Money matters are likely to top the issues Texas lawmakers will focus on when they return to Austin next year, as they face a multibillion-dollar deficit for items including an underfunded Medicaid budget and making up dollars needed for public schools.
On Monday, bills designed to curb costs, close tax loopholes and generate more money for the state -- possibly by allowing casinos -- were among hundreds pre-filed for the 2013 Legislature, which begins Jan. 8.But not everything was about money: Lawmakers filed proposals to ban texting while driving, speed up how quickly Texans may be cremated and allow the Ten Commandments to be posted in public schools, state records show."Our goals next session are, first and foremost, to protect Texas' economic recovery, which is outpacing the rest of the country," said state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. "That means responsibly balancing another tight budget while meeting our needs on education and other important priorities."Only a small fraction of the bills filed each session will become law.Last year, 5,796 bills were filed in Texas; 1,379 were passed.MoneySeveral proposals filed Monday address the state's finances: repealing the franchise tax, limiting uses of revenue from motor vehicle registration fees and taxes, and limiting the rate of growth of state appropriations.Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, filed Senate Joint Resolution 6 to generate money by letting Texans decide whether to create a Texas Gaming Commission, which would oversee a limited number of casinos and "slot establishments" in Texas.Ellis, who has filed similar proposals before, said in the bill that money raised through expanded gambling would "provide additional money for the property tax relief fund and additional financial aid for higher education students."He has said: "Texans deserve the right to decide whether they want ... to move forward with an option to bring back jobs and money to Texas that we are giving away to other states. It is time for our state to capture the benefits of this industry and take advantage of significant capital investment, new jobs, a revived travel and tourism industry and revenue that will help fund education and keep our promise of lower property taxes."Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, also filed a package of bills to generate $14.6 billion over the next two years, which he said could be spent on healthcare and education.His proposals would raise money by closing tax loopholes, including a 20-plus-year tax cut to encourage fracking, and by capping the interest rate on prepayments the state gives to sales tax filers and on bonuses the state pays to sales tax filers for paying taxes on time."The state doesn't fund a lot of things adequately, but these bills show that we can get closer if we have the courage to close unended tax loopholes and simply accept the federal funding that Texans are already paying for in income taxes," Burnam said.Social issuesSeveral lawmakers filed bills to ban texting while driving, including Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, who passed a similar bill last year that Gov. Rick Perry vetoed."Driving around town or from Midland to Austin, I see so many drivers distracted by their phone," Craddick said after filing the bill. "These drivers are taking their eyes off the road and jeopardizing the safety of themselves and others."Writing a text or checking your messages is not worth injuring yourself or someone else," he said. "I believe a ban on texting while driving will help save lives."Cities including Arlington, Austin and San Antonio have similar bans. Arlington's ban took effect last year.Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van, is directing his attention to the classroom.He filed a bill that says school board members may not stop copies of the Ten Commandments from being posted in "prominent" locations in classrooms.Flynn filed a similar bill two years ago that failed. He said then that his measure was "necessary to protect teachers who have the desire to establish that the country's historical background is based on Judeo-Christian traditions.""And anything that helps build the morals of our young people would be helpful," he said.He also filed a bill requiring the State Board of Education to adopt rules requiring public school students to complete a class on the U. S. Constitution as part of social studies.Proposed reformsRep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, filed a bill to require sex offenders to post on their Facebook profiles that they are a sex offender, what their offense was and where it was committed and whether they were convicted. The measure would require offenders to post their full name, date of birth, sex, race, height, weight, eye color, hair color and address on social networking sites they use. The proposal is similar to one that took effect in Louisiana this year.And Nelson filed measures to help the state prevent fraud, abuse and waste in the Medicaid system and reform the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program by requiring drug testing for high-risk applicants, preventing the dollars from being used to buy alcohol and tobacco and strengthening work and job-training requirements."We need to ensure that individuals receiving these public benefits are on a true path to self-sufficiency and drug-free in keeping with the mission of this program," she said.She also filed bills to let parents create credit files for children and freeze those files to prevent child identity theft, eliminate obsolete reports identified by the Legislative Budget Board, expand stem cell data collection from Texas universities and let doctors waive the current 48-hour waiting period for cremation.Nelson said the cremation bill "protects religious freedoms and eliminates unnecessary red tape for grieving families who wish to mourn in accordance with their beliefs."Other proposals filed Monday include making election days state holidays, preventing straight-party voting in judicial races, increasing penalties for prostitution, and funding pre-kindergarten for full days, rather than the current half-days.Anna M. Tinsley,817-390-7610Twitter: @annatinsley
List of proposals Texas lawmakers filed
PoliTex blog: From North Texas to D.C., our insiders take you beyond the usual rhetoric
Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
