Texas licensed child care association

Texas Legislative Newsletter- March 13, 2023

The (C) Rush is On

We have passed the 60th day of this Legislative Session, our first big deadline with many more to come. After day 60 in a Regular Session no bills shall be filed by either body of the legislature according to the Texas Constitution (Article 1 Section 5). Now the House and the Senate can suspend this rule but it takes a 4/5 majority to do so. That is 120 votes in the House out of 150 members and 25 votes in the 31-member Senate. The Senate routinely suspends this rule, but not so in the House. Altogether, 7,662 bills were filed by members of the House and Senate.

The next phase of the legislative process begins now and that is the referral of bills to the appropriate committees in the two bodies of the legislature. The referral process seems to take an agonizingly long time. Referral of bills is done by the presiding officers of each body, the Speaker and the Lt. Governor, and often is done at the rate of one or two hundred bills a day.

The large budget surplus that is projected for Texas, $32.7 billion, is starting to be carved up by legislative leaders. Property Tax reductions are being attempted with Speaker Dade Phelan announcing support for a $17 billion property tax cut, roughly $1,000. reduction in school property taxes for the average Texas homeowner.

Committees of the House and Senate are fully organized and have started holding substantive hearings on legislation referred to the committees. Soon, legislative days will grow longer and committees will begin to hold hearings late into the evenings. There are 80 days left in this regular session and most waking hours will be spent in the Capitol by members of the legislature, their staff, and interested parties like you and me.

Thank you,

Bill Pewitt

Legislative Watch List 

TLCCA is working hard for you this legislative year! Let us help you stay "in the know" on what Bills could impact the child care industry.