Gavel to Gavel 87th Legislative Session: April 9, 2021
As part of an ongoing discussion regarding state administration of federal relief funds, Rep. Greg Bonnen’s CSHB 2021 was debated at length in House Appropriations on Thursday, which creates a Board of Administration of Federal Funds to advise the Governor when the Legislature is not in session. The board would consist of 10 members, including House and Senate presiding officers, the Chairs and Vice Chairs of each chamber’s budget committee, and an additional two members from each chamber. The debate centers on the constitutionality and efficacy of this particular mechanism, as opposed to other collaborative solutions. Education stakeholders have expressed concern that the Legislature will not come to an agreement within this budget cycle and will instead punt the issue to an interim study, rejecting by default the billions of federal dollars currently available for Texas schools. Alternative solutions discussed by members included contingency riders for funding not-yet appropriated, and simply having a special session so that the budget-writers can officially convene to receive and appropriate the funds.
Speaking of insufficient time, Rep. John Raney filed HJR 152 in mid-March, and has since been working to build support among his House colleagues. The constitutional amendment would allow for a two-day “organizational session” in the month prior to each legislative session, during which time the Legislature would elect the House Speaker, swear in new members, and vote on the House rules for the session. Committee assignments could then be made in the weeks leading up to the regular session. Rep. Raney argues that the change would save the Legislature critical days, leaving more room for policymaking. The bill has been referred to the House State Affairs Committee but not yet scheduled for a hearing.
Some big priority bills moved this week. Tuesday, the Texas Senate passed SB 1 out of the full chamber and it is scheduled for a hearing in House Appropriations on Monday; the Committee Substitute to SB 6, the COVID-19 liability bill was passed and reported engrossed on Thursday. Additionally, the Committee Substitute to HB 5, the statewide broadband bill, passed to engrossment on Friday.
At the federal level, U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D) and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R) rolled out a bill, which, if passed, would authorize the federal government to offer grants to states to support weatherization efforts. The authors stated that this will be a complementary to the efforts currently being made at the State level, and U.S. Rep. Johnson suggested that states “will have some responsibility to match the grants.”
The Department of State Health Services announced this week that Texas will receive 1.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for Week 18 of vaccine distribution. The federal government is expected to distribute 500,000 first and second doses to pharmacy locations, federally qualified health centers, and dialysis centers.