Constitutional Carry, Property Tax Clarity, Bills Moving
From the newsletter sent April 16, 2021
We have officially entered the busiest part of session where we spend the majority of the day on the House Floor to debate, amend, and pass legislation, while still attending committee hearings for the next several weeks. These long days get even longer when controversial bills are introduced. As one might imagine, this week’s gun-related bills were the most contentious items up for discussion.
The Texas House passed “constitutional carry” or “permitless carry” earlier today in a bipartisan 87-58 vote. HB 1927 will ensure that Texans who are lawfully able to carry a handgun are able to do so for personal protection and for the protection of their family. There has been quite a bit of misinformation surrounding this piece of legislation, so I want to make sure that a few things are clear:
- It asserts the right of all law-abiding citizens age 21-and-older to carry a handgun in a holster in public places where it is not otherwise prohibited;
- It maintains background checks that are required when you purchase a gun at a retail store;
- It does nothing to affect laws related to the misuse of any firearm;
- It does not affect the right of business owners and private property owners to exclude handguns on their property in the same manner they do today;
I was proud to vote for this bill that allows law-abiding adults the freedom to better protect themselves and their families and hope the Senate passes it so that it can become law.
Changing gears, many people have been reaching out to our office over the past week rightfully concerned that the sudden value increase in their homes will mean a nasty surprise come tax time. While there is no guarantee this won’t happen, I would like to reintroduce you to a bill that became law last session that may very well keep many of you from having the kind of property tax increase you are fearing.
SB 2 from last session limits actual city and county property tax revenue growth to 3.5% UNLESS a higher amount is approved by voters (school district growth is limited to 2.5%). For example, if the overall property value increases by 8.5%, then the tax rate will automatically drop by at least 5% (to net a 3.5% increase). It’s important to note that this controls the TOTAL increase, not an increase of each single property. I’ve included more information below.
Finally, we’ve had plenty of movement on our bills this week, and I’ve included a brief update on the bills we advanced out of committee. I’m also excited to report that our bill finalizing the agreement between Midwestern State University and the Texas Tech System overwhelmingly passed the House. From here, Senator Springer will pick up the bill in the Senate and will no doubt carry it across the goal line.
May God bless you and your family,
James B. Frank
Improving Healthcare, Moving Forward, Scoring Touchdowns
From the newsletter sent April 9, 2021
It seems like things are running more smoothly so far this session, but I don’t know if that’s actually true or if being my fifth time around, I’m just not sweating some of the inevitable frustrations that come with the 140-day sprint. The floor calendars are starting to get much longer and committees still have a few more weeks to hear House bills, so this is truly the busiest part of the session. We did take time for a bit of fun on Wednesday as the member vs. member flag football game took place. Other than sore muscles, pulled muscles, and hurt pride, everyone escaped unscathed. Thankfully, the older members beat the first and second term team (and I was able to haul in a TD on Darrell K. Royal Field at UT).
As I’ve mentioned before, improving healthcare and driving down costs is a major priority this legislative session. To that end, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Speaker Phelan, introduced the Healthy Families, Healthy Texas (HFHT) plan. This package of bills will ensure that healthcare in Texas is more accessible and affordable for all 29 million Texans.
Included in the HFHT plan is my bill (HB 3752) to allow the Texas Mutual Insurance Company to offer health insurance products to Texas residents and small businesses. For those unfamiliar, Texas Mutual was originally created by the state legislature to act as a source of affordable workers’ compensation insurance, thus providing consumers with more options and leading to more competitive pricing. Texas Mutual has been successful in accomplishing its original mission, and it is my hope that it can have the same disruptive affect on a health insurance marketplace that currently suffers from a lack of competition in many parts of the state.
Also included in the HFHT plan are bills to protect consumers from surprise medical billing. Of note, HB 2487 by Rep. Tom Oliverson would require hospitals to disclose prices for medical services in advance of delivery. HB 4115, also by Rep. Oliverson, would provide similar protections to prevent against surprise billing by ambulance service providers.
In total, there are 12 bills included in the package, and those interested can find the full list here. I’m proud of the work we’re doing on this important subject, and I look forward to getting these bills passed in the coming weeks.
Outside of healthcare-related bills, there’s plenty of other important legislation working its way through the House. One I’ll mention is HB 1239 by Representative Sanford, which would prohibit the state from forcing places of worship to close their doors in future declared emergencies. Like many, I feel that the state overstepped its authority by shuttering churches in response to the COVID pandemic. This bill will hopefully ensure that this type of government overreach never happens again. Just so you know, I firmly believe that there may be time in the future where people should not gather for worship at churches, mosques or temples, but that should always be the decision of the religious organization and the individual, not the government. I find it quite ironic that many of the people who insist on the freedom of the press to travel and report without government interference, seem to have such difficulty understanding other people’s very strong feelings about the freedom to worship.
Additionally, many people have reached out to our office about HB 6, which deals with election integrity. I know that this is a highly charged partisan issue, and I’ve seen a lot of incorrect information floating around. We wanted to provide a brief explanation of what the bill does and give you the opportunity to read it for yourself.
In brief, HB 6 contains several provisions to help ensure that our elections are fair and secure. First, the bill safeguards the rights of poll watchers to observe elections and report any irregularities. It also includes measures to expedite consideration of election-related suits in court. There are provisions to ensure the names of the deceased are swiftly removed from the rolls, to prohibit the distribution of mail-in ballots to those who have not requested one, and to create a criminal penalty for those who vote in multiple states on the same day. I believe that each of these steps will strengthen election security and boost public confidence in the validity of election results. At the end of the day, it should be EASY TO VOTE AND HARD TO CHEAT.
Finally, a few of our bills were heard and passed out of their respective committees this week, and I’ve included descriptions below. I’ve also included some resources for those interested in staying more plugged-in to what’s happening at your Texas Capitol.
May God bless you and your family,
James B. Frank
Preserving Families, Passing Bills, Celebrating Easter
From the newsletter sent April 2, 2021.
I hope this letter finds each of you well and surrounded by loved ones on this Good Friday. I’m looking forward to spending time with my family this Easter holiday after a busy week at the Texas Capitol.
As we progress further into session, we will begin spending more time on the House floor to debate, amend, and vote on bills that have been voted out of their respective committees. This week we considered and passed a number of bills, including several related to the recent power outages. Of note, HB 10 would require all ERCOT board members to reside in Texas and would create an additional board position to represent consumer interests. HB 11 requires electric transmission and generation facilities to weatherize in order to continue operations in extreme weather. HB 16 bans the type of variable rate plans that led to huge bills for some customers. While passage of these bills is a positive first step, there’s still plenty of work to be done to ensure that the power outages that occurred earlier this year never happen again.
I’m also pleased to report that one of our bills, HB 567 – the Child Trauma Reduction Act, overwhelmingly passed the House on Thursday. I’ve included a brief overview below for those interested.
We also had movement on three other bills, each of which received a hearing in its respective committee. We heard testimony on two of our bills in the Human Services Committee on Tuesday — HB 2658 and HB 3041. I’ve mentioned both of these bills before, but as a reminder HB 2658 makes several changes to improved Medicaid efficiency, while HB 3041 creates the Family Preservation Services pilot program. Meanwhile in the Public Health Committee, we had the opportunity to introduce HB 548, the Veteran Medical Licensing Act, which you can read more about below.
Hopefully, you will enjoy the extra reading material and video in this newsletter as well during this holiday weekend.
May God bless you and your family,
James B. Frank
In the News, Out of Committee, Under the Radar
From the newsletter sent March 26, 2021.
It’s been a whirlwind of a week here in Austin — many of you may have seen news articles highlighting some of the high profile (and often contentious) bills currently working their way through the Texas Legislature. Because of the intense rhetoric surrounding these issues, it can often be hard to find accurate information. The issues with the most headline ink also often drown out the very important, but less contentious legislation going through the process. So, I wanted to provide some clarity on where each of these bills stands.
The Elections Committee hearing on Thursday was the hottest ticket in town, as the committee was scheduled to hear testimony on HB 6, which is Chairman Cain’s election integrity bill. As one might imagine, interested parties from all sides of the issue flocked to the Capitol to make their voices heard. The hearing abruptly came to an end when the Chair and Vice-Chair of the committee were unable to work out some differences in a timely manner. Despite the Chairman’s clearly stated policy on only allowing committee members to ask questions, the Vice-Chair attempted to circumvent the rule while the Chairman was laying out his bill. This ultimately resulted in the Elections Committee adjourning for the day, and they will start the whole process over again next week.
On the same day, the State Affairs Committee was considering another high-profile bill down the hall — HB 749 by Rep. Middleton, which would ban the use of public funds for lobbying. Essentially, this bill would bar state and local government entities from using taxpayer dollars to hire lobbyists (though it would allow counties and cities to have associations and would allow elected officials to travel to Austin to lobby on behalf of their entities). It was more than ironic that many of those who testified against the bill were lobbyists hired using taxpayer funds.
Also on Thursday and continuing into the early hours of Friday morning, the Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee held a marathon hearing on a series of gun-related legislation. Of particular note, the committee heard testimony on three bills (HB 1911, HB 1238, and HB 2900) which would each allow individuals to carry a firearm without a permit — often referred to as constitutional carry.
While most of the attention has been focused on the bills I’ve just mentioned, there’s plenty of work happening outside of the spotlight. The first bills were voted out of the House, committees are in their fourth week of hearings, and I’m working with a number of other chairmen and members on a healthcare cost improvement plan that we feel will bring down the incredibly high price of both health insurance and overall healthcare costs in our great state. We will be discussing these plans in detail over the coming weeks as the various bills move through the committee process.
Finally, I’ve included some information below on vaccine distribution along with new and relaxed nursing home visitation rules that have just been released. There’s also a brief update on our MSU bill.
As always, thank you so much for allowing me to represent HD69 in the Texas Legislature.
May God bless you and your family,
James B. Frank
Better Broadband, Permanent Telehealth, First Visitors
From the newsletter sent March 17, 2021.
Last Friday, we gave you an overview of the 23 bills that I have filed this session. Starting this week, I want to discuss some of the many other issues that are being worked on in the Texas House. I have frequently said that while the federal government makes the news, the issues worked on by the state and local governments usually have much more impact on your day-to-day life.
The ERCOT/PUC/electric grid issue continues to rightfully make headlines and will be front and center throughout this session. While it is important that we move quickly, I hope most people understand the need to fully investigate and carefully craft any “solutions” to this very serious issue. While this issue has grabbed most of the attention, there are a myriad of other critical issues that we will be addressing over the remaining 10 weeks left in session, including election integrity, healthcare access and affordability, school funding, and the state’s unemployment system (and funding reserves). We’ll talk in detail about those topics in upcoming newsletters.
However, this week I wanted to highlight two House Speaker priority bills that I fully support: HB 4 (Telehealth Continuity) and HB 5 (Broadband Access). HB 4 would allow Texas to permanently extend telehealth options that were expanded during COVID when in-person visitation was dramatically scaled back. HB 5 creates a new state office designed to map out the areas of the state with the greatest need for broadband access and direct money towards increasing broadband development in those areas. You can read more about each of these bills below.
Finally, this week we were able to welcome a few visitors from back home. President Shipley and other officials from Midwestern State University made the trip to attend the hearing on our bill to make MSU part of the Texas Tech System. We also had the privilege of welcoming Stephanie and Gonzalo Robles from Wichita Falls. I’m hopeful that more folks from HD-69 will stop by as the session progresses.
May God bless you and your family,
James B. Frank
Bills Moving, Commissioners Leaving, More Bills Filed
From the newsletter sent March 12, 2021.
Session has officially moved into full speed as we just passed the 60-day mark (of 140). This week, I had 4 bills that were heard in their respective committees. With any luck, we will be able to get one or more of them voted out of committee next week when bills will be voted out of committees for the first time. This week (today specifically) marks the last time that any non-local bills can be filed during this legislative session. To that end, my office actually filed 11 new bills this week (a dubious Frank all-time record). I have outlined these 11 bills below so that you will know what each one does and why I filed it. You can also look at the chart further down to track all of our bills as they move (or don’t move) through the legislative process. Next week, we will have just one bill heard in committee (the bill that would allow for MSU to join the Texas Tech System), but we will be seeking to get some of our bills voted out of committee and others to get their first hearing.
Elsewhere in the Capitol, the Legislature continues to investigate the recent power outages, with particular focus on the failures of both the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Many of you may have heard that ERCOT has fired CEO Bill Magness, and that several members of the PUC have resigned. While these personnel changes may be necessary, it doesn’t negate the need for the Legislature to examine and fix the actual policies and structural flaws that allowed our power grid to fail so badly. In a promising first step, Speaker Phelan announced a series of bills on Monday that attempt to address many of the most obvious failures. Among the bills being proposed are:
- HB 10, which contains language mandating that all members of the PUC are appointed, thereby eliminating the “unaffiliated” positions on the board.
- HB 11, which requires the weatherization of all electric transmission and generation facilities in the Texas power system.
- HB 14, which directs the Railroad Commission to adopt rules requiring gas pipeline operators to weatherize their infrastructure.
These and other proposals will be debated and refined over the coming weeks, and I remain optimistic that we will ultimately arrive at an array of common-sense solutions.
Finally, our work in both the Human Services committee and the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues committee is off to a strong start. We heard testimony on a handful of bills this week (including our Essential Caregivers Act and Child Trauma Reduction Act,) and we will hear several more bills next Monday and Tuesday.
May God bless you and your family,
James B. Frank