88th Legislature
January 10, 2023 – May 29, 2023
Today marks the 87th day of the 88th regular session. That leaves 61 days to consider 7,857 bills between the House and Senate. Last month I highlighted legislative priorities for Speaker Phelan, Lt. Gov Patrick, and Gov. Abbott. Their priorities will play a key role on what bills will be voted on. All bills must go through the process to be passed into law. The final bills must be heard in committee, be voted out of committee, go to the calendars committee, be voted out of the calendars committee, and finally be sent to the floor to be debated and (possibly) passed and then must go through the same process in the Senate. This means thousands of bills will die. Thousands of our ideas may never see the light of day. What can you do? Let your voice be heard in committee hearings (link below). Join a group at the Capital and let your voice be heard. Email or call your representative (use “Who Represents Me†if you’re not sure) and let your voice be heard!
On March 21st supports gathered at the Capital to show support to Abolish Abortion in Texas and visit legislators to ask them to sign on to HB 2709 Slaton and SB 2198 Hall. These two bills are highlighted below in “Bills of the Weekâ€.
Below are other bills that have support from the Republican Party of Texas:
- HB 900 Patterson- which prohibits sexually explicit books in public schools
- HB 175 Shaefer – allows for those who receive deferred adjudication community supervision for unlawful carrying a handgun to have their records expunged
- HB 636 Patterson – allows a licensed election judges to carry a handgun in a polling place
- SB 2 Hughes | Bettencourt | Springer – Protect Our Elections priority bill and restores the penalty for voter fraud from a misdemeanor to a felony
Please use the link “Texas Legislature Online (TLO)†to learn more about these bills.
In other news the $302.6 billion spending plan received final approval from the Texas House panel that includes $16.5 billion in property tax cuts, boarder security and a $3.5 billion cost-of-living adjustment for retired teachers – their first in 20 years.
Thank you,
Matthew Okerson
3rd VICE PRESIDENT CAMPAIGN & LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES
legislativeaction@newbraunfelsconservatives.com