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The next legislative session of the Texas Legislature is set to begin January 11, 2005. The legislature meets in regular sessions every two years, beginning at noon on the second Tuesday of odd numbered years. A regular legislative session lasts for 140 consecutive days. May 30 will be the last day of next year's regular session. Although we are a month and a half away from the beginning of session, preparation for the next legislative session began over a year ago when the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor issued interim charges to committees of the House and Senate, respectively. Interim charges are lists of issues given to each committee to study during the time between sessions. Committees are expected to hold hearings and research the interim charges in order to make recommendations to the legislature based on their findings. As of November 8, legislators were able to begin pre-filing bills for the upcoming legislative session. Early filing helps ease the procedural burden of processing the many bills that are filed. Each session, over 5,000 bills are filed and each must be read before the chamber in which it originated. Another important benefit of early filing is that it allows the citizens of Texas to be informed of the issues that the legislature will be debating and gives them time to communicate with their legislators regarding their thoughts on these issues. You can access pre-filed legislation on the House of Representatives' website at www.house.state.tx.us. As of November 19, there have already been over 150 bills pre-filed. A look at the bills that have been filed gives a good feel for the types of issues that will be covered during the session. School finance reform will be one of the major topics. While there has not been a comprehensive school finance reform plan filed as of yet, there have been a number of bills filed which deal with the issue of school finance and property taxes. Here are some pre-filed bills dealing with other issues: House Bill 26, by Rep. Dianne Delisi, which would establish a state website where all major state contracts and purchasing documents could be viewed by anyone in the general public. The intent of the bill is to make the state contracting process as open and transparent as possible. House Bill 27, by Rep. William Callegari, increases the penalty for the intoxication manslaughter of a police officer or other public servant to five to 99 years in prison, up from the current penalty of two to twenty years. The bill also increases the penalty for injuring an on-duty officer from a prison sentence of two to ten years to a term of two to twenty years. So far in 2004, three police officers have been killed by drunk drivers. I am interested in hearing your comments on legislation that will be debated in the Texas House of Representatives. You can contact me by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910.
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