A $33 billion budget surplus, no teacher raises and a slew of bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community, supported by county Republican representatives, were some of the highlights from Texas Legislature’s 88th regular session, which ended May 29.
In total, 8,345 bills and joint resolutions were filed. Of those, 1,258 bills — with roughly 230 impacting cities — were sent to the governor’s desk, according to the Denton city staff’s legislative report from the latest Friday staff report to the Denton City Council.
A couple of the beneficial bills and some challenging ones were highlighted in the city staff’s summary of the Texas Municipal League’s Legislative Update, as were some of the ones that didn’t make it: bills that would prevent cities from adopting regulations for short-term rentals, for example.
All the city-related bills that passed both chambers and were headed to the governor’s desk were summarized in the Legislative Update. A full list with a brief breakdown of each bill can be found in the June 9 Friday staff report or on TML’s website.
Here’s a rundown of some of those bills, a few of which were authored by Denton County legislators:
Property taxes
The Legislature is heading back into special session to discuss property tax relief, but several bills and resolutions related to property taxes did pass both chambers this session. Some of them include offering exemptions. For example, House Bill 4077 applies an exemption to those 65 and older, regardless of whether they applied for it, if their age is shown in an application for a residence homestead exemption or in information provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety to the appraisal district.
HB 4625 provides an exemption to an organization that leases land under a ground lease and provides improvements (construction or rehabilitation) to housing for individuals or families who meet certain income eligibility requirements.
Public safety
Every legislative session sees a slew of public safety bills. The 88th session’s HB 568, for instance, updates peace officer training to include instruction on how to interact with people who have Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia.
HB 660 requires law enforcement agencies to enter protective orders in the agency’s computer records of outstanding warrants as “has been issued and is currently in effect” and, shortly after receiving it from court clerk, enter it into the Texas Department of Public Safety’s statewide law enforcement information system.
Besides providing information such as name, sex, race and date of birth, the records must also include information about the relationship or former relationship between the person who received the order and the person protected by the order, and their conditions of bond imposed on the person for the protection of a victim in cases that involve family violence, sexual assault or abuse, indecent assault, stalking or trafficking.
Another measure, HB 898, increases the punishment for drivers who pass certain stopped emergency or utility vehicles if they don’t slow down or change lanes. It was authored by two Denton County legislators, Rep. Lynn Stucky and Sen. Tan Parker.
Stucky and Parker’s HB 3556 allows the chief law enforcement officer of a local law enforcement agency to activate an Amber Alert if they believe a child is missing but have not yet verified the criteria under the law for activation. DPS will activate the alert within 100 miles of the location where the child was believed to have gone missing and in all adjacent counties. It’s known as the ”Athena Alert” bill, named for Athena Strand, a 7-year-old North Texas girl who disappeared and was found dead last year.
Parker also co-authored HB 2195, which increases penalties for displaying a wrong, fictitious, altered or obscured license plate.
Sales taxes
The Texas Municipal League listed only a few sales tax exemption bills that will affect the city of Denton. Senate Bill 65 exempts providing an academic transcript from sales taxes. SB 379 eliminates the “tampon tax” — it exempts feminine hygiene products from sales tax, as well as wound-care dressing products, diapers for children and adults, maternity clothing, breast milk pumping products and baby bottles.
Community and economic development
Several bills were filled this category, and some seemed to relate to previous incidents that may have inspired them.
For example, HB 73 states that landowners or lessees are not liable for damages from any incident or accident involving their livestock due to an act or omission of a firefighter or a peace officer who enters the landowner’s property, with or without permission of the landowner.
HB 1193, authored by Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, came in response to the Record-Chronicle‘s coverage of the Providence Village homeowners association’s alleged discrimination against renters receiving federal Housing and Urban Development vouchers. The bill prevents a homeowners association from prohibiting or restricting a property owner from renting a dwelling based on a person’s method of payment.
Elections
The election bills that passed both chambers this session dealt with political reporting and political reports and times and deadlines for filing a recount petition. Rules for mail-in ballots were also tightened.
Rep. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, co-authored HB 1299, which, among other things, requires voters who use mail-in ballots to sign the certificate on the carrier envelope using ink on paper. An electronic signature or photocopied signature will not be not permitted.
Emergency management
SB 29, part of the Republican response to pandemic rules, takes away cities’ ability to implement, order or impose mandates that require people to wear a mask or other face covering to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or to force a private business, public school, charter school or private school to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Municipal courts
HB 3186 establishes a youth diversion program for juvenile defendants charged with a misdemeanor other than a traffic offense and punishable by fine only. Each justice and municipal court must adopt a program plan that outlines a diversion agreement and could require paying restitution up to $100 and performing community services and submitting to alcohol and drug tests.
SB 338 takes away law enforcement’s power to hypnotize witnesses, a method the Texas Rangers used until 2021. It prevents a statement from a person obtained by hypnosis from being admissible against a defendant in a criminal trial.
Open government
HB 3440 requires certain governmental bodies, including a city or economic development corporation, to concurrently post an agenda and notice of the meeting on their website.
Other finance and administration
Of all the bills to pass this session, HB 2127, known as the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act, will have a direct impact on present and future home-rule city ordinances “in ways that aren’t readily apparent from the plain language of the bill,” according to TML’s Legislative Update.
Many of the numerous restrictions related to this bill involve preventing an ordinance from violating several state codes, such as the Finance Code or the Insurance Code.
One of those restrictions might affect Denton’s misdemeanor marijuana enforcement ordinance that voters passed in November, City Manager Sara Hensley told the Record-Chronicle in late May.
The bill reads: “Provides that a city council may adopt, enforce or maintain an ordinance or rule only if the ordinance or rule is consistent with the laws of the state.”
Decriminalize Denton and Ground Game Texas, the grassroots organizations behind Proposition B, claim the ordinance doesn’t violate state law.
HB 3727 amends several definitions related to hotel occupancy taxes, including defining “convention center facilities” to now include parking facilities if the facility is located within 1,500 feet of the convention center.
The tax allows cities “to boost economic development by attracting tourism and generating employment,” Justin Harmon, a city spokesperson, said in a June 8 email to the Record-Chronicle.
Qualified hotel projects that use this tax rebate must be a public-private partnership and go through a formal procurement process with the state acting as final authority on deciding which projects satisfy the eligibility requirement, Harmon said.
“These are tax dollars that otherwise would remain with the State,” Harmon said. “These rebates can also be allocated towards supporting facilities, lessening the financial burden of the project while bolstering the project’s value and positive impact on the local economy.”
Personnel
HB 567, known as the CROWN Act, establishes that racial discrimination includes discriminating against an employee’s hair texture or hairstyle, such as braids, locks and twists. It also prevents cities from adopting or enforcing a dress or grooming policy that discriminates against a hair texture or protective hairstyle that’s typically associated with race.
HB 1661 allows older people to become police officers. It repeals the provision that prohibits a person who is 45 or older from being certified.
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