Gavel To Gavel 87th Legislative Session: December 4, 2020
With just over a month before the start of Texas’ 87th Legislative Session, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar provided an update to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) on Monday, wherein he indicated that Texas’ budget shortfall would be less dire than his midsummer projection. Though he offered no specifics, he said he expects to finalize his projections for release of the Biennial Revenue Estimate on January 11, 2021, the day before Session begins. Based on his report, the LBB voted unanimously for a constitutional spending cap of $105.8 billion in GR for 2020-21. There remains roughly seven billion dollars’ worth of flexibility, as the General Revenue Fund is partially financed by revenue not subject to the spending limit. Though it’s a short leash, it gives budget writers something to work with as they collaborate on the State’s fiscal priorities for the next two years.
Zeroing in on the Texas Legislature, presumptive Speaker Phelan this week announced the remaining members of his top staff. His selections have decades of experience in and around the Texas Capitol, and are as follows:
Mark Bell, Deputy Chief of Staff
Jay Dyer, Director of Policy
Enrique Marquez, Director of Communications
Andrew Blifford, Director of Budget
Margo Cardwell, General Counsel
Kelly Mitchell, Executive Director of Speaker Operations
Zach Johnson, Special Advisor and Chief Director of District Operations
Cait Meisenheimer, Senior Advisor for Communications
Sydney Watts, Director of Administration
Additionally, Phelan sent a letter to members and members-elect of the Texas House of Representatives requesting proposals for changing the House Rules of Procedure for the 87th Legislative Session. He stated that Reps. Ana Hernandez, Todd Hunter, Brooks Landgraf, and Joe Moody will engage all members and solicit rule proposals to determine how best to protect the health and safety of legislators, staff, and the public during COVID-19.
On the Senate side, we’re just two weeks away from the special election runoff in Senate District 30. Republican Senate candidates Rep. Drew Springer and Shelley Luther are the last standing in the race to replace outgoing Senator Pat Fallon. Luther and Springer finished the September 29th special election within less than a point of each other. Governor Abbott set December 19th as the runoff date with early voting to begin on the ninth.
In COVID-19 news, the Governor on Tuesday announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) allotted more than 1.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Texas for the month of December. These vaccines should start arriving as early as the 14th and will be administered by qualifying providers across the state based on the Vaccine Distribution Principles developed by the state's Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. Additional allotments may be made later in December, and are expected in the months following.
Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has two advisory committee meetings slated for this month. On December 10th, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will gather to discuss Pfizer’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) request for its COVID-19 vaccine, and will convene again on December 17th to discuss a second vaccine EUA request from Moderna. The FDA has promised as much transparency and expeditiousness as possible given the nature of the review process, and we will be watching closely to report on their final decision.
A remaining area of uncertainty is whether the U.S. Congress will agree on additional COVID-19 relief in their year-end budget, and exactly what that will look like for Texas. Previously deadlocked, a possible truce has emerged between the House and Senate to the tune of $908 billion. If passed, this bill would potentially extend aid to small businesses and the unemployed, help state and local governments, and shield businesses from some COVID-19 litigation. In addition, Congress must act before December 11th to provide stop gap funding to avoid a government shutdown.