed during the 2013 Legislative Session. But a bill (HB 3389) filed by Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) could unravel some of that progress.
The Democrat has brought forth legislation that would reduce the amount of beer that artisanal brewers could sell directly to consumers. The number of barrels allowed with a self-distribution license would plummet from 40,000 a year to 5,000.
- Texas lawmakers propose bills to force changes to blue laws.
Texas lawmakers have proposed several bills aimed at what remains of the state’s old-fashioned blue laws.
The laws limited what goods could be bought or sold on Sundays, namely liquor and cars. The state does not allow vehicles to be sold on consecutive Saturdays and Sundays. Sen. Konni Burton (R-Colleyville) has filed Senate Bill 441 to allow full weekend of car sales. Many car dealers, however, don’t want to see the law go. Local dealers told the Star-Telegram they don’t want to be open an extra day, and the effect on sales would be negligible.
- Competing bills offer tax credits for waterless fracking, infrastructure support in Texas.
Lawmakers rolled bills this week to encourage the conservation of water in the use of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, to drill for oil and gas in shale rock formations.
One bill, filed by Rep. Tracy King, D-Batesville, would give tax credits to companies that use alternative fluids for fracking operations in the Eagle Ford and Barnett shale. King told the House Ways and Means Committee the tax credit would benefit Texas, particularly in those areas where drought conditions are the most severe.
- Senate Panel Advances Sanctuary Cities Bill.
A bill banning so-called “sanctuary cities” in Texas – the common term for local entities that do not enforce immigration laws — advanced out of a Senate subcommittee on Monday.
Senate Bill 185 by state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, would cut off state funding for local governments or governmental entities that adopt policies that forbid peace officers from inquiring into the immigration status of a person detained or arrested.|
Some Texas cities have taken the position that such enforcement is the federal government's job, not theirs — which Perry patently disagrees with. “Rule of law is important and we must ensure that local governments do not pick and choose the laws that they choose to enforce,” Perry told the subcommittee.
- "Bathroom Bills" Pit Transgender Texans Against GOP.
Two bills filed this year by state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, would make it a crime to enter a public restroom or locker room not designated for a person’s biological sex at birth. And two more filed by state Rep. Gilbert Peña, R-Pasadena, would permit a bystander to sue a transgender person who used a prohibited bathroom for up to $2,000, in addition to compensation for “mental anguish.” The legislation, Ó Raghallaigh says, would effectively put a bounty on his head for trying to use the bathroom that matches his gender identity.
Social conservatives say the bills, which have been referred to the House State Affairs Committee, are designed to protect people from assault in public restrooms.
