Texas Senate

Subject: Empowering Parental Rights – Including School Choice, Senate Bill 8 (SB 8)

• Author: State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe)
• TFR Position: Neutral/Amend
• Background: SB 8 seeks to empower parents of children who are enrolled in government schools. TFR supports ensuring that it is parents who come first when it comes to the decisions made for their child’s education. TFR recommends amending SB 8 to ensure that it is truly universal and all parents can benefit, as opposed to only those who have previously enrolled their children in government schools or are enrolling them for the first time. Those parents are forced to pay into a system currently via ad valorem taxation (property taxes) and should have a choice as to whether to take advantage of where to direct that funding for their child’s needs. TFR has long supported the idea of school choice, and continues to support Education-Savings Accounts (ESAs), but does not believe the true choice is provided if not everyone qualifies.

Subject: Sick Leave Regulation Preemption, Senate Bill 130 (SB 130)

• Author: State Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 130 seeks to preempt onerous local government enforcement of sick pay leave regulations requiring employers to provide specific employment benefits. This bill prohibits cities from placing burdensome regulations on businesses regarding sick leave, making it extremely difficult for businesses to conduct business.

Subject: Burdensome Regulation on Business, Senate Bill 812 (SB 812)

• Author: State Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo)
• TFR Position: Oppose
• Background: SB 812 seeks to require food service businesses to display a standardized poster containing information about food allergies as well as require food training programs as well as food manager certification exams to include food allergies as a subject. These requirements would be burdensome for businesses. For these reasons, TFR opposed SB 812.

Subject: Transparency in Court Decisions, Senate Bill 930 (SB 930)

• Author: State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 930 seeks to eliminate per curiam decisions and treat them as public information. In Texas, judges are elected to their positions and voters should know what judge authors what court opinion. Judges should not be able to percent accountability by concealing the author of a decision. For these reasons, TFR supports SB 930.

Subject: Preemption of Burdensome Regulation, Senate Bill 1114 (SB 1114)

• Author: State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 1114 prohibits any political subdivision from adopting or enforcing an ordinance that prohibits or restricts the use or sale of lawful products in the name of reducing greenhouse gases, sustainability, and environmentalism. Regulations like these are burdensome to individuals and businesses and stifle the economy. For these reasons, TFR supports SB 1114.

Subject: Prohibition on Gain-of-Function Research in Texas, Senate Bill 1583 (SB 1583)

• Author: State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 1583 seeks to define what gain-of-function research is on potential pandemic pathogens and prohibit institutions of higher education in Texas from conducting that type of research whilst revoking any public funding being used for those research projects. For these reasons, TFR supports SB 1583.

Subject: Expanding the Powers of State Prosecuting Attorney, Senate Bill 1927 (SB 1927)

• Author: State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: SB 1927 seeks to expand the existing office of the state prosecuting attorney to prosecute certain crimes and abuse of office cases in the event it is determined a county and/or district attorney refuses to prosecute crimes that state law prohibits. SB 1927 also changes the oversight of the office to that of the Supreme Court of Texas. For these reasons, TFR supports SB 1927.

Texas House of Representatives

Subject: Transparency for Taxpayers, House Bill 1228 (HB 1228)

• Author: State Rep. Will Metcalf (R-Montgomery)
• TFR Position: Support
• Background: HB 1228 seeks to require that the chief appraiser of a local appraisal district provide at the request of a property owner a copy of the records, supporting data, schedules, and other material and information without a fee that was used in determining the value of the property. This policy change would allow for increased transparency and accountability in an appraisal system that is currently stacked against the interests of Texas taxpayers. For these reasons, TFR supports HB 1228.

Reminder: Vote Notices are provided to both Texas state lawmakers and the general public in advance of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility’s position on issues to be rated as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Index prior to votes being taken in each legislative chamber.

Disclaimer: We reserve the right to consider amendments to legislation that may be introduced without notice as a part of issues to be rated as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Index. We will make every effort to provide notice on amendments that are pre-filed.