Dear John,

The Texas Legislature is headed towards the end of the legislative session. With the final weeks of work ahead of us, I wanted to send you a quick update on the status of our legislative agenda and what we've been working on at the Capitol.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve you, House District 136, and the people of Texas. Please do not ever hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or comments or if there is anything my office can do for you.

All the best,

John H. Bucy III

State Representative

House District 136

We are officially two weeks away from Sine Die, the last day of the legislative session. There's a lot of work to be done in these final days — we have to pass a budget and address key legislative priorities. 

Ensuring Access to Healthcare

My biggest priority of the Legislative Session would leverage already-verified information to offer enrollment in CHIP or Medicaid to currently eligible but unenrolled kids (H.B. 1599). It'd been sitting in the Senate for over 40 days, but was finally referred to committee this week and has a renewed chance of passing. We've also sent over legislation to improve 2-1-1 so Texans can access needed resources (H.B. 2473) and clean-up pharmacy provisions related to insulin and regulatory authority (H.B. 2088).

Keeping Our Promises to Retirees

All session long I have fought for pay raises for teachers and state employees as well as a cost of living adjustment for retirees. With the budget ongoing and other vehicles for funding still in the legislative process, I will continue that advocacy. I'm proud to have sent a bill to the Governor's desk that will ensure the long-term actuarial soundness of the City of Austin's pension fund (S.B. 1444). I also am excited to have voted for a cost of living adjustment for retired teachers, and to have added an amendment requiring TRS to issue a biennial report on the impact of inflation on retirees (S.B. 10).

Protecting the Vulnerable

Vulnerable Texans need our support. We've been working in key areas to advance initiatives to ensure everyone has an opportunity to succeed. These initiatives include "Bags of Love" which ensures kids in foster care get a bag instead of a trash bag to hold their belongings (H.B. 3075), requiring a physical and mental health wellness check after use of restraint on children in special education (H.B. 3867), and helping address food insecurity and hunger on college campuses (H.B. 4571).

Leading on Voting Rights

While I filed many bills dealing with voting rights that we were able to send over to the Senate, I am most excited about two bills that are nearly across the legislative finish line. Our Voters with Disabilities Omnibus that we are grateful to have worked with Sen. Zaffirini on would improve in-person, curbside, and ballot by mail (S.B. 477) Meanwhile, the other proposal would make improvements to the ballot by mail process, including standardizing ballot by mail cure and making it easier for voters to correct technical defects (S.B. 1599).  

Standing up for Our Communities

A lot of my time in the Texas House is spent playing defense. This session, I killed two bills on Points of Order that would have made it harder to run for office and participate in our democracy (H.B. 232 and H.B. 153). Similarly, I moved to strike the enacting clause and immediately kill a bill prohibiting trans women from participating in collegiate sports (S.B. 15) and a bill to raise the penalty for illegal voting back to a felony (H.B. 1243). I also stopped an amendment with a Point of Order that would have added past involvement with Planned Parenthood or LGBTQ Pride to an application for economic development agreements (H.B. 5).

We've also fought back against bills that eliminate local control (H.B. 2127), punish doctors and providers for vaccine policies that protect children and medically vulnerable patients (H.B. 44), and attack university tenure and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion policies (S.B. 17 and S.B. 18), by offering amendments and questioning the authors to hold them accountable. I'll continue to stand up for our communities at the Capitol and keep the focus on common sense problem solving, not divisive partisan issues.

This session we filed 88 bills dealing with healthcare access, voting rights, public and higher education, criminal justice reform, and property taxes. We also worked extensively with our local jurisdictions on bills to support jobs, economic development, and government pensions in House District 136.

I'm proud to have two bills on the way to the Governor's desk and 16 other bills still moving through the process. With the deadline for the House to pass bills originating in the chamber behind us, we have sent 15 bills to the Senate for consideration. We are also carrying three Senate bills through the House for which we had filed companion legislation. You can read more about these bills below as well as explore the full list of legislation we filed this session.

H.B. 1599 - Express Lane Eligibility: Leverages already-verified information to offer enrollment to 400,000 Texas kids who are already eligible for CHIP or Medicaid, but not yet enrolled. Referred to Senate Health & Human Services 5/17.

H.B. 3765 - Bags of Love: Requires DFPS to acquire and provide children in foster care with a bag instead of a trash bag when moving their possessions. Passed the House and Senate 5/17.

H.B. 2473 - 2-1-1 TIRN Improvements: Makes long overdue technological improvements and upgrades to the Texas Information and Referral Network (2-1-1 TIRN), ensuring Texans are better able to access essential services and basic needs. Referred to Senate Health & Human Services 5/1.

H.B. 357 - BBM Tracker Access Fix: Simplifies the access requirements to make it easier for Texans to use the Ballot By Mail Tracker by changing address to date of birth. Voted out of Senate State Affairs 5/16.

H.B. 380 - Elections & C/OH Database: Increases transparency and accessibility by putting more information about city council and school board elections as well as incumbents and candidates for those races on the Secretary of State's website. Referred to Senate State Affairs 5/9.

H.B. 2088 - Pharmacy Clean-Up: Makes technical clean-ups to Kevin's Law to ensure access to emergency insulin refills as well as regulatory matters related to the practice of pharmacy. Referred to Senate Health & Human Services 5/5.

H.B. 3867 - Post Restraint Screener: Requires a physical and mental health wellness screening after a child in special education has a restraint performed on them. Referred to Senate Education 5/10.

H.B. 4571 - Hunger Free Campus: Creates a designation for Texas' college campuses to become a Hunger Free Campus, encouraging action to address student hunger and food insecurity. Referred to Senate subcommittee on Higher Education 5/10.

H.B. 5277 - Public Magistration: An agreed-upon framework with judges, cities, counties, law enforcement, and criminal justice reform groups to ensure magistration is public as already required by law. Referred to Senate Criminal Justice 5/10.

H.B. 3768 - TDUAA: Modernizes the Texas business code to allow for the formation of Decentralized Unincorporated Associations, which are organizations that use modern technology such as blockchain for governance, voting, and other business activities. Referred to Senate Business & Commerce 5/16.

H.B. 374 - Runoff BBM Opt Out: Changes the presumption so that an individual who is eligible and applied to vote by mail in an election will also receive a mail in ballot for any resulting runoff, unless they opt out, as opposed to having to apply for one. Referred to Senate State Affairs 5/9.

H.B. 371 - Runoff Standardization: Requires the Secretary of State to select a standard runoff date for each general election to be held in May or November, to ensure overlapping jurisdictions do not have runoff elections on separate dates. Scheduled for a hearing in Senate State Affairs 5/18.

H.B. 1759 - 50/50 Charitable Raffles: Permits existing 50/50 charitable raffles conducted by professional sports teams' foundations to be done thru their websites or apps.  Left pending in Senate State Affairs 5/11.

H.B. 349 - Municipal Drainage Fees: Allows cities to exempt all or part of drainage fees for seniors, veterans, or people with disabilities. Left pending in Local Government 5/1.

H.B. 5359 - WilCo Development District: Creates a commercial development district in Williamson County to help fund public infrastructure and provide roadways, parks, and trails. Referred to Senate Local Government 5/15.

S.B. 1444 - Austin Pension Fund: Establishes a comprehensive, agreed upon framework to ensure the long-term financial stability of the City of Austin Employee Retirement System. Sent to the Governor 5/17.

S.B. 477 - Voters with Disabilities Omnibus: Makes improvements to in person voting, curbside voting, and ballot by mail for voters with disabilities to help ensure equal access to the ballot box. Committee Report sent to House Calendars 5/12.

S.B. 1599 - BBM Cure & Other Processes: Makes a series of changes to absentee voting procedures and standardizes ballot by mail cure processes regarding actions taken by the early voting clerks, early voting ballot board, and signature verification committee. Passed the House and Senate 5/18.

Grumet: Some foster kids get a trash bag for their stuff. A Texas bill would change that. - Austin American-Statesman

Texas Republicans Push New Voting Restrictions Aimed at Houston - The New York Times

With the End of Session in Sight, Lawmakers Increasingly Employ House Rule Procedure to Kill Bills - The Texan

House signals readiness to fight Senate over bills to ban tenure, diversity efforts at Texas universities - The Texas Tribune

Proposed Texas bill challenges waves of legislation against academic expression - The Daily Texan

Could State Employees Get First Cost-of-Living Raise in 21 years? - The Austin Chronicle

Texas House passes transgender sports bill after long , contentious debate - Austin American-Statesman

Bill to oust Harris County elections administrator advances as GOP targets Democratic stronghold - Houston Chronicle

Republican lawmaker pushes for uniformity in Texas elections - Capital Tonight, Spectrum News

Illegal voting in Texas likely to be a felony again after state House vote - The Texas Tribune

Political advertising paid for by John Bucy Campaign, Hon. Heather Jefts, treasurer.