Bills are being referred to committees, and hearings are getting underway, especially in the House. Here are some bills and hearings of interest this week. Be sure to jump down for our weekly feature on Public Education bills, too.
There are also many lobby days and rallies over the next several weeks. You can view our full list of rallies and lobby days (updated as we learn about new ones) here.
HOUSE
COMMITTEE: International Relations & Economic Development
TIME & DATE: 10:00 AM, Monday, February 25, 2019
PLACE: E2.014
Several bills on protecting workers from wage theft and wage discrimination, as well as a bill on raising the minimum wage in Texas to $15 from $7.25.
COMMITTEE: Criminal Jurisprudence
TIME & DATE: 2:00 PM, Monday, February 25, 2019
PLACE: E2.012
Includes HB 595, which increases the penalty on individuals who make false reports to law enforcement because of bias or prejudice.
COMMITTEE: Human Services
TIME & DATE: 8:00 AM, Tuesday, February 26, 2019
PLACE: E2.030
HB 285 is an attempt to add even more stringent “work requirements” on SNAP benefits for working adults without children in the home. Texas already has stronger work requirements than required by federal law, and the proposed bill would prevent the state from being able to waive time limits, even in emergencies like hurricanes, or for former foster children.
COMMITTEE: Homeland Security & Public Safety
TIME & DATE 8:00 AM, Wednesday, February 27, 2019
PLACE: E2.016
Includes HB 238, which would prevent law enforcement from enforcing any federal gun law that is stricter than state gun laws.
COMMITTEE: Redistricting
TIME & DATE: 10:30 AM or upon final adjourn./recess, Thursday, February 28, 2019
PLACE: JHR 140
The committee will hold an organizational hearing on the topic “2021 Redistricting: Data and Tools” with invited testimony* from the following entities:
Texas Legislative Council
U.S. Census Bureau
*invited testimony only
SENATE
COMMITTEE: Finance
TIME & DATE: 10:00 AM, Monday, February 25, 2019
PLACE: E1.036 (Finance Room)
SB 3, Relating to additional funding to school districts for classroom teacher salaries.
See the hearing notice for details on giving testimony
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Contributed by Felicia Miyakawa, Special Education Advocate
Tuesday, Feb. 26, will be another long day for the Texas House Public Education Committee. 21 bills are on the schedule! (See the full list here.) They are set to begin at 10:30 AM or whenever the House adjourns.
From my perspective as a Special Education Advocate, two bills bear mention this week:
HB 239 will allow social workers to serve students in schools, which is a step forward towards wrap-around services, making sure that there’s a network of care for all students who need help in and out of school.
HB 455 mandates that every school district
- develop a policy about the a minimum number of unstructured playtime (recess) minutes per week AND whether or not removal from recess can be used as a punishment; and
- review these policies at least every five years to be consistent with local school health advisory councils.
Why this matters: Despite consistent data showing that kids learn more and retain more when they have sufficient unstructured play time during their day, schools have moved towards restricting free play time into order to focus more on academics.
Similarly, we have years of data and research showing that kids with certain neurotypes–such as ADHD–need more movement in order to focus. Yet schools still resort to punishing kids for excess movement, talking, fidgeting, lack of focus, not finishing work, etc., by taking away recess. Even though both federal and state law make clear that positive behavior supports should be in place, taking away recess as punishment is still happening at many schools.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- If any of these issues are important to you personally, consider going to the capitol to give testimony. If you can get to the Capitol but don’t want to give testimony, please know that you can still weigh in. There are computer kiosks located close to the hearing rooms where you can register and indicate whether or not you support a bill and whether or not you want to testify. You can hang out and watch the hearing or leave. This is a great option for folks who don’t enjoy public speaking.
- For everyone else, please call or email YOUR representative to discuss your stance on these bills. This is especially helpful if your representative is on the Public Education committee (Dan Huberty, Diego Bernal, Alma Allen, Steve Allison, Trent Ashby, Keith Bell, Harold Dutton, Mary González, Ken King, Morgan Meyer, Scott Sanford, James Talarico, and Gary VanDeaver).
*****Please tell your representatives: Schools should never take away recess, especially from struggling learners!
Remember: you can watch a live stream of committee hearings. Bookmark these links:
House committee hearings