Transcript Highlights:

• with penalties deposited into the compensation of victims of crime fund.
• with penalties deposited into the compensation of victims of crime fund.
• I want to thank Senator Hall for filing this important legislation.
• Grisham, actually influenced some of the lawsuit filed by A.G. Paxton.
• School districts may not indemnify officers or employees who must pay a penalty.

Bills: SB1065, SB2117, SB2217, SB2363, SB2533, SB2742, SB2743, SB2881, SB2964, SB3013, SB3014

Keywords: SB 1065, handgun carry, license holder, concealed carry, open carry, government contracts, governmental entity, property lease, state agencies, local government, higher education, university, Texas Government Code, Penal Code 30.06, Penal Code 30.07, Penal Code 46.03, Second Amendment, gun rights, firearms, civil penalty

Summary: The Senate State Affairs Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 1065, which would require government property contracts to prohibit contractors from barring licensed handgun holders from carrying firearms on leased or owned public property, with civil penalties and attorney general enforcement for violations. Senator Hall and invited witnesses from the Texas State Rifle Association, NRA, and Texas Gun Rights argued the bill would close a loophole exposed by the State Fair of Texas gun ban and protect law-abiding Texans’ self-defense rights. Opponents, including Moms Demand Action/Everytown, said the bill would undermine event organizers’ ability to set site-specific safety rules and could increase liability and insurance costs. Public testimony was then closed and the bill was left pending. The committee next took up Senate Bill 2742, which would create civil penalties for independent school districts and officials who use public resources for electioneering, waive immunity defenses, and expand attorney general enforcement. Senator Hagan-Bood said current law bans the conduct but lacks meaningful penalties, making injunctions the only remedy. No public testimony was heard, and the bill was left pending. Finally, the committee heard Senate Bill 2743, also by Senator Hagan-Bood, which would allow a court to disqualify local prosecutors who refuse to prosecute election offenses and appoint the attorney general to handle the case, with a committee substitute adjusting the removal process through an adjacent-county judge. Opponents from the Texas Civil Rights Project argued the bill would undermine prosecutorial discretion and was vague and open to abuse, while a Harris County election official described past instances where alleged voter fraud cases were not pursued. After testimony, public comment was closed and SB 2743 was left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• It moves subsection B1F of the filed bill to a new subsection B2F.
• TEA will have a form you file, and we'll have it on the database.
• I was late to a caucus meeting. We were waiting on this to come in, working on the bill.
• We filed a warrant for these images. to get removed off Snapchat, but no response.
• The file on Senate Bill 1636 is registered, okay?

Bills: SB604, SB843, SB1636, SB2395, SB571, SB1224, SB1832, SB2392, SB747, SB2623, SB2624, SB2185

Keywords: bonds, education funding, Texas Permanent School Fund, financial transparency, speculative rating, school funding, deferred maintenance, tax revenue, education budget, school districts, education, finance, Texas Education Code, misconduct, child abuse, educators, investigation, criminal offense, education law, suspension

Transcript Highlights:

• If I wanted to file a charge sheet with the district attorney's office, I could have.
• And so how does how does a complaint get filed at this point that gets to you?
• Any person can file a complaint. I can take a complaint from you today, sir.
• In terms of the penalties, there are penalties right now in law and also SBEC rules.
• Increase. creates a penalty per day on violations.

Bills: SB604, SB843, SB1636, SB2395, SB571, SB1224, SB1832, SB2392, SB747, SB2623, SB2624, SB2185

Keywords: bonds, education funding, Texas Permanent School Fund, financial transparency, speculative rating, school funding, deferred maintenance, tax revenue, education budget, school districts, education, finance, Texas Education Code, misconduct, child abuse, educators, investigation, criminal offense, education law, suspension

Transcript Highlights:

• briefly what those are, the difference between the bill as filed.
• I mean so if you file that the district decides to file a lawsuit and There's certain ultraviolet conduct
• And I'm not going to spend a bunch of time because I know it's getting late.
• I know it's late, but I think it's so important.
• Um, good evening. late evening members of the committee.

Bills: SB451, SB762, SB1490, SB1262, SB1459, SB1750, SB1962, SB2252, SB2253, SB2365

Keywords: instructional materials, public schools, Education Code, adoption, rejected materials, local funds, open educational resources, Texas Education Code, school districts, open enrollment charter schools, funding restrictions, environmental regulation, business compliance, local authority, economic development, state preemption, local control, open education resources, SB 762, Texas public schools

Transcript Highlights:

• I know it's late. But thank you so much for staying. We will now... You can go. Thank you.
• those are, the difference between the bill as filed.
• And I'm not going to spend a bunch of time because I know it's getting late.
• I know it's late, but I think it's so important.
• Good evening. late evening members of the committee.

Bills: SB451, SB762, SB1490, SB1262, SB1459, SB1750, SB1962, SB2252, SB2253, SB2365

Keywords: instructional materials, public schools, Education Code, adoption, rejected materials, local funds, open educational resources, Texas Education Code, school districts, open enrollment charter schools, funding restrictions, environmental regulation, business compliance, local authority, economic development, state preemption, local control, open education resources, SB 762, Texas public schools

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you, Dean Zaffirini, for filing this bill.
• One of them is a map of the United States showing the 30 states. ...32 states that have filed similar
• The reasons why I filed it, and I'll be happy to answer any questions.
• That particular one, as I understand it, and maybe it's from one of these late-night things I watched

Bills: SB 21, SB21, SB72, SB140, SB262, SB370, SB372, SB495, SB627, SB703, SB764, SB842

Keywords: emergency alerts, weather alerts, public safety, local government, municipality, county, website posting, online notice, emergency management, disaster preparedness, evacuation, National Weather Service, NOAA, Texas Division of Emergency Management, TDEM, localized alerts, hazard warnings, severe weather, watch warning advisory, public information

Transcript Highlights:

• Secure information sharing, messaging, file...
• Can you give us a sense of how many lawsuits have been filed? Zero, actually.

Bills: SB 21, SB21, SB72, SB140, SB262, SB370, SB372, SB495, SB627, SB703, SB764, SB842

Keywords: emergency alerts, weather alerts, public safety, local government, municipality, county, website posting, online notice, emergency management, disaster preparedness, evacuation, National Weather Service, NOAA, Texas Division of Emergency Management, TDEM, localized alerts, hazard warnings, severe weather, watch warning advisory, public information

Transcript Highlights:

• This recommendation amends section 254.042 of the Texas Election Code to limit the late filing penalty
• That limits the late filing penalty for eight-day reports to accrue only through the date of the election
• Letting the penalty accrue before the election would continue to motivate the filers to file in a timely
• We had some testimony before the Commission on the surprise late penalties that continue to accrue.
• Specifically, the list should identify unpaid penalties resulting from late filed reports from publicly

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, we ask you to remove the requirement that David had to file that and to remove the civil penalty
• And he was told he still had to file in April of 25 and has been assessed a penalty for not filing in
• Um, so, at issue is whether the TEC has the authority to, um, find a fine for a late PFS report filed
• The question here is whether they are subject to the civil penalty for failing to file the PFS.
• Um, in his request for appeal, the filer stated he had been very busy and filed only a few days late,

Transcript Highlights:

• The law allows for a filer to request a waiver or reduction of a late filing penalty, and we have a process
• The report was filed late, and as the filer had one… The report was filed late, and as the filer had
• filed 58 days late.
• The report was subject to the $500 statutory penalty limit, and it was filed one day late.
• It was filed three days late, subject to the $500 statutory penalty limit.

Summary: The Texas Ethics Commission met on March 11, 2025, first in executive session and then in open session. The chair announced that, in light of Texas Attorney General Opinion KP-484, the commission would conform its practices to the opinion and move to repeal tolling rules for sworn-complaint deadlines. The chair also said the commission would dismiss 36 pending sworn-complaint cases in which the 120-day settlement deadline had been exceeded, even though the delay had been tolled under prior TEC rules. The commission then set future meeting dates for June 12 and September 17 and approved prior meeting minutes. The commission adopted a new criminal-referral rule clarifying that, once jurisdiction over a complaint is accepted, commissioners may vote to make a criminal referral. It also adopted revised advisory-opinion rules, with a clarifying amendment from a commenter, and republished proposed changes to the definition of “principal purpose” for political committees after staff recommended a 49 percent political-activity threshold and further public input. The commission published for comment proposed changes to ethics training rules, facial-compliance review procedures, late-filing waiver and reduction rules, and sworn-complaint procedures, including tighter discovery limits, a default-order set-aside process, and removal of tolling language inconsistent with KP-484. It also republished Chapter 28 rules on Speaker-candidate reporting. The commission adopted several advisory opinions. It declined to give an affirmative defense on whether certain school-district communications were political advertising because related litigation had already addressed the issue. It reaffirmed that a House member may use donated district-office space if it is not reimbursable with public funds and was accepted before the contribution moratorium. It also concluded that a judge may use political funds for travel to a Navy-hosted event as a local dignitary, that legislators’ use of a corporate aircraft for a border-region fact-finding trip could be permissible but would likely trigger reporting obligations, that a TCEQ commissioner’s revolving-door restrictions apply only to matters actually placed before the commissioner, and that a part-time legislative staffer may not take outside employment assisting a registered lobbyist. The commission then heard and acted on numerous fine-waiver appeals, granting several full waivers or reductions and approving staff recommendations on others, and terminated a number of inactive campaign treasurer appointments. Finally, the executive director briefed the commission on the 2025 legislative session, noting that staffing requests are tied to Sunset recommendations and that the House had preliminarily recommended about half of the commission’s appropriations requests.

Transcript Highlights:

• I urge you to remove the requirement that David had to file that and to remove the civil penalty that
• In his request, the filer stated he had been very busy and filed only a few days late, which is true.
• Given the amount of activity in these reports and the number of late reports—of the 11 reports filed,
• In reviewing the filing history, staff discovered reports that did not have a late notice sent.
• And the filing that is late, that's in question, we only knew that it was late, what we believe on the

Keywords: Texas Ethics Commission, legislative recommendations, general counsel appointment, foreign lobbying, political contributions, quarterly meetings, public testimony, rule amendments

Summary: The meeting focused on the Texas Ethics Commission's (TEC) evaluation of legislative recommendations and personnel updates, including the appointment of a new general counsel and discussions about upcoming quarterly meetings. Commissioner Schmidt reported on the progress of various bills, including amendments to existing laws, the need for increased regulation on foreign lobbying, and the publication of new rules in the Texas Register. Public testimonies were heard regarding compliance issues and proposed changes in political contribution regulations. The Commission agreed to schedule further review on the legislative items discussed and the proposed rule amendments.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:20:35.240><c> To</c> and civil penalties mandatory. To and civil penalties mandatory.
• , but may reduce their enhanced penalties, but may reduce their penalties<00:20:49.160><c> uh</c> penalties
• Um, so, the main thing that the bill is doing is increasing these late filing fees and certain penalties
• </c><00:24:47.040><c> filing</c> doing is increasing these late filing doing is increasing these late
• filing fees<00:24:47.600><c> and</c><00:24:47.720><c> certain</c><00:24:48.000><c> penalties.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• the</c> of that late filing than than the of that late filing than than the dollars<00:16:08.320><c>
• so, you know, for instance, the current penalty for a late filing is $50 a day.
• so, you know, for instance, the current penalty for a late filing is $50 a day.
• so, you know, for instance, the current penalty for a late filing is $50 a day.
• The current penalty for a late filing is $50 a day.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• bill does is, when you are on a payment plan to get your license reinstated, right now when you are late
• Witness: There isn't a fiscal note, but of course there were fees for the first three late fees, so there
• But that could very much complicate our contracting practices regarding adjusting what the penalties

Bills: SCR58, SB309, SB514, HCR63, HCR69, HB401, HB487, HB722, HB730, HB745, HB988, HB989, HB1001, HB1024, HB1032, HB1050, HB1081, HB1086, HB1108, HB1172, HB1173, HB1175, HB1192, HB1218, HB1244

Keywords: SCR 58, Senate Concurrent Resolution, DOTD, Department of Transportation and Development, public-private partnership, P3, public-private partnership contracting, Belle Chasse Toll Bridge, Belle Chasse Bridge, toll bridge, tolling, tolls, transportation infrastructure, roads and highways, Plaquemines Parish, bridge project, toll fees, unauthorized charges, contract oversight, procurement

Transcript Highlights:

• This recommendation amends Section 254.042 of the Texas Election Code to limit the late filing penalty
• Letting the penalty accrue before the election would continue to motivate filers to file in a timely
• You know, we had some testimony before the Commission on the surprise late penalties that continue to
• The first semi-annual report due after the election from accruing the daily late penalties under Section
• Specifically, the list should identify unpaid penalties resulting from late-filed reports from publicly

Summary: The Sunset Advisory Commission met for its final meeting of the biennium, established a quorum, and approved the December 11, 2024 meeting minutes. Members then voted on staff recommendations for several agencies, including the Angelina and Nettie River Authority, Lower Nettie Valley Authority, and Trinity River Authority of Texas, adopting all recommendations without objection. For the Texas Ethics Commission, the Commission adopted staff recommendations, including two modifications to recommendation 1.2: one to exempt lobby compensation thresholds from inflation adjustments and revert them to statutory levels, and another to round inflation-adjusted amounts to practical increments. The Commission also adopted eight new Texas Ethics Commission recommendations. These addressed late filing penalties, including limiting accrual for eight-day reports through election day, excluding the first post-election semiannual report from daily penalties, waiving penalties when notice cannot be shown, reviewing the definition of substantial compliance for corrected reports, reviewing the definition of principal purpose to reduce unnecessary campaign finance reporting burdens, improving public access to delinquent penalty information on the TEC website, and expanding training and plain-language guidance on lobbying and filing requirements. The Commission also adopted two previously omitted Texas Department of Criminal Justice recommendations, 6.5 and 6.6. By recorded vote, the Commission unanimously forwarded all recommendations adopted during the biennium to the 89th Legislature, with nine ayes. Sunset staff then reported on implementation of 2023 Sunset recommendations, stating that the State Auditor found 89% of selected management actions fully implemented and that Sunset staff found 68% of 163 statutory and related changes fully implemented, with most remaining items in progress or partially implemented. The Commission also briefly noted receipt of a Texas Lottery Commission evaluation concerning executive leadership and potential regulation of lottery ticket courier companies, but no further action was taken on that item. The meeting concluded with closing remarks and a motion to recess subject to the call of the chair.

Transcript Highlights:

• This recommendation amends Section 254.042 of the Texas Election Code to limit the late filing penalty
• Letting the penalty accrue before the election would continue to motivate filers to file in a timely
• You know, we had some testimony before the Commission on the surprise late penalties that continue to
• The first semi-annual report due after the election from accruing the daily late penalties under Section
• Specifically, the list should identify unpaid penalties resulting from late-filed reports from publicly

Summary: The Sunset Advisory Commission met for its final meeting of the biennium, established a quorum, and approved the December 11, 2024 minutes. Members then voted on staff recommendations for several agencies, including the Angelina and Netties River Authority, Lower Netties Valley Authority, and Trinity River Authority of Texas, adopting all recommendations for those entities without modification. The Texas Ethics Commission received the most discussion. Members adopted a modified recommendation to exempt lobby compensation thresholds from inflation adjustments and another modification to round inflation-adjusted amounts. The Commission also adopted a series of new recommendations addressing TEC customer service staffing, late filing penalties, post-election reporting penalties, waiver of penalties when notice cannot be produced, review of the substantial compliance standard for corrected reports, review of the definition of principal purpose for campaign finance reporting, more prominent public posting of delinquent penalties, and clearer training and guidance on lobbying registration and filing requirements. The Commission also adopted two previously omitted Texas Department of Criminal Justice recommendations, 6.5 and 6.6. The Commission then took its required final record vote to forward all recommendations adopted during the biennium to the 89th Legislature; the motion passed with nine ayes. Sunset staff provided a status update on implementation of 2023 Sunset recommendations, reporting that the State Auditor found 89% of selected management actions fully implemented and that Sunset staff found 68% of 163 statutory and related changes fully implemented, with the remainder mostly in progress. The meeting also noted the recently completed evaluation of the Texas Lottery Commission and ended with closing remarks from the chair and vice chair before the Commission recessed.

Transcript Highlights:

• The penalty? Yes, sir.
• They were one day late, and they owe a penalty.
• If I'm one day late filing a suit, my entire claim is extinguished.
• Williamson made also that if we are late in filing a suit, our clients get zero.
• Williamson made also that if we are late in filing a suit, our clients get zero.

Keywords: 965, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This recommendation amends Section 254.042 of the Texas Election Code to limit the late filing penalty
• Letting the penalty accrue before the election would continue to motivate, motivate the filers to file
• penalties under Section 254.042 to help prevent those, uh, surprise occurring penalties that we heard
• penalties.
• Specifically, specifically, the list should identify unpaid penalties resulting from late filed reports

Transcript Highlights:

• We talk about disciplinary civil penalties, late fees, and non-disciplinary administrative fines.
• But to send to that particular database a late filing of your license... database a late filing of your
• filing of my license" order anyone to say my late filing of my license was reported to a National Practitioner
• Actually, for full transparency, I was 30 days late filing my license as a CPA this time.
• . ...including civil penalties and administrative fines.

Bills: HB123

Keywords: pharmacy, pharmacist licensure, Alabama State Board of Pharmacy, renewal fees, continuing education, disciplinary actions, 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Without objection, shall the late-file amendment be introduced.
• Without objection, shall the late file amendment introduced.
• Late-filed amendment to the amendment, barcode 4444.
• With that objection, should the late-filed amendment be introduced?
• Without objection, should the late-filed amendment be introduced?

Summary: The Senate opened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and several recognitions, including remarks from the new Democratic caucus leader, Senator Berman, who emphasized affordability, education, health care, public safety, and opposition to measures he said would roll back child labor protections, book access, and gun safety laws. The chamber also recognized military leaders from U.S. Army Special Operations Command and an intern from Senator Polsky’s office. No committee reports or executive messages were on the desk at the start. The Senate then took up and passed several bills, often after substituting House companions and adopting technical amendments. Among the measures approved were the dangerous dogs bill (the Pam Rock Act), local government land regulation, vessel-related voter freedom/boating provisions, blood clot screening and treatment, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, concealed carry licensing for certain officers and service members, timeshare management firms, disability history and awareness instruction, manufacturing and manufacturing fees, public education on background screening requirements, utility service restrictions, educational opportunities for military children, Medicaid oversight, health facilities authorities, and veterans’ nursing home beds. Several bills were temporarily postponed, including measures on human trafficking, waste management, Bright Futures, Medicaid oversight earlier in the day, mammogram coverage, and others. Debate on the disability history bill was especially extensive, with senators discussing the use of the word “disability,” the role of bias, and whether the bill fit with broader DEI-related policy debates. The bill’s sponsor and supporters framed it as a first step toward helping students understand and respect people with disabilities, and the chamber opened co-sponsorship before substituting the House version. Other bills drew focused questions about local government costs, impact fees, staffing burdens, grant criteria for small manufacturers, and the scope of utility preemption. Most measures passed on strong votes, including several unanimous votes, with the concealed carry/firearms bill passing 33-3 and the local government land regulation bill passing 26-8.