Texas counties need key funding bills to recover from flooding damage and build siren systems. Where are those bills right now?
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas lawmakers are working on key bills designed to help counties recover from the horrible July 4th flooding and be better prepared in the future. On Friday, those bills died at the end of the first special session.
The good news is, they were revived in a matter of hours to start their journey over. The better news is that the Texas House of Representatives is now open for business Monday for the first time in two weeks after Democrat lawmakers returned.
Around 1:20 pm on Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott started the second legislative special session.
A bill which would require counties to install sirens, and help pay for them sirens in certain counties was revived as SB 3. (It was previously SB 2). Another bill which would address multiple county shortcomings related to disaster response became the new SB 2. A third bill that would help pay for disaster relief was filed again as SB 5.
Senators quickly introduced those bills, and others, in a finance committee meeting on Friday and sent them to the Senate floor. Lawmakers could pass those bills out of the Senate as soon as today.
More significantly, the Texas House of Representatives was able to open for business at 12 p.m. Monday after establishing a quorum. This means, among other things, they will now be able to receive Senate bills.
“Let me also be clear about where we go from here. We are done waiting. We have a quorum. Now is the time for action,” House Speaker Dustin Burrows said. “We’ll move quickly and the schedule will be demanding until our work is complete.”
Burrows then said the House Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding would meet at 1:30 p.m. That committee will also hear many house bills related to the July 4th flooding in this second special session. The bills would include HB 1 which is related to youth camp emergency plans, HB 2 which is related to disaster preparedness response and recovery, and HB 3 which is related to emergency communication equipment.
The House Committee on Congressional Redistricting began later in the day at 5 p.m.
While Texas Democrats have not indicated they would leave the state again, Speaker Burrows said house members who previously left the state, and who had arrest warrants issued for that reason, would now only be able to leave the legislative chamber under the custody of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“Members who have not been present until today, for whom arrest warrants were issue, will be granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a DPS officer appointment, under the rules of the house, who will ensure your return Wednesday at 10 a.m,” Burrows said.