Lead Author/Sponsor:        

 

HJR 125 (First piece of legislation Rep. Ellzey passed out of the House), Helps spouse of disable homeowner: HJR 125 authorizes a proposed constitutional amendment to be submitted to the voters in the November 2, 2021 election; The ballot measure will read as follows: "The constitutional amendment to allow the surviving spouse of a person who is disabled to receive a limitation on the school district ad valorem taxes on the spouse’s residence homestead if the spouse is 55 years of age or older at the time of the person’s death." Because statute language already is in place, this resolution explicitly validates action taken by appraisal districts for the surviving spouse of a disabled person. For appraisers who did not apply the statutory change from last session, eligible surviving spouses can be given a refund; Passed unanimously by the House, April 12, 2021.

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SB 1265 / HB 2132, HD10 and DFW Metroplex Economic Development: Authorizes the National Hot Rod Association's Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex to participate in the Major Events Reimbursement Program; Passed the House 105-33, May 6, 2021.

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HB 2746, Provides that the punishment of using a laser pointer against a uniformed safety officer will increase from a Class C misdemeanor to a 3rd degree felony if using a laser pointer causes serious bodily injury; Passed the House, May 14, 2021.

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HB 2748, Making Ellis County Safer: Keeps Midlothian Police Department as authorized to participate in the DPS-certified program of enforcing commercial motor vehicle safety standards; Passed by the House on the Local & Consent Calendar, May 1, 2021.

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HB 2749, Making Ellis County Safer: Adds Ellis County sheriff or a deputy sheriff as authorized to participate in the DPS-certified program of enforcing commercial motor vehicle safety standards; Passed by the House on the Local & Consent Calendar, April 23, 2021.

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HB 3039, Authorizes the Railroad Commission oil and gas division and surface mining division to issue required notices electronically; Passed the House 141-3, April 29, 2021.

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HB 3721, Combating Human Trafficking: adding DPS contact information to required signage to combat human trafficking; Passed the House on the Local & Consent Calendar, April 16, 2021.

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HB 4584, Creates Sterrett Road Municipal Management District; Passed the House on Local & Consent Calendar, May 14, 2021.

 

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Joint Author/Sponsor:      

 

HB 33, Adds authority for awarding postsecondary course credit to students who have military experience, education, or training who are pursuing a workforce certificate; Passed unanimously by the House, April 1, 2021; House concurred in Senate Amendments, 144-1, May 12, 2021.

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HB 246, Governor priority bill: Further combating improper relationship between teacher and student; defines "sexual contact," as that term relates to the offense of improper relationship between an educator and a student, as any of the following acts, if committed with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person: any touching by an employee of a public or private primary or secondary school of the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of an applicable enrolled person or student participant; or, any touching of any part of the body of the enrolled person or student participant with the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of the employee; Passed unanimously by the House, May 5, 2021

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HB 408, Increases the access to Veterans Treatment Courts; Passed unanimously by the House on the Local & Consent Calendar, April 9, 2021

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HB 885, HD 10 and area priority: Navarro College allowed to add baccalaureate degree in Nursing to degree offerings; Passed unanimously by the House, April 13, 2021

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HB 911, Create easy online process to apply or renew driver’s license or personal id with a "VETERAN" designation; Passed the House on the Local & Consent Calendar, May 11, 2021.

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SB 1093 (HB 408 companion), Increases the access to Veterans Treatment Courts; Passed unanimously by the House on the Local & Consent Calendar, April 9, 2021.

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HB 1321, Designation of a portion of State Highway 198 in Henderson County as the Deputy Sheriff Tony Ogburn and Deputy Sheriff Paul Habelt Memorial Highway; Passed the House on the Local & Consent Calendar, May 8, 2021.

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HB 1322, Requires a state agency that files notice of a proposed rule with the secretary of state to include a plain-language summary of not more than 100 words as part of the brief explanation of the rule included in the notice; Passed unanimously by the House, April 14, 2021

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HB 1677, Creates a Texas Police Service Animals Memorial Monument; Passed unanimously by the House, April 7, 2021

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HB 1683, Creates the "Texas Energy Independence Act": Protects our energy fields and protects Texas jobs and businesses by prohibiting Texas state agencies and officials from contracting with or providing in assistance to any federal agency or official regarding the enforcement of a federal statute, order, rule, or regulation regulating oil and gas operations of the regulation is not already in existing state law. (Jake laid this bill out in committee, his first layout of any bill in his life); Will Pass the House, 110-33, May 11, 2021.

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HB 2366, Governor priority bill: Enhanced penalty using fireworks or laser pointers as a weapon against law enforcement; (Enhances the penalty for the offense to a second degree felony if the offense involves any firework that is not a consumer firework, as defined by federal law; Enhances the penalty to a first degree felony if the offense causes serious bodily injury to a person the actor knows is a law enforcement officer while the law enforcement officer is lawfully discharging an official duty or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or performance of an official duty as a law enforcement officer. If conduct constituting the offense also constitutes another offense, the actor may be prosecuted for either offense or both offenses; Enhances the penalty for the unlawful use of a laser pointer directed at a uniformed safety officer from a Class C misdemeanor to a third degree felony if the conduct causes bodily injury to the officer and to a first degree felony if the conduct causes serious bodily injury to the officer); Passed the House 119 Yeas, 12 Nays, April 30, 2021

 

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Co Author/Sponsor:

       

HB 4, Expands the availability of the use of telemedicine; Passed unanimously by the House, April 15, 2021.

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HB 5, Governor Priority and Emergency Item: Expansion of broadband access for all Texans; Passed the House unanimously, April 9, 2021.

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SB 7 / HB 6, Governor Priority and Emergency Item: Election Integrity, Making if Easier to Vote but Harder to Cheat; SB 7 passed the House, 78-64,  May 7, 2021; Signed by the Governor May 13, 2021, Effective May 13, 2021.

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HB 7, Provides relief to our Texas employers, especially small businesses, struggling to get back to business during these challenging economic times (computation of the replenishment ratio used to determine an employer's unemployment compensation contribution tax rate); Passed unanimously by the House, April 1, 2021; Sent to the Governor, May 4, 2021.

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HB 9, Governor Priority and Emergency Item: Enhances the penalty for obstructing a highway or other passageway from a Class B misdemeanor to a state jail felony for an actor who knowingly prevents the passage of an authorized emergency vehicle; Requires a court granting community supervision to a defendant convicted of such an offense punishable as a state jail felony to require as a condition of the defendant's community supervision that the defendant submit to not less than 10 days of confinement in a county jail; Passed the House, 90-55, May 6, 2021.

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HB 13, Governor Priority and Emergency Item: Creates Texas Energy Disaster Reliability Council; Passed unanimously by the House, March 31, 2021.

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HB 15, Creation of the Brain Institute of Texas; Passed the House, 107-36, April 28, 2021.

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HB 19, Civil liability of a commercial motor vehicle owner or operator; Passed the House, 81-49, April 30, 2021.

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HB 20, Governor Priority and Emergency Item: Bail and Bond Reform, The Damon Allen Act; Passed the House, 98-46, May 4, 2021.

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HB 316, Consumer protections and safety: codifies definitions of the various types of meat and non-meat products will strengthen consumers' understanding of what they are purchasing while fostering seller transparency; Passed the House, 104-39, May 1, 2021.

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HB 448, Property Rights Protections: Eminent domain information for a property owner and a landowner's bill of rights; Passed unanimously by the House, May 4, 2021

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HB 525, Designating all religious organizations and their activities as essential at all times, even during declared states of disaster; Passed by the House, 98-44, May 12, 2021.

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HB 574, Requires the counting of all valid votes and prohibits the counting of any invalid votes; Passed the House, 95-49, April 16, 2021.

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HB 764, Academic assessment of public school students; Pass the House, 136-6, May 7, 2021.

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HB 957, Protecting 2nd Amendment; A firearm suppressor manufactured in Texas, from Texas parts, and sold in Texas (“Made in Texas” suppressors), is not subject to Federal regulations; Passed the House, 95-51, May 4, 2021.

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HB 1057, Establishes November 7 as the day to recognize Victims of Communism Day; Passed the House, 142-2, April 15, 2021.

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HB 1069, More Second Amendment and Public Safety Protections: Authorizes carrying of a handgun by first responders after receiving proper training; Passed the House, 110-33, May 7, 2021.

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HB 1195, Protects small businesses and other businesses from unwarranted taxation by ensuring that businesses that sought federal aid to remain in business during the pandemic and continue to pay their employees are not subjected to a tax penalty for that effort by providing for the exclusion of qualifying PPP loans and grants from the calculation of total revenue for franchise tax purposes; Passed unanimously by the House; Sent to the Governor April 27, 2021.

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HB 1239, The Freedom to Worship Act, providing that government agency or public official may not issue an order that closes or has the effect of closing places of worship in the state or in a geographic area of the state; Passed the House, 122-22, April 9, 2021.

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HB 1280, Governor Priority and Emergency Item: Human Life Protection Act; Abolish abortion when or to the extent allowed by SCOTUS overruling or adjusting Roe and/or Casey decision(s); Passed the House, 81-61, May 6, 2021.

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HB 1500, Governor Priority: Protects the operation of firearms manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, suppliers, retailers and shooting ranges during a disaster or state of emergency, and prohibits a Governor of Texas from regulating the sale, dispensing or transportation of firearms or ammunition and local officials from restricting the use of firearms or ammunition during a disaster or state of emergency; Passed the House, 90-52, April 16, 2021.

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HB 1802, Major veterans' and Governor Perry initiative. Study on the use of alternative therapies for treating military veterans' post-traumatic stress disorder; Passed the House, 134-12, May 6, 2021.

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HB 1804, Public Official Accountability: prohibiting the use of state appropriations or public money of a political subdivision to settle or pay a sexual harassment claim made against certain public officers and employees; Passed the House, 141-2, April 28, 2021.

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HB 1900, Governor Priority and Emergency Item: Cracking Down on Defunding the Police; Penalizes local government who defend the police; Authorizes the criminal justice division of the governor's office to identify a municipality that reduces appropriations to its police department year-over-year as a defunding municipality and establishing restrictions on these municipalities' powers with regard to annexation, taxation, and charges from a municipality-owned utility, as applicable, until the reductions are reversed, adjusted for inflation; Passed the House, 90-49, May 7, 2021.

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HB 2308, comprehensive DFPS child custody and regulation adjustments; Passed unanimously by the House, May 5, 2021.

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HB 2497, Creates 1836 Project as an advisory committee to the TEA to promote patriotic education and increase awareness of the Texas values that continue to stimulate boundless prosperity across Texas; Passed by the House, 124-19, May 5, 2021.

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HB 2554, Vocational education program improved access and eligibility for high school students whose needs are better served by focused vocational education and training; Passed the House, May 14, 2021. 

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HB 2557, Creates the school security volunteer program in smaller counties; Passed the House, 119-22, April 28, 2021.

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HB 2586, Requires the Public Utility Commission to have an independent annual audit of ERCOT; Passed unanimously by the House, April 9, 2021.

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HB 2622, Governor Priority: "2nd Amendment Sanctuary State"; Prohibits state of Texas from enforcement of federal statutes, laws, rules, regulations, and executive orders of firearm and firearm accessory. Protects gun owners in Texas from any new or additional federal firearm regulations on or after January 19, 2021; Passed the House, 83-45, April 30, 2021.

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HB 2633, Combating Human Trafficking by supporting human trafficking victims and the establishment of the trafficked persons grant program; Passed the House, 114-27, May 7, 2021.

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HB 2675, Authorizes expedited license to carry a handgun for a person who is at increased risk of becoming a victim of violence; Passed the House, May 14, 2021.

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HB 3833, establish increased consistency in state law with respect to rollback taxes by mirroring the changes made last session for land appraised as recreational, park, or scenic land; public access airport property; restricted-use timber land; decrease from five to three the number of years used in calculating the rollback taxes due as a result of a change in the use of land appraised as recreational, park, or scenic land; public access airport property; or restricted-use timber land; Decreases from seven percent to five percent the annual rate at which interest is also due following such a change; Passed the House, 136-2, May 8, 2021.

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HB 3979, Critical Race Theory bill; Provides guidance of social studies curriculum in Texas history, United States history, world history, government, civics, social studies, or similar subject areas; Passed in the House, 79-65, May 11, 2021.

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SB 7, Governor Priority and Emergency Item: Election Integrity; making it easier to vote but harder to cheat; An emergency item of Governor Abbott  and a primary objective this session has been to further enhance voter integrity in this great state; Strengthens transparency throughout the process and close any potential loopholes for fraud; Passed the House, 78-64, May 1, 2021.

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SB 8 / HB 1515, Heartbeat Bill; Prohibit abortions from being performed or induced after detection of a fetal heartbeat; SB 8 Passed the House, 83-64, May 6, 2021.

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SB 763 / HB 2637 require the Texas Transportation Commission to appoint an urban air mobility advisory committee to assess current state law and any potential changes to state law that are needed to facilitate the development of urban air mobility operations and infrastructure in Texas.  to make recommendations on any changes to state law that are needed to facilitate the development of urban air mobility operations and infrastructure. The advisory committee is abolished and the bill's provisions expire January 1, 2023; Passed by the House on the Local & Consent Calendar, May 11, 2021.

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SB 1776 / HB 1776, Honoring U.S. Founding Principles: Every ISD and open-enrollment charter school must encourage the posting of U.S. founding documents in school buildings, such as the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Federalist Papers, and writings from the founding fathers of the U.S.; Each ISD and open-enrollment charter school that offers a high school program shall provide an elective course on the founding principles of the United States, the course must focus on the principles underlying the United States form of government, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the writings of the Founding Fathers of the United States; SB 1776 will pass the House, 137-5, 5-12-2021.