Texas Legislative Watch: Pre-Filing Begins

The 82nd session of the Texas Legislature may not have begun, but lawmakers have already begun to file the legislation that the State House and State Senate will be debating and voting on when the session begins in January. Since the election swept into power a near super majority for Republicans in the House, and Republicans maintain a significant majority in the Senate, the legislation being filed has been some of conservative Republicans top priorities. So far 402 bills have been pre-filed in the legislature, and 38 concurrent and joint resolutions have been pre-filed. Just in the first three days. Overall in the last legislative session a total of 12,239 bill and resolutions where filed, of which 1,655 were signed by the Governor.

Fred Brown, who represents most of Bryan and College Station as the Representative for the Texas House of Representatives 14th District, pre-filed seven bills on Monday. The Bryan-College Station Eagle reported on some of the more notable bills, including a bill to abolish the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and a bill to make it more difficult for College Station to annex Wellborn. During the last legislative session Brown filed 24 bills, of which 8 were passed by the House, 5 were signed by Governor Perry, and one was vetoed by the Governor. Overall over Brown’s first six terms in the House he has introduced 117 pieces of legislation, of which 36 have been passed by the House, 28 have been signed into law, and only one has been vetoed. In his time in office 24% of the bills Brown have filed have become law.

Fred Brown’s Legislative History


Bills Pre-Filed By Fred Brown:

HB 104: This bill would abolish the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and transferring the coordinating board's functions and activities and the State Board of Education's statutorily assigned functions and activities to the Texas Education Agency. This legislation does not seem to have support within the education community, and it is unclear if it will gain any traction among lawmakers since the financial savings are likely to be small.

HB 105: This bill would make it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $200, to use a wireless communication device (i.e. cellular phone) to read, write, or send a text-based communication while operating a motor vehicle unless the vehicle is stopped.
Several states and municipalities have passed similar legislation, as well as several military instillations have implemented identical policies.

HB 106: This bill would create one independent school district in each county in this state, having boundaries coextensive with the boundaries of the county.

HB 107: This bill would require cities with a population of less than 185,000 but more than 65,000 to receive approval from voters in an area they wish to annex before the annexation is allowed. If the election were to fail, the municipality would be required wait five years before it annexes the territory. This piece of legislation is a direct result of the conflict between the city of College Station attempts to annex the community of Wellborn.

HB 108: This bill would make illegal, and classifies as a Penalty Group 2 controlled substance under the Texas Controlled Substances Act, a substance known chemically as JWH-018, but more commonly known as K2 or synthetic marijuana or synthetic cannabis. College Station and Bryan recently passed ordinances that banned K2 in those respective cities, and many other municipalities in Texas have passed similar legislation.

HB 109: This bill would allow the governing body of a municipality by ordinance to give a designated official discretion to temporarily lower a prima facie speed limit for a highway or part of a highway in the municipality, including a highway of the state highway system, at the site of an investigation using vehicular accident reconstruction.

HB 110: This bill would make it a requirement for a school bus, a school activity bus, or a multifunctional school activity bus operating outside the boundaries of a municipality to be equipped with safety guards or flaps that are located and suspended behind the rearmost wheels of the vehicle or the rearmost vehicle in the combination within eight inches of the surface of the highway.