At the Capitol, bills are moving into committees in both the House and Senate, including numerous bills that will affect Hays County.
Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) filed numerous bills relating to natural gas pipeline construction in response to Kinder Morgan’s proposed route for its Permian Highway Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that would cut through the Hill Country near Wimberley. House Bill 2277, which would require the Texas Railroad Commission to conduct an environmental impact study before a pipeline can be built, was referred to the Energy Resources Committee on March 6. HB 3326, which would let municipalities require that an intrastate pipeline be buried to a certain depth, was referred to Energy Resources on March 18.
Zwiener’s HB 3324 and 3320, both of which involve contingency plans for energy infrastructure, were referred to the House Natural Resources Committee on March 18. HB 3324 would require pipeline operators to submit site-specific contingency plans. HB 3320 would allow the Texas Environmental Quality Commission to require water pollution abatement plans from operators of energy infrastructure including oil and gas facilities.
Zwiener’s HB 3327, which concerns eminent domain, was referred to the Land and Resource Management Committee on March 18. The bill would require common carriers that intend to use eminent domain to acquire real property for a pipeline to send a written notice of intent to local officials, including the county judge and groundwater conservation districts.
Two of Zwiener’s bills specific to Hays County have been left pending in committee. HB 1303 would prohibit new billboards on Farm to Market Road 1826, Ranch To Market Road 150 and RM 967. The bill was referred to the Transportation Committee and received a hearing on March 13 but was left pending. Zwiener’s HB 1044, which would allow the city of Buda to participate in aquifer storage and recovery, was referred to the Natural Resources Committee and received a hearing on March 5 but has been left pending. In the Texas Senate, Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) proposed a companion bill, Senate Bill 483, which was referred to the Water and Rural Affairs Committee.
Elsewhere in the Legislature, 24 bills concerning school finance have been filed. HB 3, filed by Huberty, would make major changes to the state’s school finance system. The bill was left pending in the House Public Education Committee. HB 462, which pertains to allotments and guaranteed yield under the school finance system, was scheduled for a hearing yesterday. Other school finance bills in the House Public Education Committee address recapture, the purchase of attendance credits, bilingual education allotments and per-student costs for security. In the Senate, nine school finance bills are in the Education Committee. Among those bills are SB 660 by Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), which concerns recapture in school districts affected by a disaster, and SB 1015, filed by Beverly Powell (D-Burleson), which concerns an ongoing review of the public school finance system by the Texas Education Agency.
The Legislature is also looking at 25 bills easing restrictions on cannabis. Among those bills are a House Joint Resolution and a Senate Joint Resolution calling for an amendment to the Texas Constitution authorizing and regulating the possession, cultivation and sale of cannabis in the state. SJR 8 by Sen. Jose Rodriguez (D-El Paso) nas been referred to the Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee, and its companion HJR 108, authored by Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), was sent to the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on Monday. Campbell authored SB 2416, which would facilitate the medical use of low-THC cannabis, and filed the bill on March 8, with Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) signing on as a coauthor on March 19.
