SENATE FLOOR ACTION

Thursday

May 25, 2023

The Senate adopted the following resolutions:

Recognizing Kelly de Schaun for her service as CEO of the Galveston Park Board.

In memory of William Kevin Gallagher.

Recognizing Council for Life for its achievements.

Recognizing the participants of the Rio Grande Valley Legislative Internship Program for their work in the Texas Legislature.

Recognizing the Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson for her career in public service.

The Senate concurred in House amendments to the following:

Relating to the powers and duties of the Health and Human Services Commission and the transfer to the commission of certain powers and duties from the Department of Family and Protective Services.

Relating to support for nursing-related postsecondary education, including scholarships to nursing students, loan repayment assistance to nurses and nursing faculty, and grants to nursing education programs.

Relating to appellate jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission regarding certain water or sewer service fees.

Relating to the prosecution of a capital murder committed against a peace officer or fireman.

Relating to prices charged by a medical staffing services agency during certain designated public health disaster periods; providing a civil penalty.

Relating to accommodating voters with a disability.

Relating to the entitlement of certain municipalities to certain tax revenue related to a hotel and convention center project.

Relating to the maintenance, administration, and disposal of opioid antagonists on public and private school campuses and to the permissible uses of money appropriated to a state agency from the opioid abatement account.

Relating to the conduct of charitable bingo.

Relating to the ownership of and certain insurance policy provisions regarding the geothermal energy and associated resources below the surface of land.

Relating to arbitration provisions in surplus lines insurance contracts.

Relating to the correction of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for providing water or sewer service.

Relating to the combination of certain election precincts.

Relating to the establishment of a crime laboratory portal by the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas and to disciplinary proceedings applicable to a crime laboratory or license holder investigated by the Texas Forensic Science Commission.

Relating to the regulation of electric vehicle supply equipment; requiring an occupational registration; authorizing fees; authorizing an administrative penalty.

Relating to periodic rate adjustments by electric utilities.

Relating to health benefit plan coverage of a transplant of an organ that originated from or is transplanted in a country known to have participated in forced organ harvesting.

Relating to a uniform coordination of benefits questionnaire for health benefit plans.

Relating to the authority of certain municipalities and local government corporations to use certain tax revenue for certain qualified projects.

Relating to the use of certain weapons in or on the bed or bank of a navigable river or stream; providing a penalty.

Relating to the operation of an unmanned aircraft over an airport or military installation; creating a criminal offense.

Relating to the composition, continuation, and duties of the Sexual Assault Survivors' Task Force, compensation for task force members and certain other task force participants, and establishment of a mandatory training program for peace officers on responding to reports of child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault.

Relating to the disclosure of certain medical information by electronic means.

Relating to prohibiting certain academic boycotts of foreign countries by public institutions of higher education.

Relating to the establishment of a terrorist offender registry and to the supervision of those terrorist offenders; creating criminal offenses related to terrorism.

Relating to property owners' associations, including condominium owners' associations.

Relating to the prosecution of the offense of stalking.

Relating to foreign terrorist organizations, including the compilation of information regarding, certain civil actions brought against, and the prosecution of certain organized crime offenses involving a foreign terrorist organization.

Relating to an annual study by the Texas A&M University Texas Real Estate Research Center of the purchase and sale of single-family homes by certain institutional buyers.

Relating to the authority of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to impose administrative penalties and enter into voluntary mitigation plans; increasing an administrative penalty.

Relating to access to and the security of certain critical infrastructure.

Relating to the authority of certain municipalities and local government corporations to use certain tax revenue for certain qualified projects.

Relating to consumer protections against certain medical and health care billing by emergency medical services providers.

The Senate refused to concur in House amendments and requested the appointment of a Conference Committee on the following:

Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to limit the maximum appraised value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes, to increase the amount of an exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district applicable to residence homesteads, to adjust the amount of the limitation on school district ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homesteads of the elderly or disabled to reflect increases in certain exemption amounts, and to except certain appropriations to pay for ad valorem tax relief from the constitutional limitation on the rate of growth of appropriations.

Proposing a constitutional amendment providing for the creation of funds to support the capital needs of educational programs offered by the Texas State Technical College System and certain component institutions of the Texas State University System and repealing the limitation on the allocation to the Texas State Technical College System and its campuses of the annual appropriation of certain constitutionally dedicated funding for public institutions of higher education.

Proposing a constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the Texas energy fund to support the construction, maintenance, modernization, and operation of electric generating facilities.

Relating to providing property tax relief through the public school finance system, exemptions, limitations on appraisals and taxes, and property tax administration.

Relating to the reliability of the ERCOT power grid.

Relating to restricting certain sexually oriented performances on public property, on the premises of a commercial enterprise, or in the presence of a child; authorizing a civil penalty; creating a criminal offense.

Relating to the purpose of public institutions of higher education and the powers and duties of the governing boards of those institutions.

Relating to the tenure and employment of faculty members at certain public institutions of higher education.

Relating to prohibited governmental entity implementation or enforcement of a vaccine mandate, mask requirement, or private business or school closure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Relating to the route designation for the issuance of a permit for the movement of oversize and overweight vehicles in certain counties.

Relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, the functions of the office of independent ombudsman for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, and the powers and duties of the office of inspector general of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

Relating to certain oversight procedures of the state over county elections.

Relating to funding mechanisms to support the construction and operation of electric facilities.

The Senate granted the request for the appointment of a Conference Committee on the following:

Proposing a constitutional amendment relating to the Texas University Fund, which provides funding to certain institutions of higher education to achieve national prominence as major research universities and drive the state economy.

Proposing a constitutional amendment creating the broadband infrastructure fund to expand high-speed broadband access and assist in the financing of connectivity projects.

Relating to measures for ensuring public school safety, including the development of, implementation of, and funding for public school safety and security requirements and the provision of safety-related resources.

Relating to the development and funding of broadband and telecommunications services.

Relating to the duration of services provided under Medicaid to women following a pregnancy.

Relating to the enforcement of criminal offenses by district attorneys, criminal district attorneys, and county attorneys.

Relating to creating a temporary educator certification for certain military service members and first responders.

Relating to the administration and investment of, and distribution and use of money from, certain constitutional and statutory funds to support general academic teaching institutions in achieving national prominence as major research universities and driving the state economy; redesignating the national research university fund as the Texas University Fund.

Relating to the Rural Veterinarian Incentive Program.

Relating to the form of a rendition statement or property report used to render property for ad valorem tax purposes.

Relating to the unlawful acquisition of certain weapons; creating a criminal offense.

Relating to the persons authorized to administer an oath in this state.

Relating to the export fee charged for the transfer of groundwater from a groundwater conservation district.

Relating to the temporary exemption of certain tangible personal property related to certain connected data center projects from sales and use taxes.

Relating to the establishment and administration of the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium and the Texas Space Commission.

Relating to county regulation of subdivisions and approval of subdivision plans or plats.

Relating to the repeal of a municipal civil service system for firefighters and police officers in certain municipalities.

The Senate adopted conference committee reports on the following bills:

Relating to the rights of victims, guardians of victims, and close relatives of deceased victims in the criminal justice system.

Relating to the safety of a referee, judge, or other official at certain public school extracurricular activities and competitions and prohibiting certain conduct by a spectator related to those officials' safety.