As special session deadline looms, lawmakers work late Saturday
Some of the evening's sharpest exchanges occurred during the House debate over Abbott's top special session priority -- limits to local government property tax authority, which won initial House approval late Saturday, 98-43.
Senate Bill 1, as changed by the House in committee, would require voter approval for large cities and counties that try to raise property taxes by 6 percent or more.
"It does not provide one ounce of property tax relief. It's not intended to. Anybody who suggests that is giving you bad information," said Rep.
The only way the Legislature could lower local property taxes, Bonnen added, would be for the state to pay "a greater share of the cost of education" because the majority of property taxes in
Current law allows local taxpayers to petition for a rollback election if property tax increases top 8 percent.
Annexation
Also Saturday, the House gave final approval to SB 6, requiring cities in counties with populations above 500,000 to get voter approval before annexing areas where more than 200 people live. In areas with fewer than 200 people, cities would have to get more than half of the affected property owners to sign a petition in favor of annexation.
The bill returns to the
Late Saturday, the House was expected to vote on placing limits on local regulations over trees, capping the growth of state spending except for increases due to inflation and population growth, and requiring specific patient approval for hospital do-not-resuscitate orders.
Also on the
"Half of the nation have adopted some measures and policies similar to this.
Supporters said HB 214 was needed to prevent abortion opponents from having to subsidize coverage for a procedure they disagree with, while opponents said it was another attack on abortion access, and
"No woman plans to have an abortion ... certainly in these two instances, which are the most horrific incidents that a woman has to go through," said Sen.
Teacher pay
The prospects of teachers getting a boost in pay in the near future became dimmer Saturday. The
The bill would be paid for by delaying payments to Medicaid managed care organizations in the upcoming two-year budget cycle to the 2020-21 biennium.
A provision to lower retired teachers' health insurance costs remains in SB 19 but the House would pay for it by tapping the rainy day fund, which the
"This is an effort for us to keep moving the ball forward," said Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep.
Also Saturday, the
Abbott signed the first special session bills into law Friday, setting stiffer penalties for mail-in ballot fraud and keeping five state agencies from having to shut down over the coming year.
Lawmakers also gave final approval to a bill requiring stricter reporting of abortion complications, but Abbott's office said the governor wasn't expected to sign HB 13 into law until Monday.
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