The only good thing about working a full day on both Saturday and Sunday is that Monday feels more like a Wednesday than a Monday. (But boy howdy, are we going to be disappointed when the real Wednesday arrives and it’s not Friday!)
Bail reform
The Senate passed HB 20 by Murr/Huffman back to the House after substituting the Senate’s preferred language from SB 21 by Huffman into HB 20. That bill now returns to the House, which will almost certainly refuse to accept those changes and ask for a conference committee to iron out the two chambers’ differences behind closed doors.
The Senate also passed HJR 4 by Kacal/Huffman—which would amend the state constitution to allow judges to deny bail to certain offenders—but only after making some controversial changes. The joint resolution was further watered down to get the support of two-thirds of the Senate (which is required for passage of a joint resolution to amend the state constitution), but in doing so, some confusing language was added by floor amendment. Both bills will now go to conference committee to hash out the differences in each measure, and who knows what that will look like.
If this issue is important to you and you want more information on how to get involved, contact Shannon.
Permitless carry
The grand compromise over permitless carry has been reached. The conference committee report for HB 1927 by Schaefer/Schwertner is available here (as a PDF). The House approved the final version by an 82–62 vote just before midnight last night, and the Senate will get its chance to follow suit tonight or tomorrow.
When signed by the governor—and yes, he’s going to sign it quicker than you can say “Don’t you know I’m being primaried?”—the bill will legalize the carrying of handguns without a license in most public places by those 21 years old or older who aren’t otherwise disqualified from possessing a firearm due to their criminal history or family violence situation. However, there are a lot—and we mean A LOT—of interesting angles to the bill that we will cover in full after the dust has settled on this session.
Final floor calendars
Most Senate bills must make it to second reading on the floor by Tuesday at midnight or they are dead in the House. Those still kicking include (in order of appearance on calendar):
Monday, May 24
- SB 10 by Bettencourt/Paddie (limits on some local gov’t lobbying activities)
- SB 69 by Miles/White (limiting choke holds by peace officers)
Tuesday, May 25
- SB 321 by Huffman/Bonnen (ERS cash benefit plans)
- SB 576 by Hinojosa/Lozano (human smuggling)
- SB 1495 by Huffman/Turner (street blocking for racing, etc.)
- SB 68 by Miles/Reynolds (officer duty to intervene in/report uses of excessive force)
- SB 768 by Huffman/A. Johnson (fentanyl enhancements)
- SB 912 by Buckingham/Slawson (riot enhancements)
- SB 568 by Huffman/Wu (failure to report child sex crimes)
Wednesday, May 26
Beyond Tuesday’s deadline, the House can still pass certain Senate bills on its final Local & Consent Calendar on Wednesday; among the bills on that calendar are:
- SB 111 by West/Collier (law enforcement discovery duties)
- SB 615 by Zaffirini/Leach (probate and guardianship proceedings)
- SB 1458 by Zaffirini/Neave (standardized protective order forms)
Across the rotunda, House bills must be finally passed by the Senate by Wednesday night or they are dead. Among those already calendared for possible consideration are:
- HB 385 by Pacheco/Hughes (probation reforms)
- HB 624 by Shine/Campbell (retaliation enhancement for certain property crimes)
- HB 686 by Moody/Lucio (accelerating parole consideration for certain youthful offenders)
- HB 929 by Sherman/West (body-worn camera policies)
- HB 1694 by Raney/Schwertner (Good Samaritan defense to certain drug crimes)
- HB 1900 by Goldman/Huffman (ban on certain cities defunding their police force)
- HB 2366 by Buckley/Hughes (enhancements for crimes against peace officers)
- HB 2462 by Neave/Paxton (forensic sexual assault exams)
- HB 2555 by Neave/Paxton (sexual assault exam tracking system)
- HB 2622 by Holland/Hall (barring enforcement of federal firearms laws)
- HB 2781 by A. Johnson/Whitmire (mass shooting enhancement for aggravated assault)
- HB 3379 by Leman/Kolkhorst (narrowing offense for failure to report child abuse)
- HB 4293 by Hinojosa/Zaffirini (court reminder program for defendants)
- HB 4295 by K. Bell/N. Johnson (confidentiality of autopsy report)
More bills will be added to the Senate’s calendars tonight and tomorrow night, so if you are following a particular House bill in the Senate, keep checking the legislature’s website for the latest news.
More scattershooting
Here are some interesting articles we read this weekend:
- “Jail releases then murders. Cases show struggle to balance public safety and bail reform.” (Austin American-Statesman)
- “A year after George Floyd’s death, dismay over failure to approve comprehensive police reform in Texas” (Dallas Morning News)
- “Murders are rising the most in a few isolated precincts of major cities (Wall Street Journal)
- “In a rare show of accountability, a Texas attorney has surrendered his license” (Texas Observer)
More “Quotes of the Week”
“Ultimately this bill restores a right to Texans that, to my knowledge, has not existed [since] 1871.”
—State Rep. Schaefer (R-Tyler), author of HB 1927 (permitless carry), moments before the final version was approved by the House.
“We are making progress. I wish we could say we were doing more in police reform, criminal justice reform, and social justice reform. It seems that this legislative body does not have the appetite for being too progressive in those areas, even after George Floyd’s murder.”
—State Rep. Carl Sherman (D-Desoto), as quoted in an article reviewing the fate of criminal justice reform legislation this session.
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