Every session has a certain personality to it. Some are characterized by partisan rancor or fiery rhetoric, while others can feel fairly benign. Sessions also typically get described by the issues that make the most headlines--regardless of whether or not those issues took up the lion's share of the time. Though this session will be remembered by some as the "one with the Democrat walk-out" or as the "COVID session," I think it's important to judge a session by the work product in full--not the headlines.
That's why we are sending out this end of session recap: to provide an overview of the various bills that passed and the issues the Legislature worked on over the last 5 months. While we try to cover the items that most people will be interested in, this newsletter can in no way cover everything. There were nearly 7,000 bills filed this session, and over 1,000 of those passed both the House and Senate. Therefore, if you have specific questions that aren't answered in this newsletter, I invite you to contact us and we'll be happy to get you answers. In that vein, be on the lookout for a follow-up newsletter where we will cover the unfinished business from this session, including the issues that will likely be considered in a special session.
Though it may change over time, I think I'll remember this session for the strangeness of being at the Capitol during COVID protocol and for the ERCOT/PUC issues in the wake of Winter Storm Uri. I'll also remember it for the passage of meaningful pro-life legislation, firearms rights protection, and as a meaningful start on a health care plan for Texas.
From a personal perspective, I don't know that we've ever had a more successful session. I filed 23 bills and sponsored 8 Senate bills ranging in topics from health insurance coverage and Medicaid reform to foster care and water. Of those 31 bills, 20 of them either passed on their own or were included as parts of other bills. I am proud of that success rate and appreciate the support of my colleagues in making it possible. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the hard work of my staff--Travis Stedje, Gregory Cline, Carlye Bindel, Maureen Metteauer, and Jim Johnson--without whom none of this would happen.
Finally, I want to say thank you to you-the people who work and live in Archer, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Knox, and Wichita Counties. This was the 5th regular session that I have had the honor of representing you in Austin. Even though sessions are full of hard work, long hours, and a long time away from home, I know what a privilege it is to do this and continue to appreciate the support and faith shown in me.
May God bless you and your family,
 Representative James B. Frank
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New Laws
The Budget and Taxes
The only bill that is required to pass each session is the budget. In this session's budget bill, spending increases were kept well below inflation plus population growth, and we also added an additional spending cap to help limit future spending--something conservatives have been working on for at least a decade.
Though we provided a more in-depth overview in a previous newsletter, some of the highlights of the budget include:
- Increasing public education funding to $46.5 billion for the biennium, including $664 million in programs targeted to overcoming pandemic-related learning loss. The budget also fully funds the commitments made in the last session toward our new investments in public education.
- Investing in the health of Texans by increasing funding for rural hospitals, women's health programs, and disability services.
- Significant investment in infrastructure, including new funds to repair highways and bridges and an increase in funding for the oversight of our electric grid.
- Salary increases for law enforcement officers and additional funding ($100 million) to secure the border and combat human trafficking.
Though it occurred with little fanfare, the Legislature passed SB 1336 which limits the rate of growth of the state's spending. A policy that conservatives have been working hard to accomplish in the decade I have been in the House, this will prevent future legislatures from increasing spending at a rate that outpaces population growth plus inflation. A three-fifths vote by members of both chambers would be required in order to subvert this cap in the future.
On property taxes, we continued building on the work of last session by bringing additional transparency to and voter awareness of local debt as part of the continued growth of property taxes in HB 1869--which prevents local governments from increasing property tax rates without voter approval when financing purchases with debt.
Life
We were successful at passing two of the most consequential pro-life bills in recent memory:
- SB 8 bans abortion after the detection of an unborn child's heartbeat.
- HB 1280 creates the framework to prohibit abortion procedures in Texas should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v Wade.
In addition, we directed $100 million towards the Alternatives to Abortion program which promotes childbirth and provides support services to pregnant women and their families.
COVID Response / Securing Rights
The Legislature took several important steps to respond to issues that arose during the pandemic.
- SB 6 protects businesses from lawsuits if they chose to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also ensures those who acted in good faith aren't unjustifiably punished in a lawsuit for circumstances outside of their control.
- SB 22 ensures that emergency service workers who contracted COVID-19 on the job receive the healthcare, workers' compensation, and other benefits they have earned.
- SB 25/SJR 19 secures the right of residents in long-term care facilities to designate an essential caregiver who cannot be denied in-person visitation.
- SB 968 prohibits state entities from issuing or requiring vaccine passports.
- HB 1239 ensures that places of worship cannot be closed via executive order during future disasters.
- HB 525 designates religious organizations and activities as "essential" in the event of future disasters.
- HB 2073 requires that peace officers, emergency medical technicians, and professional firefighters be placed on paid leave by their employer if they are ordered to quarantine or isolate due to an on-duty exposure to a communicable disease (like COVID-19).
Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform
A foundational responsibility of government is protecting basic public safety while also ensuring our criminal justice system protects constitutional rights, is effective, and is fair. In a bipartisan fashion this session, the Legislature took seriously the potential risks to Texans when local governments make decisions that undermine the ability of law enforcement to do its job. We also passed a number of bills to improve the way our state handles those caught up in the criminal justice system--at both the front end and back. I am confident these changes will have positive ramifications for years to come. Here are a few of the highlights:
- HB 9 gives law enforcement more tools to stop dangerous protests when their activities block emergency vehicles from passing.
- HB 103 establishes the Texas Active Shooter Alert System so citizens are made aware when violent threats are occurring.
- HB 1900 provides corrective solutions for municipalities that do not appropriately fund their police departments and endanger the safety of their residents.
- HB 1927 allows all law-abiding Texans to carry a holstered handgun for personal protection without needing to acquire a license to carry.
- HB 1925 creates an offense of a class C misdemeanor if a person intentionally or knowingly camps in a public place without the consent of the legal authority that manages the public place. The bill also prohibits local entities from adopting or enforcing a policy that prohibits or discourages enforcement of a public camping ban.
- HB 385 makes multiple changes to the probation system to ensure that the ultimate focus of probation is on rehabilitation for offenders who are not a larger threat to the community. The bill gives judges greater latitude in issuing probation sentences and creates credits for time served for participation in faith-based programs.
- HB 569 eliminates financial barriers for formerly incarcerated individuals reentering society in order to ease the transition for these individuals so they can focus on positively contributing to the community.
Protecting Families from Unnecessary Trauma
We've talked about it previously, but there was a big push this session to keep families together and prevent unnecessary removals of children by the state.
- HB 3041 authorizes a pilot program to implement federal funding made available through the Family First Preservation Services Act. This will allow children to remain safely at home with their parents as a direct alternative to removal into state conservatorship through the delivery of evidence-based services to families who are reported to DFPS.
- HB 567 seeks to reduce the trauma caused by unnecessary removals by ensuring that children are only removed from their homes when they are in danger. This bill was essentially a complete relook at the definition of child abuse and neglect with the intent of greater consistency across the state and a decrease in the number of false or unnecessary removals.
- SB 1896 makes substantive reforms to the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding the safety and well-being of children placed in foster care. In particular, this bill takes steps to ensure children are adequately housed and cared for, and not left sleeping in offices or other inappropriate settings. It also revamps how community based care is being implemented and gives additional legislative oversight of that implementation.
- HB 2536 clarifies that the parent-child relationship cannot be terminated by DFPS because the parent sought the opinion from more than one medical provider regarding the child's medical care or transferred the child to a new medical provider.
- SB 1578 directs DFPS, in collaboration with the Texas Children's Commission, to evaluate how its caseworkers currently use the Forensic Assessment Center Network (FACN). The network was designed to provide medical determinations and consultations in cases of suspected child abuse and neglect. This bill will ensure that FACN stays true to its original mission of providing guidance -- not serving as the ultimate authority on whether a child should be removed from a parent.
Health Care Affordability and Access
Our big push in the health care arena this session was to increase access and transparency while lowering the cost to patients. We made substantial progress on both of these fronts by expanding access to telemedicine, lowering costs on prescriptions, authorizing new and innovative health insurance coverage options, and making changes to the state's Medicaid program that will protect new moms and Texas children. Specifically, the Legislature passed the following bills:
- HB 4 expands telemedical services eligible for reimbursement, including preventative health, case management, and physical therapy.
- HB 18 establishes a program to provide prescription drugs at discounted rates. The program creates a self-replenishing fund that could help 3 million Texans who are uninsured or underinsured.
- HB 133 extends Medicaid coverage to up to six months post-partum for women receiving benefits during pregnancy.
- HB 1033 will require drug manufacturers to meet additional reporting requirements when increasing the price of a drug.
- HB 2056 increases access to dental services via telemedicine methods.
- HB 2658 makes a series of changes to Medicaid contracts, procedures and policies in order to re-align funding, reduce administrative complexity and provide for flexibility in the managed care program.
- HB 3752 creates the Texas Mutual Health Coverage Plan as an affordable option to individuals and small businesses who lack traditional health insurance.
- HB 3924 authorizes the Texas Farm Bureau to offer a health benefit plan to its members, which will give rural Texans more access to competitive health coverage.
- SB 1137 will increase competition in healthcare by requiring hospitals to post standard charges and shoppable prices for health services.
Education
The Legislature continued efforts to improve the public school finance system, better allocate funds for the benefit of students, keep faith with current/retired educators, and tackle new challenges brought on by the pandemic.
- HB 1525 is the second round of school finance reform following the passage of House Bill 3 in the 86th Legislature. Adjustments were made to local taxation and revenue, charter school funding, and the career and technology education allotment aimed at continuing the work of HB 3 to improve educational outcomes statewide. With these changes, the legislature increased budget allocations through the Foundation School Program formula funding and various student allotments.
- The budget included provisions to increase the state's contribution rates to the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) and provides $897.6 million, an increase of $39.5 million, to maintain current health insurance premiums and benefits for retired teachers through TRS-Care.
- SB 1102 establishes the Texas Reskilling and Upskilling through Education (TRUE) program to allow businesses and institutions of higher education to provide credentials to underemployed workers with the skills needed to fill high-demand industry jobs in the workforce after COVID-19.
Electric Grid
As ERCOT again made news last week with unexpected pressure and requests for Texans to conserve electricity, we still have plenty of work to do on our state's electric grid. However, there were some important reforms passed this session to provide for increased oversight, accountability, and reliability going forward:
- SB 2 will increase oversight of ERCOT, ensuring that our grid operators are held to high standards.
- SB 3 ensures that generators in the future are prepared for severe weather events, makes rules preventing lengthy rolling blackouts, and requires the issuance of fines to utilities that are not prepared for severe weather events.
- HB 16 protects consumers from sky-high electric bills by banning the sale of wholesale indexed products to residential customers, which can leave them vulnerable to extreme fluctuations in electricity prices.
- HB 1510 provides the funding mechanism necessary to ensure winterization of Texas' power grids.
- HB 1520 provides financing for gas utilities to recover costs from Winter Storm Uri and avoid passing those costs on to customers.
Election Integrity
As we mentioned earlier, the Legislature will likely need to reconvene in a special session to continue working on election-related bills. That said, several important pieces of legislation on this topic were passed during the regular session, further moving the ball forward on the goal of election reform--making it easy to vote but hard to cheat.
- HB 574 increases the criminal penalty for election fraud.
- HB 2283 prohibits election administrators from accepting large donations from private individuals and organizations for the purposes of administering elections.
- SB 598 creates a voter-verifiable paper audit trail for election systems.
- SB 1111 clarifies the documents and procedures for verifying a voter's place of residence.
- SB 1113 ensures that voter registrars perform their duties in a timely manner in order to prevent ineligible voters from remaining on the rolls.
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Our Bills
Some sessions you spend time working on bills that never get to the finish line and some sessions, you get to finally see the fruit of your efforts. This session was definitely a "fruit of efforts" kind of session as a number of bills that I have worked on for years were finally taken across the goal line and will now become law. In terms of personal importance and efforts, our top 6 bills passed this session were:
Child Trauma Reduction Act - HB 567
This is the culmination of over 4 years of work by many different groups as well as our team. Texas has tremendous inconsistencies across the state when it comes to causes for removals by CPS. The goals of the bill were to: 1) decrease false or unnecessary removals; 2) improve consistency around the state, and 3) make sure that nothing prevented needed removals for abuse. Given the huge importance of the subject matter, this was a lengthy and deliberate process to the finish line. I'm very proud of the final product and believe it will result in improved outcomes for many Texas families. UIL Homeschool Participation - HB 547 This is a bill that I have worked on every session since I have been in the legislature. I truly believe that this bill is a win-win for both homeschoolers and school districts. Homeschooled kids will have extracurricular opportunities that they have never had before in Texas while better school districts will be able to use their programs to be able to help more students in their respective communities. There are estimated to be anywhere between 500,000 and 750,000 homeschool students in Texas. Even if the immediate impact is modest because few school districts choose to serve their communities in this way, there are still a large number of lives that could potentially be positively impacted. Texas Mutual - HB 3752
One area where Texas can see improvement in the healthcare arena is in coverage competition, especially in rural areas. HB 3752 allows Texas Mutual (a quasi-government entity that offers workers' compensation insurance) to underwrite health coverage products to provide innovation and competition. This is an important part of a broader plan in the legislature to focus on lowering healthcare costs and improving access across the state.
Essential Caregivers - SB 25 and SJR 19 This bill (and potential constitutional amendment) has the potential to affect hundreds of thousands of people and ensure that no one is ever prevented from having at least 1 person visit them for any extended period in a nursing home or long-term care facility. You will see the constitutional amendment on the general election ballot this November. CPS Omnibus - SB 1896
This bill makes substantive reforms to the Department of Family and Protective Services regarding the safety and well-being of children placed in foster care. In particular, this bill takes steps to ensure children are adequately housed and cared for, and not left sleeping in offices or other inappropriate settings. There are also provisions in the bill to give DFPS greater flexibility with respect to contracts and placements with the intent of addressing the statewide placement shortage. A comprehensive bill, it also makes changes to Community-Base Care to help implementation and oversight of that process.
MSU to the Texas Tech System - HB 1522
This codifies the agreement between Midwestern State University and the Texas Tech University System to admit MSU into the Tech System. It is my sincere hope and belief that becoming part of the TTU System will help MSU grow and provide more students with a great education in Wichita Falls.
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Session in Photos
Celebrating passage of the Essential Caregivers Bills with Sen. Kolkhorst
Introducing HB 547 to allow homeschoolers to participate in UIL activities
Meeting with Texas Tech Chancellor Ted Mitchell after passing our bill to make MSU the newest member of the TTU System
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STAY CONNECTED 
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