The deadline for filing most bills is Friday, March 13. Next week, we’ll provide a list of the remainder of the environmental bills that have been filed. For now, we have updates about some legislation that CEC member groups have been following–and telling us about. Well over 40 people attended the State Park Funding Event last Thursday and were treated…
Discussions about the budget continue, and legislators continue to file bills. Bills of environmental note relate to transportation funding, a new state pollinator, electric railways, conservation grant programs, urban transit districts, air quality fees, desalination, Global Climate Change Commission, mineral rights, public utilities, and reporting wastewater spills. You can read more on the Texas Senate News page, the Texas House…
Last week, Governor Abbott laid out his priorities for the legislative session (early childhood education, higher education research funding, transportation, border security, and ethics–but not the environment), allowing the priorities to be considered by both houses in the first 60 days of the session. This week’s bills of environmental note relate to cutting down trees, ad valorem tax determinations, oil and gas wells, electric utilities, recycling, shark fins, flouide in drinking water, farmers markets, lightbulbs, groundwater conservation districts, the highway fund, public nuisances, community service, a coastal barrier system, agri- and eco-tourism, energy efficiency, wind power, the recreational use of rivers, and dedicated funds.