Governor Abbott’s Bicentennial Blueprint Legislation

Early Education

• All of Governor Abbott’s early education proposals have been signed into law as of 5/28.

• Reading to Learn Academies (SB 925-Kolkhorst & Aycock) was signed into law on 5/21.
• High Quality Pre-K (HB 4-Huberty & Campbell) was signed into law on 5/28.
• Reading Excellence Teams (SB 935-Kolkhorst & Deshotel), passed both chambers and was signed into law on 5/28.
• Math Academies (SB 934-Kolkhorst & Farney) was signed into law on 5/28.
• Reading to Learn Academies (SB 972-Kolkhorst) was signed into law on 5/28.
• Pre-K Evaluations and Pre-K Professional Development were included in HB 4, which was signed into law on 5/28.

Higher Education – Research Initiative

• The Governor’s University Research Initiative has $40 million appropriated in HB 1.
• Enacting language eliminating the Emerging Technology Fund and establishing the Governor’s University Research Initiative is included in SB 632-Fraser, HB 7-Darby and HB 26-Chen Button, all of which are at the Governor’s desk.

Transportation

• SJR 5-Nichols & Pickett passed both chambers and will be enacted pending voter approval.
• Supporting bills HB 20-Simmons and HB 1612-Pickett were signed into law on 6/2.
• HB 1187-Wray establishing the Chris Kyle Memorial Highway was signed into law on 6/2.

Border Security

• HB 11-Bonnen & Birdwell, a comprehensive border security bill implementing the Governor’s Blueprint border security plan, is at the Governor’s desk.
• HB 10-S. Thompson, which implements the Governor’s Blueprint proposal to provide comprehensive care to child sex trafficking victims, is at the Governor’s desk.
• HB 12-Longoria, which implements the Governor’s Blueprint proposal to establish a Border Prosecution Unit to assist border county DAs in prosecuting border crime, is at the Governor’s desk.
• SB 1734-Uresti, which implements the Governor’s Blueprint proposal to impede illegal border crossings, improve safety for law enforcement officers, and facilitate apprehension of drug and human traffickers by eradicating invasive and non-native Carrizo cane along the Rio Grande River, is at the Governor’s desk.

Ethics Reform

HB 3736-Davis, which is at the Governor’s desk, includes the following items from the Governor’s Blueprint ethics reform proposals:

• Requires any governing officer or member of a state agency’s governing board to disclose in writing any contract, subcontract or paid relationship with a public entity.
• Requires any governing officer or member of a state agency’s governor board to refrain from participating in the decision of any matter for which a conflict of interest exists.

• Makes failure to comply with the above provisions a Class B misdemeanor.

• Requires personal financial statements to include the amount, issuer’s name, and date of any bond issue for which an individual acts as bond counsel, including the amount of fees paid to the individual and/or the individual’s firm.

Additional Ethics Reform Legislation At The Governor’s Desk:

• HB 1295-Capriglione – Increases disclosure requirements for state contracts with business entities and institutions of higher education. The bill also requires the results of state funded research to be made public.
• HB 3511-Davis – Adds new reporting requirements for personal financial statements and clarifies the procedures by which statements may be filed electronically.
• HB 3517-Davis – Closes a loophole that allows certain independent contractors to avoid registering as lobbyists and reporting expenditures while lobbying for lucrative state contracts. Lobbyist registration and reporting requirements will be expanded to apply to any independent contractor who is compensated by a vendor to influence a state agency’s contracting decision.
• HB 3683-Geren – Requires personal financial statements to be filed electronically with the Texas Ethics Commission.
• HB 23-Davis – Closes loopholes and adds clarity to the laws governing conflicts of interest between vendors and local governmental entities, and creates offenses and provides penalties for individuals who knowingly fail to disclose certain relationships.

Additional Blueprint Legislation At The Governor’s Desk                

Working Texans:                

• HB 6-Otto – Prohibit the use of statutorily-dedicated accounts for budget certification.
• HB 7-Darby – Review the taxes and fees associated with statutorily-dedicated accounts to ensure they are set at appropriate levels.        
• HB 1378-Flynn – Require all local taxing entities to post financial statements and local government contracts online.
• SB 807-Campbell – Facilitate employment of skilled veterans by waiving examination and fee requirements for veterans obtaining licenses issued by state agencies.
• SB 1049-Campbell – To increase entrepreneurship among veterans, exempt newly-created, veteran-owned businesses from the franchise tax for the first five years in operation.
• SB 1356-Campbell – Implement strategic planning to prevent base closures in Texas during the next phase of the BRAC process.                
• HB 2717-Goldman – Repeal occupational license requirement for hair braiders.                

We The People:

• HB 910-Phillips – Allow CHL holders to openly carry handguns.
• SB 11-Birdwell – Allow CHL holders to carry weapons on campus at institutions of higher education, subject to appropriate limits.
• SB 1213-Kolkhorst – Prohibit the use of cross-referencing techniques to identify individuals whose data is used as a larger set of information in an online database.

Securing Texans:

• HB 1 – Provide justice for victims of sexual assault and arrest sexual assault offenders by funding crime lab testing of sexual assault evidence, funded $5 million.
• HB 1 – Increase appropriations to OAG to increase the number of newly-certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) who are trained each year, funded $500,000.                
• HB 3327-Alvarado – To provide more protection for victims of domestic abuse, create Domestic Violence High Risk Teams, which unite law enforcement, medical professionals and victim advocates at the local level to review cases of domestic violence and identify, monitor and contain the most dangerous perpetrators, signed into law.        
• SB 1135-Garcia – Create civil liability for perpetrators of “revenge porn” who post illicit images online without consent.                
• HB 1 – Directly challenge the threat posed by home-grown gangs by scaling the successful Texas Anti-Gang Task Force in Houston and replicating it in other Texas cities, funded $10.2 million.
• SB 374-Schwetner – Enforce current law by requiring all state agencies to make use of E-Verify.        
• SB 1358-Campbell – Establish the Texas Military Preparedness Commission as a separate office within the Office of the Governor to execute a strategic plan to defend Texas-based facilities in advance of the next BRAC round.                        

Educating Texans:

• HB 2804-Aycock – Establish the A through F school district rating system at the campus level.
• HB 1 – Support UTeach and similar programs that endeavor to recruit and prepare STEM teachers, funded $2.6 million.        
• HB 1583-Clardy – Establish block scheduling for two-year associate degree programs.        
• HB 2628-Clardy – Allow core freshman- and sophomore-level courses from community colleges and junior colleges to be more broadly transferable to other higher education institutions.        
• HB 1992-Zerwas – Adopt a statewide AP credit-by-exam policy requiring public higher education institutions to award college credit to high school students that achieve scores of 3 or higher on AP exams.        

Healthy Texans:

• HB 1 – Increase funding for Texas women’s health programs to expand the types of services covered for eligible women enrolled in the program, funded $50 million.        
• SB 239-Schwertner – Extend loan forgiveness programs to mental health professionals who practice in underserved areas.
• SB 55-Nelson & HB 19-King – Offer designated mental and behavioral health screening days for veterans and service members near military installations.        
• HB 1 – In order to recruit and retain personal attendants, and provide home- and community-based living options, increase pay for personal attendants, funded $45.5 million.        
• HB 2718-Parker – Transform social service delivery and provide more comprehensive support by allowing persons on public assistance to opt-in to being contacted by charitable organizations.        
• HB 966-Crownover – Allow eligible participants of the group benefit program under the Texas Employees Group Benefits Act to enroll in health savings accounts (HSAs).        
• HB 1878-Laubenberg – Reimburses Medicaid providers for school-based telemedicine.        
• SB 18-Nelson – Increase the number of residency positions available in Texas for medical school graduates.