DEPARTMENT: Government and Public Affairs
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Jeff Coyle
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT: 85th Texas Legislature - Special Session
SUMMARY:
The Government and Public Affairs Department (GPA) will provide a briefing on the first called special session of the 85th Texas Legislature.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Texas Legislature meets every two years in odd numbered years. The 85th Texas Legislative Session began on January 10, 2017, and ended on May 29, 2017. The Regular Session of the legislature is constitutionally mandated; however, the Governor has the authority to call special sessions to address any pending issues at the Governor's discretion. Governor Abbott called a special session to begin on July 18 to consider legislation to extend the authorization of several state agencies, including the Texas Medical Board, which licenses doctors. In his proclamation for a special session the Governor also included nineteen additional items to consider.
The City has been actively engaged in the special legislative session, meeting with legislators and/or their staff, testifying at committee hearings and providing feedback on proposed legislation.
ISSUE:
GPA will provide a briefing on the first called special session. The special session call includes issues that failed to pass during the regular session, several of them harmful to municipalities. The Senate passed most of the items on the Governor's agenda in the first ten days and the House is currently considering these same issues on the floor or in committee hearings. The following issues being considered restrict local government revenue or authority, directly impacting the City:
Revenue Caps
HB 4 (Bonnen) Passed House Ways & Means Committee
* Lowers the rollback rate from 8 to 6% on all cities that bring in more than $25 million in maintenance and operations property taxes, which would affect 50 to 60 cities statewide. The bill also requires a mandatory election t...
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