The Texas Legislature is about to meet. Here are the priorities for Fort Worth lawmakers
Response to the coronavirus, the state budget and criminal justice reforms are among the priorities for Fort Worth area lawmakers as they prepare to head back to the Texas Capitol.
Members of the Texas House of Representatives and Senate will return to Austin on Tuesday to convene the 87th Legislative Session. It’s the first time the full Legislature has met since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, and the virus is expected to drive much of the chambers’ work.
Their challenge will be twofold as lawmakers work to respond to the virus while convening amid rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
“The ongoing response to COVID-19 will remain at the forefront,” Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said in a statement.
Crafting Texas’ budget
As the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Nelson’s focus includes the state budget.
“My #1 job as chair of the Senate Finance Committee is to pass a balanced budget that funds our effort to defeat the coronavirus, continues essential services and gets Texas back open for business,” Nelson said.
It won’t be an easy task. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar in July projected the state will end its two-year budget with $11.57 billion less in general revenue funds than previously estimated, creating a $4.58 billion shortfall.
Hegar is expected to issue his biennial revenue estimate to lawmakers on Monday.
Since this summer, Nelson has been reviewing budget requests from state agencies, boards and higher education institutions. Some of her top budget priorities include economic recovery, public safety, mental health and public education funding.
“Meeting our needs in the face of sharp declines in revenue will be our greatest challenge next session,” Nelson said. “Because of our fiscal discipline over the years, Texas is in a much better position than other states, but it will be a tight budget.”
Nelson said the state government must “live within its means” and cautioned against raising taxes.
“We will need to re-establish our priorities and find more efficient ways to deliver services,” Nelson said.
State Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, said he’d support tapping the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund, commonly called the Rainy Day Fund, for “targeted, one time only expenditures.”
There is roughly $10.5 billion in the fund, according to Kevin Lyons, a spokesperson for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
“If there’s ever been a … rainy day time, I think a pandemic is a cause for it,” Krause said.
Krause is pushing to limit state spending each biennium to growth in population plus inflation. He said the bill would put “guardrails around how we spend money in the future.”
Responding to COVID-19
Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a number of executive orders since the pandemic began related to business operations. He has been criticized for going too far and not going far enough in his efforts to mitigate the virus’ spread across the state.
“Governor Abbott made the decision to be solely responsible for Texas’ pandemic response, but thankfully that will finally change once the legislative session begins in January,” said Rep. Chris Turner, a Grand Prairie Democrat and chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a statement.
State Sen. Beverly Powell, D-Burleson, said she expects the issue of local control to come up in the context of the coronavirus.
“We want to make sure that everyone gets a seat at the table,” Powell said.
A number of bills have already been filed related to coronavirus response. Krause is pushing to remove the distinction between essential and nonessential businesses.
“I don’t think the government should ever tell somebody that their job’s not worthy, that their job’s not noble, that their job is not worth doing compared to others,” Krause said.
State Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, said the Legislature needs to take a look at why the virus has had a harsher effect on some, including African-Americans.
Powell has filed a bill that would provide workers compensation and death benefits for detention officers, firefighters, peace officers and emergency medical technicians who contract COVID-19 in the line of duty.
“They put their lives on the line for us every day, and I think it’s important for us to stay focused on making sure that they get the benefits that they deserve,” Powell said.
Supporting education
Last legislative session, lawmakers passed a sweeping school finance bill that allotted roughly $6.5 billion more toward public education and $5.1 billion to cut school district taxes.
“Everywhere I go and all of the organizations that I talk to, the number one thing on people’s mind is that we make sure that in this legislative session that we preserve the gains that we made in House Bill 3 for public education and property tax reform,” Powell said.
Powell, who sits on the Senate’s public and higher education committees added, “I feel confident in saying that my colleagues in the Senate are equally as focused on making sure that we preserve those funding gains that we got for public ed.”
School districts are feeling financial strain brought on by the pandemic, Collier said. The pandemic also exposed flaws and gaps, including a digital divide leaving students lacking the technology needed to learn virtually.
“These are issues that we’re going to have to tackle, because some of these school districts have not been paid, they’re not getting the full reimbursement for … these added expenses that they’ve had to take for safety,” Collier said.
Criminal Justice reforms
Collier, who chairs the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, will be among lawmakers working for criminal justice reforms. People have demanded changes to the system in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
“There’s more people who have lost their lives as a result of encounters with law enforcement, and Texans, they’re not going to accept this,” shd said. “We’re tired of this. We want to see change.”
Collier said she’d like to see a uniform level of expectation for accountability and transparency for law enforcement agencies, as well as more collaboration between law enforcement and health care providers. She also filed a bill to require implicit bias training.
Krause said bail reform needs to be addressed.
“You can’t just be so lax where you let everybody out, dangerous people back on the street, but there’s also sometimes a perverse element on bail, where people just can’t afford it, so they’re trapped in this penal system, and maybe they shouldn’t be,” Krause said.
Drawing Texas districts
Every 10 years the Texas Legislature takes on an intensive task — redistricting.
Nelson said it will be a “dominant” issue as lawmakers draw the state’s House, Senate and Congressional districts, a process that is among the Legislature’s most partisan. Texas could gain up to three congressional seats.
Lawmakers use census population data to help them craft the boundaries, but delays in collecting the numbers amid the coronavirus pandemic could push the redistricting process into a special session.
State Rep. Phil King, a Weatherford Republican who chairs the House Redistricting Committee, said the committee must adhere to the law and have a transparent process that members of the public can participate in.
Past maps have resulted in court battles.
“You obviously have political considerations ... but again our first job is to follow the law, to be transparent and to be fair,” he said in an interview with the Texas Tribune. “And I know we’re all going to try to do the best we can to keep those communities of interest together.”
