“As Always, I find that the best ideas flow from the district into Austin, not the other way around. The vast majority of these bills came from ideas brought to me by concerned constituents”
Yesterday Texas Representative Jason Isaac R-Dripping Springs, District 45 released the list of House Bills his office is working on in the 85th legislative session.
“As Always, I find that the best ideas flow from the district into Austin, not the other way around. The vast majority of these bills came from ideas brought to me by concerned constituents,” Isaac said.
To track or search any current bill, as well as sign up for email updates on the progress of specific bills, at www.capitol.state.tx.us.
“These bills are proposals in their earliest stages, and they have to survive a long and rigorous process before they have a chance to become law. They may see many changes, and so I welcome your continued feedback on these bills as well as on any other issues that are important to you,” Isaac said.
State Representative Jason Isaac was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2010 and is a fourth-generation native Texan. Isacc serves District 45 (Map) Blanco and Hays counties in the Texas Legislature.
Improving Education
- HB 1333: The Teaching Over Testing Act aims to reduce the emphasis of standardized testing in our public schools. You can read more about the four provisions of this bill HERE.
- HB 1403: Expands reporting requirements to ensure educators who engage in improper relationships are not allowed to work in our schools again. Read more on this bill HERE.
- HB 2768: The Referee Protection Act allows UIL to permanently ban a student who has assaulted an official from participating in athletics, as well as academic or artistic competitions.
- HB 3501: Exempts public charter schools from drainage fees, placing them on equal footing with traditional public schools.
- HB 3716: Allows the Texas Education Agency to receive and analyze anonymized data from schools’ annual Fitnessgram physical fitness assessments.
Public Safety
- HB 2283: Designates any sexual relationship between a Department of Family and Protective Services employee and a foster child as sexual assault.
- HB 3616: Gives the Texas Department of Insurance the authority to regulate self-insured drivers. Currently, the only way to recover damages from a self-insured driver after an accident is through the court system, which is costly and time-consuming.
- HB 3698: Prohibits sanctuary cities from receiving tax reimbursements from sporting events through the Major Events Reimbursement Program. Governor Abbott has also called for law enforcement funding to be cut for cities that refuse to honor ICE detainers.
- HB 3719: Creates an offense for failure to provide identification to a peace officer. This was requested by a local law enforcement agency.
Reducing Government Regulation
- HB 1509: Requires emergency services district board members to be elected, and therefore directly accountable to voters, rather than appointed by county commissioners.
- HB 1510: Transfers oversight of emergency services districts’ financial reports from the Texas Department of Agriculture to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
- HB 1684: Aimed to repeal licensure and reduce regulatory burdens on speech-language pathologists and audiologists. Due to feedback from House District 45, I’ve decided not to pursue this bill any further.
- HB 2166: Prohibits excessive towing fees levied against tractor trailers involved in accidents.
- HB 2400: The “Texas Time” bill to repeal the outdated Daylight Saving Time law and move to Central Daylight Time, with an extra hour of sunlight in the evening, year-round. Read more about this bill HERE.
- HB 3212: Reduces the amount of fines cities can keep from commercial motor vehicle enforcement.
- HB 3405: Exempting historic buildings in downtown Austin from the city’s costly, retroactive sprinkler ordinance.
Preserving Local Character and Well-Being
- HB 1423: Designates portions of 1826 and 150 as “scenic highways” to prohibit unsightly billboards. I have heard from Wimberley and other areas and am exploring options to add additional roadways to this bill or filling additional legislation.
- HB 1512: Increasing the maximum home loan Habitat for Humanity and similar charitable organizations can extend to Texans becoming first-time homeowners through sweat equity programs.
- HB 1513: Increasing the amount of time Habitat for Humanity can claim a tax exemption on land it purchases to build homes for low-income Texans.
- HB 1514: A truth-in-labeling bill to require a wine marketed as “Texas wine” to be made with 100% Texas grapes, rather than the current 75%.
- HB 2354: Allows Buda to use its hotel occupancy tax for a sports park project.
- HB 2737: Creates a new district court for Hays County to alleviate backlogs.
- HB 2959: Requires Austin to provide water and sewer service to the City of Hays.
- HB 3156: Eliminates the City of Austin’s ETJ in Hays County.
- HB 3333: Allows Buda to pursue aquifer storage and recovery.
- HB 3603: Allows Dripping Springs to annex territory not immediately adjacent to its city limits upon petition by landowners.
- HCR 70: Designates Dripping Springs as the Wedding Capital of Texas. You may remember this issue from last session. This resolution is a concurrent resolution, rather than a simple resolution, and will extend the designation for 10 years.
Economic Freedom
- HB 1429: Instills free-market principles in the wine industry by allowing businesses that hold retail permits to also produce wine.
- HB 2555: Allows craft brewers to sell beer for off-premises consumption. If you visited a brewery today, you would be allowed to buy a drink to consume there but could not take any home with you.
- HB 3344: Allows the Blanco County Courthouse Foundation to obtain a single TABC permit for their fundraising event, whereas current law requires several different permits.
- HB 3999: Changes the way counties appraise properties purchased through “shared equity” programs, which some nonprofit organizations use to help low-income Texans become homeowners.
- HB 4033: Prohibits municipalities from setting caps on the amount a home can be sold for, known as inclusionary zoning.
- HB 4233: Allows publicly traded companies to sell liquor.
- HB 4236: Allows manufacturers of automobiles of any size or weight to sell vehicles directly to consumers.
Energy and the Environment
- HB 2540: Transfers the Hays County Public Utility Agency from a PUA to a water authority.
- HB 3004: Prohibits a city from protesting another city’s TCEQ permit application if the protesting city’s water quality standards are less stringent than those proposed in the application.
- HB 3058: Expands the New Technology Implementation Grant program within the Texas Emissions Reduction Program to include pollution reduction technology in the oil and gas sector.
- HB 3677: Proposes replacing our area’s numerous groundwater conservation districts with a single aquifer district, bound by the actual territory of the aquifer rather than by artificial political boundaries.
- HB 3679: Allows alternative fuels including CNG, LNG, and electric to be displayed on TxDOT’s blue fuel signs.