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On Monday, July 1, the 2nd Called Special Session of the 83rd Legislature convened in Austin to consider the items placed on the call by the governor: legislation relating to the regulation of abortion procedures, providers, and facilities; legislation relating to the funding of transportation infrastructure projects; and legislation relating to establishing a mandatory sentence of life with parole for a capital felony committed by a 17-year-old offender. Since each of these items were also placed on the call for the first called special session, bills relating to each of these subjects were pre-filed prior to the start of the second special session. On Monday, bills were referred to their respective committees for hearings in the coming week. The House and Senate both adjourned until Tuesday, July 9th.
On Tuesday, July 2nd, the House Committee on State Affairs heard testimony on House Bill 2, which regulates abortion procedures, providers, and facilities. This bill would prohibit an abortion of an unborn child that is more than 20 weeks of gestational age, with certain exceptions. The bill would also require that by September of 2014, facilities where abortions are performed must meet the same minimum safety standards as do ambulatory surgical centers. The State Affairs Committee took testimony for over 8 hours before passing HB 2. The bill will now go to the floor of the House for debate, probably sometime next week.
The Senate this week passed the constitutional amendment relating to transportation funding, SJR 1, out of committee, and is scheduled to take it up on the Senate floor on Tuesday, July 9. I am the author of the identical HJR 1, which the House Committee on Appropriations will hear on Tuesday as well. Should this constitutional amendment pass this session, it would go to the voters for approval in November.
Lastly, House Bill 4, which relates to the punishment for a capital felony committed by an individual younger than 18 years of age, is scheduled to be heard in the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence on Monday, July 8. The Senate has already passed its version of the bill, SB 2, out of committee, and is expected to take it up before the full Senate on Tuesday.
For more information on these bills or any state matter, please contact my office by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by emailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us. My district office phone number is (903) 891-7297.
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