Latest news with #HB274
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Recap Texas' 89th Legislative Session with KXAN
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — After 140 days, Texas' 89th Legislative Session closed Monday with state lawmakers passing over 1,000 bills. Senators and representatives filed 8,719 bills and 2,765 resolutions this session; by the session's end, 1,189 bills went to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott. In 2023, the legislature passed 1,222 of its 8,046 filed bills; Abbott vetoed 76 bills following the session. DATA HUB: How many bills have state lawmakers passed? Ahead of the 2025 Legislative Session, KXAN laid out which topics we would focus on — education, immigration, housing, AI, LGBTQ+ rights, and more. These 5 KXAN investigations sparked bills landing on the Texas governor's desk KXAN and Nexstar journalists wrote hundreds of stories covering the 89th Legislative Session since bill filing opened in November 2024. Due to the volume of bills, KXAN also republished stories from The Texas Tribune. When lawmakers, legislative staff, activists, journalists, and other lege watchers talk about a piece of legislation 'dying,' they mean that a bill failed to meet a deadline. IN-DEPTH: What are the Texas Legislature's session deadlines? The clearest deadline is the end of a session. Unless called back for a special session, lawmakers must wait until 2027 to pass more legislation. This session, 7,530 bills died in the legislature (86.4% of filed). That number likely also includes companion bills for bills that did pass this session. If every bill that passed had a companion, then the total shakes out to around 6,300 (72.7%). Thousands of Texas House bills 'die' at key midnight deadline KXAN reported on the following bills that failed this session: HB 274, which would have put Austin under the state's direct control HB 5151, which would have restricted development of rock crushing plants SJR 1, which would have prevented bail for undocumented suspects SB 18, which would have banned drag story time events SB 240, which would have restricted transgender Texans' use of private spaces SB 819, which would have added multiple regulations to renewable energy projects HB 366, which would have criminalized deceptive AI-generated campaign ads, also failed to pass. Other bills died during the final days of session. That period is when committees with members from both legislative chambers meet to hash out any differences in a bill that both passed. Bills that die don't always stay dead; lawmakers can refile them during the next session. Some already announced their intent to do so, such as Sen. Royce West with his bill to require hospitals install bollards near entrances. In fact, most of the bills that we covered in our session preview ended up failing. Ahead of the 2025 session, Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced their priority bills for the session. They met many of those priorities this session, such as creating education savings accounts (HB 2), funding water infrastructure projects (SB 7), and creating a 'Texas Cyber Command' (HB 150). Where Abbott's emergency priorities stood on May 16, 2025 Here's what some other bills that passed this session would do: Ban hemp products that contain THC (SB 3) Require Texas counties partner with US ICE to enforce immigration law (SB 8) Ban 'DEI' programs, LGBTQ+ clubs in schools (SB 12) 'Make Texas Healthy Again' with nutrition curriculum, daily exercise (SB 25) Expand the Texas Compassionate Use Program (HB 46) Create a sickle cell registry (HB 107) Define 'male' and 'female' in Texas law (HB 229) Limit roadside pet sales (HB 2012, 2731) Close a loophole in sexual assault laws (HB 3073) Further restrict abortion (multiple bills) Abbott has 20 days following the session's end to veto bills, after which they become law regardless of his signing them. Last session, KXAN reported that Abbott vetoed 76 bills, setting a new personal record. Most new laws in Texas will take effect on September 1 in the same year as the session. Some, like a law allowing fireworks sales before Juneteenth (HB 554), begin immediately. Several laws related to ad valorem taxes take effect at the start of 2026, and so will SB 2420, which requires mobile app stores verify the ages of their users. However, Texas voters have final say on anything that would effect taxes. In 2023, 14 laws required an amendment to the state's constitution; voters approved 13. IN-DEPTH: KXAN's Capitol Context In November, 14 ballot measures will be before voters, according to legislative records: billreport-2Download Legal challenges can lead to a court enjoining the state and its agents from implementing or enforcing some laws. The ACLU announced its intent to bring a lawsuit against recently passed SB 10, which would require public schools display a state-approved version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Did we miss a bill that you'd like an update on? Let us know at ReportIt@ Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘District of Austin' bill voted down by Texas House committee
Editor's Note: The above video is KXAN's previous coverage of HB 274. AUSTIN (KXAN) — House Bill 274, otherwise known as the 'District of Austin' bill, was voted down 11-0 by the House Committee on State Affairs PAST COVERAGE | 'Throwing stones': Lawmaker behind District of Austin bill challenged in hearing The bill, which was introduced March 19, would have stripped the city of Austin of its governing authority and turned it into the District of Austin. A similar bill was filed in 2022, but it was also voted down. Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Houston, who authored the bill, previously said HB 274 would help ensure Austin remained accountable to Texas by establishing a District of Austin as the official city of the state's government. Cain cited the city's 'surging crime' as a reason for the bill; however, he did not cite a specific report for his claim about Austin's crime rates. Previously, the city of Austin released a memo, opposing the bill and calling it 'vague' and lacking clarity on how the District of Austin would be governed. In a previous hearing, state lawmakers expressed similar concerns. 'Austin's Violent Crime Rate for 2024 is 59.6% lower than Houston, 43.8% lower than Lubbock, and 21.4% lower than San Antonio according to the Texas Department of Public Safety Uniform Crime Reporting System Crime in Texas Report Top 25 Violent Crime Comparison report,' the memo said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Throwing stones': Lawmaker behind District of Austin bill challenged in hearing
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas leaders challenged a Houston-area representative who authored House Bill 274, which would strip the city of Austin of its governing authority and turn it into the District of Austin. 'House Bill 274 is a simple bill, it seeks to establish a District of Austin as the official city of Texas government,' said Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Houston, at the House State Affairs Committee Wednesday. 'Ensuring the capital city remains accountable to the state that it represents.' It's not the first time a bill has been filed to force state control onto the city of Austin. North Texas Rep. Jared Patterson filed a similar bill in 2022. The director of the Donaldson Center for Communication Studies at the University of Texas told KXAN that Patterson's 2022 bill was nothing more than 'a heavy dose of political theater.' That description could also describe Wednesday's hearing on HB 274. 'For years, staffers, constituents and even our own family members visiting the capital face rising fears due to surging crime in Austin,' Cain said. 'The city's leadership has repeatedly made reckless decisions: defunding the police, refusing to prosecute violent criminals and allowing businesses to go unchecked.' Several state lawmakers on the committee challenged Cain on those remarks, including Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas. Anchía pulled up a website analyzing crime data, which rates cities on an A through F scale. He proceeded to quiz Cain on crime ratings for Deer Park, a city in Cain's district, versus the city of Austin. 'Austin is actually slightly better … violent crime grade was actually a C, rather than a C- for Deer Park. Should we use the Mississippi example and do that to provide a special district to Deer Park?' Anchía said. Cain rebutted that Deer Park isn't the state's capital nor is a majority of state government conducted there. He also said 'we've consistently had issues with this city' and that it wasn't necessarily crime that led to his bill. However, his presentation of the bill focused on crime as a central arguement. 'There's a parable in the Bible about a glass house and throwing stones. I think it's John 8:1-11. I would ask you to reflect,' Anchía finished. You can watch the full interaction here. Cain didn't cite a specific report for his claim about Austin's crime rates, but said that violent crime in the city had increased since 2019. So what does the data say? Data from the city of Austin and the Texas Department of Public Safety both show similar crime trends for Austin. The overall crime rate, as reported to DPS, decreased roughly 8% from 2019 to 2023, according to DPS' 2023 Crime in Texas report. That report shows a 26% increase in Austin's violent crime between 2019 to 2023. But it also shows a 7% decrease between 2022 to 2023. Some police departments, like Deer Park in Harris County, are not large enough for inclusion in DPS's annual Crime in Texas report. The Harris County Sheriff's Office reported a 14.7% increase in its crime rate during the same five-year time period. It also reported a more significant increase in crime over that extended time period — up by nearly 40% from 2019 to 2023 and by more than 10% from 2022 to 2023. After the city of Austin moved to reform its police budget in 2020, state lawmakers stepped in to make sure that didn't happen. In Texas, large cities can't cut any funding from their police department without losing property and sales tax revenue. For consecutive years since then, APD has received a 'record high' budget as a result. It received a roughly $18 million bump this past budget season. City policymakers continuously remind the public during budget sessions that the APD budget can't be cut due to state law. Texas Legislature passes bill requiring largest cities to hold elections before cutting police funds As for 'refusing to prosecute,' city government has no control over court cases. Whether or not violent criminals are prosecuted is the responsibility of Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, an elected official. KXAN has done extensive reporting on the data of Garza's tenure. The city of Austin directly addressed Cain's bill in a memo released Wednesday night: HB 274 District of AustinDownload It unsurprisingly opposed the notion, and the city's Intergovernmental Relations Office wrote that the bill is 'vague' and lacks clarity on how the District of Austin would be governed. State lawmakers also expressed those concerns during the committee meeting. The memo also responded to the bill's rhetoric about Austin's crime rate, economic opportunity and governing style. 'Austin's Violent Crime Rate for 2024 is 59.6% lower than Houston, 43.8% lower than Lubbock, and 21.4% lower than San Antonio according to the Texas Department of Public Safety Uniform Crime Reporting System Crime in Texas Report Top 25 Violent Crime Comparison report,' reads the memo, addressing Cain's chief argument for the District of Austin being necessary. It's unclear what Cain referred to by saying Austin was 'allowing businesses to go unchecked.' The city of Austin responded to that as well, writing that Austin has been 'the best performing economy among the top 50 metros in the United States over the last five years,' with its GDP up 39%. 'Austin ranks eighth for 4.5% growth over the last year,' the memo reads, 'Austin is the tenth best performing in job growth among the top 50 metros, adding 22,700 jobs, or 1.7% growth, in the year ending in December.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
