SD 11 SREC: District 129 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Last week's newsletter focused on the conclusion of the legislative session and on the several bills I worked on and passed on behalf of District 129. This week's newsletter will discuss some of the "big picture" legislation that was passed to tackle the state's many priorities.

This will be the last weekly newsletter of the 86th Texas Legislature. Moving forward, I'll be sending you updates as often as the news warrants. I hope you have found the information in these newsletters useful and informative, and I hope you will continue to share your opinions with me.

Sincerely,

Dennis Paul

Property Tax Reform

House Bill 3 provides almost $5 billion in property tax relief. It increases the state's share of education funding in order to buy down school district property taxes, mandates ongoing reductions in school property tax rates, and requires districts to conduct efficiency audits to ensure taxpayer dollars are being used responsibly.

Senate Bill 2 reforms the property tax system to make it more transparent. It provides real-time tax information to inform property owners who is proposing to raise their rates, by how much, and when and where they can go to protest. Additionally, it lowers the voter approval rate to 3.5% for most taxing units, triggering an automatic election for voters to approve the increase when it exceeds the voter approval rate.

Flood Mitigation

Senate Bills 7, 8, and House Joint Resolution 4, with voter approval in November 2019, will dramatically change how the state funds, plans, and mitigates for future flood events across Texas. These three pieces of legislation will create the Flood Infrastructure Fund and State Flood Plan.

The Texas Flood Infrastructure Fund will fund regional flood planning and flood mitigation projects. This will be funded by an appropriation of $840 million dollars from the Economic Stabilization Fund, or "Rainy Day Fund." Of the $840 Million appropriated, $47 million is specifically directed towards updating flood risk maps. The remaining $793 million will be used as grant funding for flood mitigation projects across the state.

Further, this legislation will direct to Texas Water Development Board to create a coordinated and collaborative state flood plan. This plan will be based on regional flood plans that will bring all stakeholders together to plan for and mitigate future flood events.

Public Education

House Bill 3 is transformational school finance reform. It devotes $4.5 billion to education reforms, $2 billion for dynamic teacher pay raises, and will reduce recapture by $3.6 billion.

House Bill 3906 reduces testing stress on teachers and students by allowing STAAR and end-of-course assessments to be administered in multiple parts over more than one day. Additionally, this bill limits the number of multiple choice questions that can be included on STAAR tests, eliminates the stand-alone writing tests in grades 4 and 7, requires the state to develop a plan to transition to electronic assessments, and establishes a pilot program to explore the possibility of replacing the STAAR with a different test.

Senate Bill 11 will "harden" schools to make them safer, adding security personnel, making building security upgrades, providing technology and more.

Emergency Preparedness and Hurricane Harvey Relief

Senate Bill 500 dedicates over $2 billion to the Governor's Office for disaster grants and hurricane Harvey recovery.

House Bill 5 creates a catastrophic debris management plan for local communities to expedite debris removal following a disaster.

House Bill 6 creates a "Disaster Recovery Task Force" to help communities with specialized assistance when a disaster strikes until long-term recovery.

House Bill 7 compiles disaster regulatory waivers needed during a disaster to have them ready to go (expedites response/recovery).

House Bill 2305 enhances emergency management training for personnel at the state and local level.

House Bill 2320 improves public infrastructure and the hardening of utilities and facilities.

House Bill 2325 improves communication, disaster technology and public information distributed during a disaster.

House Bill 2340 strengthens data sharing and technology used in emergency management operations.

Human Trafficking and Border Security

House Bill 1 maintains the levels of funding for border security over the previous biennium.

House Bill 1 dedicates $5 million to Texas Parks and Wildlife for equipment to improve game wardens' communication statewide, $7.5 million to DPS for Operation Draw Bridge Cameras and 4 analysts for the Transnational Intelligence Center and $1.7 million in grants for border prosecution, border zone fire departments and economic development along the border.

Senate Bill 20 codifies recommendations from the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force report issued in December 2018. These recommendations crack down on illicit massage businesses, enhance investigative and prosecutorial tools and protect trafficking victims.

House Bill 1 dedicates $27.8 million for human and child sex trafficking investigative squads, anti-gang squads and regional human trafficking investigative squads at DPS.

House Bill 1 funds $3.4 million for the expansion of the Human Trafficking Prevention section at the Office of the Attorney General.

House Bill 1 devotes $1.5 million for the creation of a Human Trafficking Team and to increase inspections of establishments with a high risk for human trafficking at the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Retired Teachers

Senate Bill 500 dedicates $589 million to TRS to provide retired teachers with a $2,000 13th check on average.

Senate Bill 500 also dedicates $524 million to make TRS actuarially sound, which needed to happen before the state can provide a cost of living adjustment down the line.

Senate Bill 500 also dedicates $230.8 million to cover shortfalls at TRS and ensure retired teachers' healthcare premiums do not increase.

Sanctity of Life

House Bill 16, the Infant Born Alive Protection Act, protects babies who survive abortions by requiring doctors to provide the highest standard of medical care possible in an attempt to save the life of the baby.

Senate Bill 22 prevents local governments from contracting or conducting any transaction of goods or services with abortion providers and their affiliates, ensuring taxpayer dollars are never used to subsidize the abortion industry.

House Bill 1 maintains the state's affiliate ban, which prohibits all abortion providers from receiving state funds, participating in the state's family planning and health care programs, and providing any sort of family planning or human sexuality instruction with public dollars.

House Bill 1 dedicates almost $60 million to crisis pregnancy centers and Alternatives to Abortion, permits an additional $20 million in funding if demand warrants, and funds abstinence sexual education.

House Bill 2271 allows the Attorney General to use up to 2 percent of proceeds from Choose Life license plates for advertising, which would sell more license plates and yield more money for the Choose Life grant program.

Senate Bill 24, the "Woman's Right to Know" act, requires a physician to hand deliver informational materials to mothers seeking an abortion when the initial consultation is conducted over the phone, ensuring they are provided accurate information and made aware of resources, risks

and alternatives.

House Bill 1504 requires physicians to make a reasonable effort to transfer patients who are on life support and subject to the "10 day rule" to other physicians who are willing to provide life-extending treatment, should the families of the patient choose.

Second Amendment Rights

House Bill 121 protects law-abiding hand gun license holders from being penalized for accidentally carrying their handgun into an establishment where firearms are prohibited.

House Bill 302 prohibits "no-firearms" clauses in residential leases, restores the rights of tenants to possess lawfully-owned firearms and ammunition in the homes or spaces under their control, and protects their ability to freely transport firearms between a vehicle, home or office without violating firearm trespass laws.

House Bill 1177 allows Texans without an LTC to lawfully carry a handgun while evacuating from and returning to a declared disaster area, giving them the ability to protect their families during emergencies and put a stop to looters who steal others' firearms when evacuations occur.

House Bill 2137 honors the sacrifice and expertise of retired peace officers with a proven handgun proficiency by exempting them from the classroom instruction component that is usually required to obtain a license to carry.

House Bill 1791 closes loopholes in the state's "wrongful exclusion" law, which local governments and state agencies frequently use as a way to restrict licensed gun owners from carrying in government buildings.

House Bill 2363 makes it easier for Texas foster parents to readily access a weapon by allowing them to store firearms and ammunition in the same locked location rather than in two different locked locations, as current law requires.

House Bill 3231 ensures a more consistent, uniform approach to enforcing firearms and ammunition ordinances statewide by incentivizing cities and counties to comply with state law instead of adopting patchwork regulations that are intended to restrict the 2nd Amendment rights of Texans.

Senate Bill 535 removes churches, synagogues and other places of worship from the list of locations where carrying a firearm is statutorily prohibited, restoring their right as private property owners to decide whether licensed carry is permitted on their premises.

Senate Bill 741 protects lawful gun owners who live in neighborhoods with homeowners associations by prohibiting HOAs from regulating or restricting the possession, transportation or storage of firearms in homes.

Senate Bill 772 ensures that business owners who choose not to post signs forbidding handguns on their premises do not have greater liability than businesses that do, allowing them to base that decision solely on their preference, rather than the fear of lawsuits and added liability.