leg+water: May Update

leg+water: May Update

Every month during the 86th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature Dr. Robert Mace and Dr. Todd Votteler provide an update on water-related legislation. The key water committees are Water and Rural Affairs in the Senate (SWRA), and Natural Resources in the House (HNR). Thus far, legislation related to flooding impacts from Hurricane Harvey and statewide flood planning has dominated the water-related efforts of SWRA and HNR. The House has now approved Senate Bill 7 and Senate Bill 8 (see below), which are the key flood planning, mitigation, and infrastructure bills. These bills transfer money from the state’s rainy day fund to pay for Hurricane Harvey recovery and to plan and prepare for future flood events. On the Senate side, House Bill 2846 was passed. This bill forces the City of Houston to sell its water rights in the Allens Creek Reservoir project, but the legislation is opposed by the city.

The legislative session is wrapping up. This means that legislation that has not been passed out of both the Senate and the House faces very long odds. Can a bill still make it through the process in the other chamber and reach the Governor’s desk before the final gavel on May 27? The decreasing odds of passage are reflected in the list of bills you see below as we are only including those bills that have been passed by either the Senate or House, and which have also been passed out of the key committee in the other chamber.

Click on a bill to find the status and actions taken by the Legislature. Click here to find information about upcoming hearings.

Note: There is no guarantee of accuracy on this sheet. Confirm status of any bill of interest at Texas Legislature Online.

Green = bill passed!

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