House and Senate budget negotiators have filed their conference report, clearing the way for final adoption of the budget for the 2016-17 budget cycle. At $209.4 billion, the Texas state budget is $9 billion higher than the one passed in 2013. The general revenue portion of the budget is $106.6 billion, or $11.6 billion above 2013.
Deadly floods across Texas this past week have spurred state leaders to action, several of whom visited the Wimberley area where some of the worst damage was recorded. The Texas Senate revived a measure that would make it easier for local officials to plan ahead for rebuilding and federal authorities have extended deadlines to assess the damage for filing insurance claims.
In the latest development in legislation that would allow open carry of handguns in Texas, House and Senate negotiators have removed language that would prevent police from stopping someone carrying a gun solely to find out if he or she has the proper permit. The provision had been pushed by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans but was strongly opposed by law enforcement. The legislation is expected to pass with this change.
Legislation that would allow concealed handguns on college and university campuses survived a Tuesday deadline to pass Senate bills in the House. A preliminary vote on SB 11 was taken just 30 minutes before the midnight deadline. Killed by the deadline was another Senate bill that would prevent health plans sold on the federal health exchange from offering abortion services.
The session's border security bill is on its way to the governor's desk after the House voted Thursday to accept changes made by the Senate. HB 11 would beef up staffing for the Texas Department of Public Safety, keep the Texas National Guard on the border and establish a transnational intelligence center on the border to analyze crime data, among other things.
The House and Senate have passed radically different versions of ethics reform legislation with the differences left for a conference committee to hash out. The negotiations will focus on what to do with a House-inserted measure requiring political nonprofits to disclose their donors who are the source now of anonymous cash commonly referred to as "dark money."