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Interim Hearings – Week of September 23, 2024

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of interim committee hearings with links to agendas. Below are resources related to upcoming Interim Hearings.

 

September 24, 2024
House Committee on Appropriations
1. Review the state finance implications of the implementation of House Bill 3447 as it relates to the Texas Space Commission and the Space Economy.

2. Review the state finance implications of the implementation of House Bill 5174 as it relates to the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium and Fund.

3. Review the state finance implications of the implementation of Senate Bill 2627 and potential opportunities to expand the allowable uses of the Texas Energy Fund.

4. Review the state finance implications of the implementation of House Bill 9 as it relates to the Texas Broadband Infrastructure Fund.

5. Review the state finance implications of future population growth trends.

6. Review the state finance implications of the implementation of Senate Bill 1648 as it relates to the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund.

7. Interim Charge 2: Examine cross-article funding streams within the Texas Education Agency, such as School Health and Related Services (SHARS), determine where overlapping programs are best fit and funded, and make policy recommendations to improve transparency and accountability between agencies.

 

House Committee on Natural Resources
Monitoring: Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee’s jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 88th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure the intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following:

  • SB 28, relating to financial assistance provided and programs administered by the Texas Water Development Board.

Water Reuse Expansion: Examine opportunities to expand the reuse of waters in Texas as an additional water supply and identify funding deficiencies for water reuse projects and regulatory impediments that make expansion of water reuse difficult in Texas.

Reliability of Clean Water Access: Evaluate the causes, durations, and incidence of boil water notices issued by public water systems. Identify solutions to keep critical water infrastructure online during public water system failures and consider whether policy changes are necessary to prevent interruption to the public’s access to clean, reliable drinking water.

Groundwater Infrastructure: Examine Texas groundwater data infrastructure, data collection, and monitoring practices and identify policy solutions for improvement in the areas of understanding local groundwater conditions; groundwater modeling for planning and decision-making; and resource management

 

Senate Subcommittee Higher Education
Charge: Public Junior College State Finance Program: Monitor the implementation of the new community college funding model as recommended by the Texas Commission on Community College Finance. Report on whether the rulemaking process is being successfully completed to focus on student outcomes and enhancing the role of public junior colleges in workforce training and preparation.

Charge: Innovation and Technology in Higher Education: Investigate the opportunities and challenges of emerging technology on teaching and learning, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), online education, and digital resources. Examine aspects of intellectual property as they relate to the development of AI programs and platforms by institutions of higher education and explore the ethical issues institutions of higher education should contemplate when developing AI programs and platforms. Make recommendations to responsibly and ethically utilize emerging technology to enhance learning in higher education

Charge: Core Curriculum Course Accessibility: Review student access to core curriculum courses at Texas institutions of higher education. Examine the availability of these courses both online and in-person, as well as any issues that would prevent or reduce in-person access. Make recommendations for any needed reforms to ensure that all students have equal in-person access to core courses.

 

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September 26, 2024
House Committee on Ways and Means
Charge: Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee’s jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 88th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure the intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following:

HB 5, the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation Act, relating to agreements authorizing a limitation on taxable value of certain property to provide for the creation of jobs and the generation of state and local tax revenue; authorizing fees; authorizing penalties; and

HB 796, relating to the creation and maintenance by an appraisal district of a publicly available Internet database of information regarding protest hearings conducted by the appraisal review board established for the district.

 

House Committee on Ways and Means and House Select Study Committee on Sustainable Property Tax Relief (Joint Hearing)
Charge: Review the impact of HJR 2/SB 2 (88S2), which provides property tax relief through various mechanisms, on achieving the goal of providing sustainable property tax relief for Texas property owners.

Charge: Evaluate the effects of tax rate compression, limits on taxable value, and homestead exemption increases to maximize savings to property owners, and evaluate whether Texas’ economic performance and state tax revenues support further compression of school district tax rates.

Charge: Study the viability and sustainability of eliminating maintenance and operations taxes by 2035.

Charge: Examine historical rates of appraisal increases, and methods to reduce the tax burden of appraisal increases on all real property. Evaluate whether to extend the limitation on appraised value of certain non-homestead real property past the current expiration date of December 31, 2026, and whether to further reduce the limit on appraised value of homesteads.

Charge: Examine the long-term value of homestead exemptions to Texas homeowners in conjunction with the impact of appraisal increases and evaluate whether to maintain the homestead exemption at its current rate.

 

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