Return to January 2023 Dairy Dispatch
By Lauren Fairbanks TAD Governmental Affairs
The 88th Texas Legislature is officially underway! The House and Senate each gaveled in at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 10. The day before, Comptroller Glenn Hegar set the stage for the budget writing process. This legislative session, legislators will have more money than they have ever had at their disposal.
Hegar released his biennial revenue estimate (BRE) projecting how much the state will have available in general revenue for the next two-year budget term, increasing his July estimate by billions. A whopping, $32 billion will be left in the state treasury when the current biennium ends in September. When added to expected state income, Hegar told lawmakers that they will have more than $188 billion in state general revenue to work with as they craft the budget for the 2024-2025 biennium.
The revenue is also more than the Texas Constitution and state law will legally allow legislators to spend without special legislative action to bypass the spending limit. The projected figure is subject to change throughout the biennium as economic conditions shift, and Hegar’s office is predicting a minor economic downturn for the state economy in the coming year.
Opening day of the Legislature is primarily ceremonial. Families and constituents descend on Austin to celebrate the swearing-in of newly elected senators and representatives. All 181 members were sworn in on Tuesday—which only happens once every 10 years following a redistricting cycle, which requires every House and Senate seat to be filled from their newly created districts. Upon being sworn-in, both chambers got down to business.
The Senate elected Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills) to serve as president pro tempore during the 88th Legislature. The pro tem is third in the line of succession to the governor and presides as governor in the absence of both the governor and the lieutenant governor. Senators also drew lots for term length, to reset the staggering of district terms since every member was up for election this cycle. The term lottery staggers terms so that only half of the chamber’s seats are up for election in any given cycle. Terms are as follows:
The House, as its first order of business, elected Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) to a second term as speaker to preside over the 150-member body. Phelan won by a vote of 145-3. He defeated Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington), who ran against Phelan on the issue to ban a long-standing House tradition of appointing members of the minority party as committee chairs.
The second week of session will feature the inauguration of the governor and lieutenant governor, followed by the governor’s State of the State address in February, when Gov. Greg Abbott will outline his legislative priorities for this session and name his emergency items. Committee assignments in both the House and Senate are anticipated in the coming weeks. Bill filing continues until the deadline on March 10. To date, almost 1,900 bills have been filed.
Among the bills the Texas Association of Dairymen (TAD) is watching is HB 692 by Rep. Glenn Rogers (R-Graford). The bill is one regarding milk disposal that Rogers filed last session but ultimately failed to pass after it was a victim of the back-and-forth politics between the House and Senate in the waning days of session. The TAD governmental relations team is also monitoring several other measures that do not directly impact the Texas dairy industry.
Coming in February, the TAD board of directors will travel to Austin to visit lawmakers at the Texas Capitol and discuss the Texas dairy industry and its concerns. Expect a full report in TAD’s February Dairy Dispatch. Until then, TAD will continue to tell the great story of the thriving Texas dairy industry at the Texas Capitol. We are hopeful this will be a great session for rural Texas!