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We are now half way through the 78th Legislative Session. There were over 6,800 bills filed this session. While both the House of Representatives and the Senate are busy working through this massive amount of legislation, the focus remains on the major issues facing the state at the time: the budget shortfall, insurance reform and medical malpractice reform.
The state currently faces a nearly ten billion dollar budget shortfall. The House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees continue to meet constantly to write a budget within the parameters of available revenue. Because of the shortfall, state spending and agency budgets will be reduced. It is interesting to note that from 1990 through 2001, spending increased by more than 131 percent while the state's population grew by 23 percent.
There is much discussion throughout Texas about proposals that have come before the budget committees and how they may affect citizens. It is important to remember that the budget writing process includes putting all options on the table and weighing the consequences and benefits of each proposal. Once these proposals are examined, the committees will recommend a budget to be debated by the full body of the legislature. The law requires that the budget be balanced before it will be approved by the state comptroller.
The Senate Committee on Business and Commerce has been working hard on Senate Bill 14 which is a comprehensive insurance reform effort. The bill should go before the full Senate within the week. The bill incorporates a number of different tools to rein in the drastically increasing property and automobile insurance premiums paid by Texans.
SB 14 would regulate the rates of personal automobile and homeowners insurance under a prior approval system under which the Texas Department of Insurance must approve rates charged. The bill also would implement a "file and use" provision whereby insurance companies may seek approval by the department to use policy forms tailored to their customers. Among other provisions in the bill are restrictions on credit scoring and the filing of underwriting guidelines.
Medical malpractice has been the major issue of debate on the House Floor for the last two weeks. House Bill 4 is an effort to reduce medical malpractice insurance costs for physicians. A major provision of the bill caps non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, in a medical malpractice case at $250,000. The bill also contains a number of sweeping tort reform measures.
I encourage you to contact me with your questions or comments regarding these bills. You can reach 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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