Big week in Capitol

Last week was a monumental one at the Capitol. In two days alone, we had the most conservative session in the history of the Texas House of Representatives. We passed bills on pro-life, public safety, education, bail reform and election integrity. Some of these include:

• The Texas Heartbeat Act (SB 8): bans abortion after a heartbeat has been detected. Currently, abortions may be performed in Texas up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy. With a fetal heartbeat potentially detected at six weeks of pregnancy, this marks a major advancement in the prohibition timeline.

• Pre-ban on abortions (HB 1280): The bill states that 30-days after the courts overturn the landmark case, Texas will immediately institute a ban on the practice of abortions. The ban will limit the procedure to being performed by licensed medical professionals and only in times of medical emergency or necessity to save the mother's life.

• Election Integrity (SB7): ensures an honest and fair election process. This legislation seeks to restore public trust and close loopholes that would allow for election fraud. Some of the additional protections include: mailing voting protections, ensures you are not allowed to vote in more than one state, makes certain that poll watchers are properly able to observe the activity and procedure.

• The Damon Allen Act - Bail Reform (HB 20): The bill is known as the Damon Allen Act in honor of the DPS trooper who was murdered by a criminal who was out on bail and had a history of violence. The bill takes on several key reform issues, including adding transparency to the bail-setting process, creating a statewide framework for training and statutory guidelines, and ensuring accountability in the process to keep violent criminals off our streets.

• A bill to allow for alternatives to STAAR testing (HB 764): seeks to bring reform to the STAAR and end-of-course assessments currently being administered by public schools in Texas by eliminating all STAAR tests that are not federally required in elementary and middle school, and removing all of end-of-course exams for high school students and complying federal reporting standards by administering post-secondary education entrance exams instead.

• Legislation that will crack down on cities that defund police (HB 1900): this bill prohibits local government from a adopting a budget that, in comparison to the local government’s preceding year, reduces: appropriations to the law enforcement agency, the number of authorized peace officer positions within an agency, funding for overtime or funding for the recruitment and training of new officers to fill empty peace officer positions.

I am proud to have been a co-author on these bills and support them to their final passage.

The Texas House is less than a week away from its deadline to have House Bills heard on 2nd Reading on the House Floor. Any House Bill that has not been passed to engrossment (3rd Reading) by Thursday, May 13th will be dead. However, the process still allows for policy ideas to be passed through Senate Bills and the amendments process.

Thank you to all of the constituents who have continued to engage in discussion with me about important legislative matters. For those of you who have not yet contacted my office, I would encourage you to do so. I always look forward to hearing from you and value your feedback. My Capitol phone number is 512-463-0526 and my email is district68. spiller@house.texas.gov. It is an honor to serve in the Texas House.