Issue 89.20
Conference Committees and Governor Veto
Director of Regulatory Affairs
We are truly narrowing down to the final legislative push. On Friday May 16th all House bills that did not pass a floor vote were dead. By Friday May 23rd, all Senate bills must be reported out of House committees, or they are dead.
There are two additional hurdles that can still stand in the way of a bill becoming law: conference committees and a veto from the Governor. A conference committee is only necessary when the two chambers pass the same bill but in two different forms and the originating chamber refuses to concur with the second chamber’s amendments. That is currently the case with SB 17 Foreign Ownership where the House attempted Sixteen amendments to the bill and had seven amendments pass that must now be resolved.
A committee composed of five members from each chamber is appointed to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions. The report must be accepted by at least three conferees from each chamber and must contain the agreed upon text of the bill, a side-by-side analysis comparing the text of the compromise bill to both the House and the Senate versions. This report is then submitted to both chambers for a vote up or down with no changes considered.
In the last Session Governor Abbott vetoed 77 bills, the second highest number of bills in Texas history. He even vetoed bills he supported to punish lawmakers for not approving his signature initiative school vouchers and property tax relief during the regular session.
The Governor has 10 days not counting Sundays to veto any bills sent to his office before May 22nd. Any bills sent to his office for final approval on May 23rd or later are still subject to a veto option up until June 22nd. The Governor may also just choose not to sign a bill; in which case it still becomes law since he did not veto the bill.
Weekly Highlight
HB 21 Gates, Gary – Seeks to ensure that Housing Finance Corporations (HFC) provides a public benefit to its community in the form of actual affordable housing in multifamily residential developments by establishing geographic limitations on HFC’s area of operation. It also clarifies additional affordability requirements that must be met for favorable tax treatment and requires an annual independent compliance audit.
To read the full text of any of these bills you can go to Texas Legislature Online. The designations you see for each bill represent HB – House Bill, SB – Senate Bill and HJR or SJR as House or Senate Joint Resolutions which relate to amendments to the Texas Constitution.
Bills on the Move
Sent to the Governor for Signature
HB 21 Gates, Gary – Relating to housing finance corporations. Passed the House May 10th (Yes-113/No-15) Passed the Senate May 14th (Yes-30/No-1) Sent to the Governor May 16th
SB 372 Campbell, Donna – (SB372 was previously filed in 88th Session as SB1568 it passed both chambers but was vetoed by the Governor.) Relating to the persons authorized or appointed to exercise the power of sale under the terms of a contract lien on real property. Passed the Senate March 24th (Yes-30/No-0) Passed the House May 6th (Yes-138/No-6) Sent to the Governor May 7th
SB 929 Johnson, Nathan – Relating to deadlines and time of inception for mechanic’s and materialman’s liens. Passed the Senate March 12th (Yes-31/No-0) Passed the House May 8th (Yes-147/No-0) Sent to the Governor May 9th
SB 693 West, Royce – Relating to creating a criminal offense for the use of a notary seal or counterfeit seal on a fraudulent document or instrument. Passed the Senate April 9th (Yes-29/No-1) Passed the House May 13th (Yes-105/No-29)
SB 1734 West, Royce – Relating to status of certain documents or instruments purporting to convey title to or an interest in real property. Passed the Senate April 24th (Yes-31/No-0) Passed the House May 15th (Yes-121/No-18)
Headed to Conference Committee
SB 17 Kolkhorst, Lois – Relating to the purchase of or acquisition of title to real property by certain aliens or foreign entities. Passed the Senate March 19th (Yes-24/No-7) Passed the House May 9th with Seven Amendments (Yes-86/No-59). Conference Committee named May 16th
Pending Vote in second Chamber
HB 2025 Tepper, Carl – Relating to the filing for record of a plat, replat, or amended plat or replat of a subdivision of real property or a condominium. Passed Senate Local Government May 15th
SB 4 Bettencourt, Paul – Relating to an increase in the amount of the exemption of residence homesteads from ad valorem taxation by a school district and the protection of school districts against certain losses in local revenue. (Companions HB2611, SJR2) Placed on House State Major Calendar May 20th
SB 15 Bettencourt, Paul – Relating to size and density requirements for residential lots in certain municipalities; authorizing a fee. (Companion HB3919) Sent to Calendars April 29th
SB 647 West, Royce – Relating to the filing or recording of documents or instruments conveying or purporting to convey an interest in real or personal property. Sent to Local and Consent Calendar May 16th
SB 648 West, Royce – Relating to recording requirements for certain instruments concerning real property. Sent to Local and Consent Calendar May 16th
SB 673 Hughes, Bryan – Relating to regulation of accessory dwelling units by political subdivisions. Sent to Calendars May 14th
SB 1333 Hughes, Bryan – Relating to the unauthorized entry, occupancy, sale, rental, lease, advertisement for sale, rental, or lease, or conveyance of real property. (Companions HB414, HB1076, HB2454, HB3003) Sent to Calendars May 15th
SB 1547 Zaffirini, Judith – Relating to fees charged by county clerks for certain property records. (Companion HB3733) Sent to Calendars May 10th
SB 1612 Johnson, Nathan – Relating to construction contract trust funds. Sent to Calendars May 9th
SJR 2 Bettencourt, Paul – Proposing a constitutional amendment to increase the amount of the exemption of residence homesteads from ad valorem taxation by a school district. (Companions HB2611, SB4) Placed on Constitutional Amendments Calendar May 20th
Sent to the Second Chamber
HB 851 Schofield, Mike – Relating to the determination and reporting of the number of residence homesteads of certain property owners for which the owner is receiving certain ad valorem tax benefits. Referred to Senate Local Government May 9th
HB 1043 Bhojani, Salman – Relating to a study by the General Land Office on the establishment and implementation by the General Land Office of a distributed ledger-based title registry pilot program. Referred to Senate Business and Commerce May 5th
HB 2468 Harris, Cody – Relating to the right of a purchaser to terminate a contract of purchase and sale of real property for failure to provide notice that the property is located in a public improvement district. Heard May 15th left pending Senate Business and Commerce
HB 3223 Leach, Jeff – Relating to statutes of limitation and repose for certain claims involving the construction or repair of an improvement to real property. Referred to Senate State Affairs May 9th
HB 3250 Darby, Drew – Relating to the regulation of real estate appraisers and appraisal management companies. Hearing set in Senate Business and Commerce May 20th
HB 4063 Ordaz, Claudia – Relating to the filing and release of record of a unilateral memorandum of contract concerning residential property. Hearing set in Senate Business and Commerce May 20th
HB 4350 Capriglione, Giovanni – Relating to the omission or redaction of certain personal information from certain real property records. Referred to Senate Business and Commerce May 16th
HB 4505 Bell, Cecil – Relating to the establishment of the workforce housing capital investment fund program to fund the development of workforce housing in this state. (Companion SB208) Passed the House May 16th
SB 38 Bettencourt, Paul – Relating to the eviction from real property of certain persons not entitled to enter, occupy, or remain in possession of the premises. Voted favorably House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence May 14th
SB 1379 Flores, Pete – Relating to increasing the criminal penalties for forgery. Voted favorably House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence May 15th
SB 1643 Schwertner, Charles – Relating to prior approval of certain property and casualty insurance rate increases or decreases. Hearing set for May 19th House Insurance
SB 2117 Parker, Tan – Relating to the establishment of the Texas Committee on Foreign Investment to review certain transactions involving certain foreign entities. Voted out of House State Affairs as amended May 16th
SB 2221 Parker, Tan – Relating to the filing of a fraudulent financing statement in relation to certain secured transactions. Voted out of House Trade, Workforce, Economic Development May 14th
SB 2610 Blanco, Cesar – Relating to civil liability of business entities in connection with a breach of system security. Voted out of House Delivery of Government Efficiency as amended May 16th
SB 2611 West, Royce – Relating to the status of certain documents or instruments concerning real or personal property. Hearing scheduled for May 20th House Criminal Jurisprudence
First Chamber Floor Vote Scheduled
SB 867 Bettencourt, Paul – Relating to housing finance corporations. Placed on Senate Intent Calendar for May 15th
If you have questions about these specific bills or the Texas legislative process in general, please reach out to Doug Foster or one of our firm’s attorneys or representatives at: https://www.mortgagelaw.com/our-team/