The Texas Special Session

A review of notable agenda items.

By MADISON POLSTON, HAA Staff

Please note, this article reflects the status of each bill as of press time.

The governor may call a special legislative session at any time without any warning to the Texas Legislature for a maximum of 30 days. During a special legislative session, the governor has complete control to set the subjects of legislation that may be reviewed at the legislature. No issues may be discussed during the special legislative session that were not issued on the governor’s proclamation.

On August 7 Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued his second proclamation for a special legislative session this year with a 17-item agenda. Given the lack of quorum in the Texas House of Representatives, the special session began on uncertain footing. The 17-item agenda was an expansion upon the agenda set for the first special legislative session of this year, increasing from an 11-item agenda. The additional items include the spending of federal COVID-19 relief funds, public education during a pandemic, protecting Texans from radioactive waste and changes to the legislative rules regarding quorums.

As expected, the Texas Senate has moved quickly through Governor Abbott’s agenda items. The Texas House of Representatives has been unpredictable and inefficient as Republican and Democrats remain deadlocked regarding an elections bill. Though no initiatives on Abbott’s agenda directly impact the multifamily housing industry, there are many to review that will impact HAA members. These priorities include bail reform, education strategies, social media censorship, family violence prevention, primary election modification, radioactive waste, employment and legislative quorum requirements.

Bail Reform

Championed by Senator Joan Huffman of Houston, the bail reform bill (SB 6/HB 12) is aimed at the practice of releasing violent offenders on personal bonds and increasing the resources that judges must consider prior to setting bonds. The legislation also requires that a judge impose the least restrictive bail conditions to reasonably ensure the accused’s appearance in court and to ensure the safety of the community, victims and law enforcement. To ease concerns regarding the difficulty to achieve bail for those of minority or lower social economic demographics, it is also required that all other offenses be given the least restrictive bail possible. The legislation passed through the Senate and House, and has been sent to the governor to be signed.

Education

Authored by Senator Larry Taylor of Friendswood SB 15 (Companion, HB 30 & HB 172) is primarily aimed at providing strategies for public school teachers and administrators to provide quality education to students despite the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Requirements were set regarding virtual and off-campus programs, including assessments and attendance collection. The legislation also provides solutions for those Texans aspiring to become teachers during this time, allowing for candidates to satisfy the certification requirements through remote internships. The legislation passed through both legislative bodies and is awaiting the governor’s signature.

Social Media Censorship

Legislation regarding any censorship on large social media platforms was composed by Senator Bryan Hughes of Mineola (HB 20) and finds social media platforms with the largest number of users as common carriers. This bill would apply to the users located in the State of Texas and would force social media platforms with over 50 million users to publicly disclose information regarding its content management and make available a live company agent to take user complaints through a toll-free telephone number, email address along with a quarterly publication of transparency reports. The attorney general is tasked with enforcement of this legislation and may bring legal action against these social media companies if necessary. The bill also allows for individuals to bring action to the social media platforms regarding any censorship of their content, with exceptions being made regarding violent threats of any kind. The legislation did pass through both the House and Senate, and is expected to be signed by the governor.

Family Violence Prevention

The purpose of SB 9 is to require public schools to provide instruction relating to the prevention of child abuse, family violence and dating violence. Under this bill it is required for schools to notify parents in a written description of this curriculum, providing the parents the right to review all materials that will be given during the instruction and to remove their child from these lessons. Alternatively, parents will also be empowered to file complaints if a district has not fulfilled their duty to provide these lessons. This legislation passed in both houses of the legislature and was sent to the governor’s desk to be signed.

Employment

The aim of this legislation (SB 14/HB 10) is to provide consistency across the state for employment benefit management, including leave, hiring practices and scheduling practices. If this bill were to pass, it would prevent municipalities from exceeding the benefits required to be provided to employees by federal or state statute. While this would not prevent employers from offering above minimum benefits to their employees, employers would not be compelled by municipalities or counties to provide any additional benefits beyond those required by federal and state law. This bill is a reaction to municipalities across Texas attempting to increase those expectations for employers to provide paid sick leave. Supporters claim that this bill would provide a simple set of expectations that are consistent and easy to navigate for small business owners and would make Texas a more attractive destination for large businesses, along with the employment these businesses provide to the state. Detractors are concerned with workers rights and see this as a decrease in labor rights. This may protect your business from additional requirements, while allowing you to be more competitive by offering additional benefits to your employees in comparison to competing potential employees. During regular session this legislation was revised many times and despite the many revisions, it was unable to be passed through the House. This legislation passed through the Senate during the special session, 18-11, however was sent back to the committee in the House. This topic may be addressed during the next session of the Legislature.

Legislative Quorum

The Texas Constitution requires that each chamber, Senate and House of Representatives, have at least two-thirds of its members present to do business. As most of our readers will be aware, given the media coverage, the Texas House was unable to make quorum for approximately three months due to a walk out of House Democrats. This walk out has happened throughout history, with the latest being in 2003. In response to this, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick reportedly asked Governor Abbott to add a line item regarding changing the quorum requirements. The proposed change would be an amendment to the Texas state constitution. Though the Texas Constitution has been amended 507 times, it does require a two-third majority to amend the constitution. Though the resolutions have been filed (SJR 1/HJR 9) and passed in the Senate, 19-10, it was unable to be passed through the House.

Radioactive Waste

As a company in West Texas, Andrews County, is applying through the federal government to store high-level radioactive waste, Texas Legislators are looking to pass a bill preventing highly radioactive material to be transported, stored or disposed of in Texas. A similar bill to this was brought before the legislature during the regular legislative session earlier this year but did not get voted into law, with law makers citing weak language that would not be strong enough to fully ban these highly radioactive materials. The bill presented at this second special session would not only ban the highly radioactive material, but would also bar state agencies from issuing construction, storm water or pollution permits to facilities that would store high-level radioactive waste. This bill (HB 7) has been reported favorably and passed in both legislative bodies.

Primary Elections

Following the 2020 Census, it is the charge of the Texas Legislature to design a redistricting plan. This important process takes a significant amount of discussion and time to get through. These districting plans define what areas a legislator will represent, so it is crucial to the upcoming election cycles. With this in mind, a bill (SB 13/HB 15) has been presented to delay primary elections and filing deadlines for 2022, allowing an abundant amount of time for the redistricting process. This legislation has passed in the Senate and the House, and is awaiting the governor’s signature.

This information was updated before press time. To check on the status of pending bills, you can visit the Texas Legislature online at www.capitol.texas.gov. To look up a particular bill, use the bill number included in this article. You can set alerts on specific bills to get updates on that piece of legislation. The latest legislative session began September 20.