Proportionality Bill
You may have grown tired of hearing about proportionality but — given its importance — we want to share a couple of quick notes. First: A number of new House members signed on this week, giving the bill additional momentum. Next: The bill went to the Calendars Committee yesterday, so we hope it will be considered by the full House next week. [Read more about HB 2083 and its current co-authors]
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Budget
Yesterday, the House passed HB 4586, the supplemental appropriations bill which contains funds that restore our $154 million in vetoed dollars. Obviously, this action is significant because it will ensure that the veto is finally resolved.
The House is scheduled to begin considering the budget bill today.
For details about the House version of the budget, read this Dallas Morning News story.
Various committees still are debating how to best use federal economic stimulus dollars. Yesterday, the Senate tentatively supported a bill that would allow Texas to tap into $555 million in federal aid from the stimulus plan — funding that Gov. Perry previously said the state would reject. The bill was supported by a margin of 22 to 9; ultimately, if the legislation is passed by both chambers, the governor could still veto the measure.
Additional details can be found in the following Dallas Morning News story.
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Higher Education Committees
Wednesday morning, the Senate Higher Education Committee took up the community college purchasing bill, SB 857, by Sen. Royce West. This bill seeks to simplify and clarify procurement procedures. Our purchasing director, Phillip Todd, testified on behalf of the bill; this is the third legislative session in which we have tried to get this bill passed. Let’s hope that the “third time is a charm.” [Read more about SB 857]
Also on Wednesday, the House Higher Education Committee met to consider several bills.
The committee voted to move HB 2075 to the full House for consideration. This bill would remove community colleges from the “six-drop” rule. We hope that the House will act quickly on this bill so that the Senate can take action as well. Fortunately, even the original author of the “six-drop” legislation is a co-author of SB 2075. [Read the full text of HB 2075]
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Legislation Tracking
For additional details about some of the bills that DCCCD is tracking, visit our Legislation Tracking site.
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