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Capitol Pipeline will be in your inbox every Tuesday with links to the bills being tracked by TRWA, updates on the progress of key pieces of legislation, and calls to action on legislation that directly impacts rural water systems across Texas. Click here to learn more!
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Stay in the know: follow us online!
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Days Remaining of 86th Legislative Session
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With less than two weeks until the final gavel falls on the 86th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, TRWA needs your help to ensure rural water finishes strong!
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Groundwater Permitting: Last week, we asked all members to call and email the members of the House Natural Resources Committee to oppose S.B. 2026, a bad groundwater permitting bill. This Saturday, May 18, is the final day for the house committees to vote out senate bills, so we’re asking for your help once again to ensure this bill moves no further by calling and emailing the members of the committee.
S.B. 2026 would repeal the provision in current law that allows groundwater districts to issue permits based on a utility’s service area, which would increase costs and raise water rates. Your calls and emails from last week have not gone unnoticed, as the bill has not received a hearing in the House Natural Resources Committee. We would like to see this continue, so please call Chairman Larson and the rest of the committee to ask them to OPPOSE S.B. 2026! While phone calls are the most effective way to have an impact on lawmakers, we have also developed this quick form that you can fill out to voice opposition to this bill.
If you were only able to call some of the representatives last week, now is the time to call the remainder of the committee. Even if you already called each member, this is the week to call them again to follow up. Every bit of contact will help move us closer to achieving our legislative goals – and remember, phone calls are the best way to maximize your impact! You can find contact information for each committee member and talking points on the contact guide below. Also, you can help us magnify the impact of rural water by sharing this call to action and the contact guide with your customers by email and on your website.
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CCN Decertification & Compensation: S.B. 2272, the compromise CCN decertification and compensation bill agreed to by TRWA and developers was voted out of the House Natural Resources Committee this morning. Since the bill has already cleared the senate, a vote by the full house is the last step before it reaches the desk of Governor Greg Abbott. Thank you to all the TRWA members who have supported this bill through testimony and phone calls throughout this legislative session!
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Other News From the Capitol:
- The House Natural Resources Committee will hear three senate bills today, including S.B. 1010, which would require groundwater conservation districts overlying a common aquifer to maintain similar rules to each other, unless they are authorized by other law to maintain or enforce a different rule. TRWA is not taking an official position on this bill, as it could likely have both positive and negative impacts on our members. However, we encourage individual members to engage on this bill if it impacts them. In addition to the bills on the agenda, the committee may also vote on other bills that they have previously heard.
- Each chamber of the legislature has passed its own version of the state budget, as well as school finance and property tax reform bills, which were both listed as priority items in January by Governor Abbott. These bills now go to conference committee, where members of both chambers will work to iron out differences between the house and senate versions. Notably, the governor’s proposal to raise the state sales tax to pay for property tax cuts died in the House last week.
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