House Joint Resolution 132 (Hefner et al. | SP: Hughes) prohibits the Legislature from imposing a tax based on the wealth or net worth of an individual or family, including a tax based on the difference between the assets and liabilities of an individual or family.

 

Senate Bill 833 (King, et al. | SP: Oliverson, et al.) prohibits insurers from issuing a policy in Texas that uses an Environmental, Social, or Governance (ESG) scoring model as a basis for ratemaking or in making a coverage decision.

 

House Bill 1391 (Schaefer, et al. | SP: Perry) makes it easier to obtain a residential wiremen’s license by establishing additional methods of certification.

 

House Bill 1745 (Leach | SP: Nichols) ensures that companies like Uber and Lyft cannot be held liable for wrongdoings committed by the driver.

 

House Bill 1859 (Schaefer, et al. | SP: Perry, et al.) makes it easier to obtain an air conditioning and refrigeration technician certification by establishing additional methods of certification. 

 

House Bill 2308 (Ashby, et al. | SP: Perry) limits nuisance complaints against agricultural operations in Texas. The bill prohibits these complaints if the complaint is not clear and convincing or in the case that an agricultural operation has been operating and substantially unchanged for a year or more. In the case that a person brings a nuisance action or other action to restrain an agricultural operation and seeks damages, they are liable for any damages if the action is invalid.

 

Senate Bill 502 (Hughes | SP: Darby, et al.) refines and expands the tort liability shield for oil and gas operators who transfer their waste drill cuttings to a person who holds a recycling permit with the contractual understanding that the drill cuttings will be recycled for road building or another beneficial use.

 

Senate Bill 785 (Birdwell, et al. | SP: Darby, et al.) clarifies state law and allows for the continued development of Texas’ geothermal resources by ensuring that geothermal energy and associated resources below the surface of land are owned as real property by the landowner.

 

House Bill 591 (Capriglione, et al | SP: Blanco) exempts gas that is consumed on site, produced from qualifying wells, and would otherwise have been lawfully vented or flared, from severance taxes. Effectively, this bill creates a tax incentive to decrease the waste and environmental impact associated with venting and flaring.

 

House Bill 4932 (Lopez, Janie, et al. | SP: Sparks) ensures that Texas cities will not be unfairly punished by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to foreign air containments. Under current EPA standards, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso are outside the allowable air quality standards limits which increase permitting costs and mandated emission control measures for manufacturing and refining operations. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) found that 60% of the pollutants detected in El Paso were a result of pollutants from Juarez Mexico, HB 4932 simply requires the EPA to investigate the amount of foreign air pollution so that Texas cities are not unfairly punished for factors outside their control.