Government Affairs Update Jan 2021

• Each Senator will set policies for his or her office space.
• Members of the public will be required to wear a mask and have a wristband demonstrating a negative COVID-19 test that day to enter the Senate gallery or a committee hearing room. Both areas will have reduced seating capacity. 
• Perhaps the most significant rule: The Senate became one seat less Republican in the November election, so they changed the number of votes needed to bring legislation to the Senate floor from 19 to 18 votes, or a five-ninths supermajority of the Senate. Traditionally, the rule was 21 votes.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick released committee assignments, with few changes. The Senate Business and Commerce Committee is where most bills of interest to TACCA are heard.

Senate Committee on Business & Commerce
Kelly Hancock, Chair 
Robert Nichols, Vice Chair
Donna Campbell
Brandon Creighton 
Nathan Johnson - new
José Menéndez 
Angela Paxton 
Charles Schwertner 
John Whitmire  

The House will require Members to wear face masks while in the House chamber and during committee hearings. The face mask requirement also applies to House staff, members of the public in the House gallery, and those attending committee hearings. Unlike the Senate, COVID-19 testing will not be required of members, staff or the public to access the chamber, gallery or committee hearings.

• Committee hearings and testimony will continue to take place in person, but the committee chair may allow invited testimony to take place remotely. A committee chair may also utilize an online portal for the submission of written testimony. 
• House members will be allowed to vote traditionally, from their desk on the House floor, or use a secure, portable device in a room or hallway adjacent to the floor or gallery to cast votes.
• Each member will set policies for his or her office space.

The new Speaker of the House has not made committee appointments; Friday, January 22 was the deadline for House members to send in their committee preferences. Assignments could be announced as early as January 29 or as late as the end of February. The House and Senate are adjourned until the afternoon of Tuesday, January 26th. The latest word is that they will reconvene Tuesday-Wednesday and then adjourn until the following Tuesday. So far, most staff seem to be working from home, or meeting only by Zoom even if they are in their offices. At least one House member tested positive last Thursday, after being on the floor Tuesday and Wednesday. As a result, several Representatives seated near him are in quarantine.

Budget Update:

As of January 15, when the fourth quarter 2020 tax receipts were due, we are facing a $1 Billion revenue shortfall compared to the current budget. Given the pandemic surge, it is likely that first quarter 2021 tax numbers will be lower than anticipated, so the $1 Billion may go up when the Comptroller revises his estimate in mid-April.

And even though we are in a pandemic, people are still moving to Texas, and more people are probably moving onto the Medicaid rolls through employment loss, so education and state-paid healthcare costs, the two biggest pieces of the budget pie, are getting bigger. Without raising more revenue, they will have to make cuts.

In an interview with the Texas Tribune the day before the session opened, new Speaker Dade Phelan would not commit to maintaining the increases to public education passed last session. However, in House and Senate base budget bills released this week, Public Education is the only category not cut.
Remember that the Rainy Day Fund probably has over $12 Billion, and even though it will grow more slowly now, they could easily take the $1+Billion shortfall out and still have a robust account.

Key Bills TACCA is Tracking:

HB 334 amends Education Code Section 48.106:
(c) At least 90 [55] percent of the funds allocated under this section must be used in providing career and technology education programs in grades 7 through 12.

HB 636 relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas State Board of Plumbing 
Examiners.

HB 738 relating to the residential building codes of municipalities.
(c)  Subject to Subsection (e), a [A] municipality may establish procedures:                 
(1)  to adopt local amendments to the International Residential Code that may add, modify, or remove requirements set by the code; and
(2)  for the administration and enforcement of the International Residential Code.
(d)  A municipality may review and consider amendments made by the International Code Council to the International Residential Code after May 1, 2012 [2001].

The bill adds that the municipality may only adopt changes under subsection (c) after a public hearing and by adopting the changes in an ordinance.

HB 871 by Chair Morrison – TACCA’s bill, eliminating the municipal fees charged to certain air conditioning and refrigeration contractors. This is essentially the same as HB 4249, our bill from last session by Rep. Kuempel.

HB 1146 by Rep. Gates amends Section 21.403(b), Education Code:
(b) For each year of work experience required for certification in a career or technological field, up to a maximum of 10 [two] years, [a] certified career or technology education teachers and persons issued a school district teaching permit under Section 21.055(d-1) are [teacher is] entitled to salary step credit as if the work experience were teaching experience.

This last bill is exciting because TACCA met with Rep. Gates' legislative director over the summer to discuss the difficulty of attracting new CTE teachers because of the pay cut most of them take when they leave their industry.

Other bills TACCA is tracking include the usual noise regulations, cell phone prohibitions, franchise tax changes, and minimum wage requirements.

Please contact the TACCA office if you have any questions about the Legislative session.