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Last week, I spoke about the budget process, and on Thursday, April 4, the House took up and debated the budget. Senate Bill 1was passed by a large majority on Thursday evening. Now the bill will go back to the Senate, which will vote to either accept all of the House's amendments or go to conference on the bill. Most likely the Senate will choose to go to conference, and a conference committee made up of members from the House and the Senate will be appointed to reconcile the differences between the two versions of the bill. The reconciled bill is then voted on by all members of each chamber for final passage. No changes to the bill will able to be made at that time.
A bulk of the legislative work continues to be in the committee process. Committees are hearing more and more bills in an effort to move the process along. In the House Committee on Transportation, we heard 23 bills in one day. Next week, we are scheduled to hear 24 new bills before the committee. Other committees have similar work loads. However, as bills are passed out of committee, more and more bills will be taken up on the floor of the house, and the members will spend a majority of the day debating bills on the floor.
Spring is also the time of year when many schools take a field trip to Austin. Recently, I was excited to meet with students, parents, and teachers from Van Alstyne Elementary School. The 4th-graders sang a collection of songs about Texas in the Capitol rotunda and toured the Capitol building. I enjoyed talking with the Van Alstyne students, and was happy that I was able to meet with them while they were here.
For information on any other matter of state government, please contact my office. You can contact me by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by e-mailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us.
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