BY ADAM RUSSELL
Posted: Tuesday, March 11, 2013, 9:27 am
Bills filed by local legislators were among more than 7,000 bills to be considered this session. The deadline for filing bills was Friday.
East Texas legislators filed dozens of bills they say are designed to create jobs, address rural water companies’ rate structures and transportation funding, teacher qualifications and term limits for statewide leaders.
Local representatives and senators shared their priorities as the 83rd Session picks up steam.
Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, made a splash by filing legislation to put a sales tax increase and term limits for statewide officials before Texas voters in November.
Term limits have been something Eltife has favored, and multiple forms of a bill to limit elected terms have been filed by other legislators in recent sessions.
Eltife’s Senate Joint Resolution 13 would put a constitutional amendment before voters that would limit statewide elected officials including the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, comptroller, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner, railroad commissioners and attorney general, to two consecutive terms. It would not apply to state representatives and senators.
Eltife said limiting it to statewide leaders and making Texans the last say in passage or failure gives the bill a better chance of passage.
Another bill, SJR 47, would put a state sales tax increase before voters in November.
The state sales tax would increase from 6.25 percent to 6.75 percent to pay for more than $20 billion in state debt issued to pay for road projects. Eltife said the state could pay off its debt more than a decade sooner and save more than $6 billion. The tax would automatically expire after the current debts were paid, he said.
“People might say a tax increase is not conservative, but paying for roads with debt is a bad business plan that taxes our children and grandchildren,” he said. “To me, settling our debts, saving money and paying cash for projects is the most conservative way to operate.”
Eltife also filed a series of bills he said would cut red tape, soften regulation and ease expansion of an emerging industry in Texas — beer microbrews. Easing restrictions on microbreweries in Texas would create more than 5,200 jobs and $5 billion in commerce around the state, he said.
Freshman Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, will make a strong push for House Bill 1413 to have the state demographer determine the fiscal impact of abortions in Texas.
Schaefer said Texans have strong opinions on both sides of abortion, but he wants to make the economic facts of abortion available for debate.
Schaefer, who is anti-abortion, said he believes the numbers will show abortion’s negative impact on the number of working age adults. He said the study is within the agency’s capacity and would not affect the overall budget.
“Abortion is something people don’t want to talk about. It’s not a pleasant topic,” he said. “But no matter what the numbers say, it keeps debate alive.”
Schaefer also filed legislation to cut “bureaucratic red tape” to allow local school administrators’ hiring of “subject matter experts,” such as retired engineers to teach vocational classes. He said current law, which requires teachers to be approved in Austin and take education preparatory classes to teach, thins the teaching talent pool.
Like Eltife, Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, filed legislation to deal with inadequate transportation funding. Nichols filed SJR 20, which would place a constitutional amendment before November voters to dedicate motor vehicle sales tax to transportation.
“There are a number of different ideas floating around (about funding transportation) and that should tell you we feel real strong about finding revenue for road maintenance and new projects,” he said.
Nichols said another bill would regulate rural water utility companies’ ability to change water and sewer rates. He said current law allows rural utilities to operate as monopolies and that consumers have little recourse with regard to challenging rate changes. He wants them to be regulated by the state.
Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, filed legislation requiring life-sustaining treatment to continue for patients deemed futile by doctors until a transfer to another medical facility can be arranged, if their family requests it.
Currently, hospitals can stop life support treatment after 10 days in certain cases if the patient is terminally or irreversibly ill and cannot express his or her wishes about treatment.
Hughes said he is pushing the bill to protect families and individuals facing a decision by care providers. He has filed the bill in past sessions.
Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, reintroduced his bill to make federal security screeners at Texas airports liable for inappropriate searches. Simpson gained national notoriety in 2011 for introducing the bill designed to prevent “groping” of passengers and creates penalties for official oppression.
Most bills face an uphill battle. Being heard and passed out of committee can be a daunting task. Most languish in committee and never see the House or Senate floor for debate or a vote.
Lobby groups will fight or support legislation based on who they represent. For instance, Eltife’s bill designed to ease regulation on micro-breweries will likely face resistance from lobbyists hired by established alcohol interests who want to maintain the state’s three-tier system for major breweries, distributors and retailers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20130312/NEWS08/130319964
