March 24, 2017

This week's Capitol Roundup :
  • 6 percent uptick in bill filings this session
  • A successful Legislative Day brings nearly 170 AGC members together at Capitol
  • Key AGC bills advance to committees
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AGC Texas Chapters

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Quote of the Week
" Counting money twice in order to balance the budget is not a good idea. I'm not interested in cooking the books just to avoid a vote on the Rainy Day Fund. This is the Texas Legislature. We are not Enron."
-House Speaker Joe Straus


Texas House Speaker Joe Straus' comment came in response to a budget maneuver employed by Senate Republicans to use $2.5 million in dedicated highway funds to avoid steep cuts to other areas of the budget. Straus and House Republican leadership have proposed using the state's Rainy Day Fund - which currently holds $10.2 billion - to bridge budget gaps.
Bill Filing Deadline Statistics

As of the March 10 deadline to file bills in the Texas Legislature, a total of 6,654 bills and joint resolutions had been filed in the House and Senate, a 6 percent increase from the 2015 session. 

In the House, members filed 4,266 bills by the deadline, and senators filed 2,240 bills. Thirty-six percent of total bills and resolutions were filed in the last week leading up to the deadline. 

House bill and joint resolution filings are up 3 percent over last session, and Senate bill and joint resolution filings are up 11 percent.

Now that the 60-day deadline has passed, lawmakers can vote on issues beyond the emergency measures proposed by Gov. Greg Abbott. 
2017 Legislative Day spurs productive discussion on key AGC issues

More than 160 AGC members and students from across the state flooded the Capitol this week to advocate on behalf of the Texas commercial construction industry. 

From left to right: AGC TBB Chair Paul Waldrop (Waldrop Construction), Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, State Rep. Paul Workman (R-Austin). 

Attendees met with lawmakers from the House and Senate as well as Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar to move the ball on three legislative priorities: Right to repair construction defects; modernization of lien laws; and state breach of contract laws. Bills addressing each of those issues (HB 2343, SB 1506, HB 2121, and HB 2128) were referred to committees this week. 

THANK YOU to all who made it to the Capitol for this year's Legislative Day. We hope to see you again next session and to continue growing our numbers for these one-of-a-kind opportunities with lawmakers. 

Photos from the evening reception the night before this year's Legislative Day:





April
13 -  AGC TBB Safety Committee Meeting - McAllen

May
29 - Last Day of 85th Legislature

June
18-21 -  AGC TBB Annual Convention - Coueur d'Alene Resort, Idaho

August
10 -  AGC TBB Safety Committee Meeting - Austin

September
15 -  AGC TBB Board Meeting - Austin AGC Office

November
3 -  AGC TBB Safety Committee Meeting - TEXO
17 - AGC TBB Board Meeting - Austin AGC Office


T o subscribe to the Capitol Roundup newsletter and receive weekly legislative updates from the AGC Texas Building Branch, please contact Zach Buchheit at legislative.assistant@agctbb.org