Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens

Monday, March 22, 2021
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• We have now officially reached the halfway point of the 140-day legislative session. And while the first 70 days have been relatively slow compared to recent years, the process is starting to get moving with committee schedules filling up.
   
• Here is a look at a few conservative priorities that have hearings or potential votes coming up this week:

Election Integrity

• Senate Bill 155 by State Sen. Charles Perry (R–Lubbock)  directs the Texas attorney general’s office to regularly review lists of voters excused from jury duty because they attest they are not U.S. citizens or not residents of the county in which they’re registered, and investigate whether anyone on them has committed a voter registration offense. This bill was passed out of the Senate State Affairs committee last week, and could be voted on by the Senate this week.
   

• Today, the Senate State Affairs Committee is scheduled to hear multiple election bills, including comprehensive reform proposal Senate Bill 7 and several of the “Integrity Seven” bills by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston).
   

• In the House, State Rep. Briscoe Cain’s omnibus election reform measure House Bill 6 is on Thursday’s Elections Committee agenda.

Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying

• On Thursday, House Bill 749 by State Rep. Mayes Middleton will be heard by the House State Affairs Committee. The bill would ban taxpayer-funded lobbying, where government officials spend citizens’ cash on hiring lobbyists to influence state lawmakers—often toward legislative decisions that harm citizens.
   
• Last session, a bill to ban the practice passed out of the Senate, but was voted down by members of the House. Ending the practice remains a priority of the Texas GOP.
   
• “Up to $41 million per year has been spent on taxpayer-funded lobbying, even though 91 percent of all Texans oppose the practice. It’s time to defund this bureaucracy.” –State Rep. Mayes Middleton

Constitutional Carry

• Also on Thursday, a slate of bills to allow citizens to carry firearms without permits from the state are up for hearings in the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety. These include:
   
  • House Bill 1238 by State Rep. Kyle Biedermann
  • House Bill 1911 by State Rep. James White (the chair of the committee)
  • House Bill 2900 by State Rep. Cole Hefner
     
• Constitutional carry has been a top priority for the Republican Party of Texas and gun owners across the Lone Star State for over a decade, but efforts to eliminate the requirement of a state gun permit have repeatedly been defeated.
   
• The replacement of Democrat Chair Poncho Nevarez with Republican James White, who has filed his own version of the bill, could be a more hopefully sign this session.
   
• “Our Constitution was written to ensure certain rights of all citizens. Everyone has the right to life and to protect that life from harm. No one should have to pay a fee or get permission from the government before being able to do so legally.” –State Rep. Kyle Biedermann

Want to know what else is coming up this week? Check out Texas Scorecard later today for This Week in Texas, where Jeramy Kitchen will preview what is expected to come ahead in the Texas Capitol!

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