#Legislature

House rail subcommittee hears from industry stakeholders

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials yesterday held a hearing to gather stakeholders' perspectives on what's needed to improve the nation's rail infrastructure. Several representatives of railroad and transportation labor organizations testified before the subcommittee members. The hearing was held as the subcommittee and committee prepare for the Trump administration's infrastructure package prop

White House meets with lawmakers on infrastructure plan

President Trump’s legislative affairs team met with a small group of House lawmakers at the White House on Thursday morning to discuss the administration’s plan for rebuilding U.S. infrastructure. Two Democrats and three Republicans attended the meeting, including two members who sit on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The panel is expected to be a key player in Trump’s $1 trillion rebuilding proposal, which has yet to be released. The administration is also h

Analysis: The line for money at the Texas Capitol just got longer

Legislative sessions are almost always about the money — how much is available, and who is going to get it. The next session of the Texas Legislature will have the usual suspects in line —school finance, border security, pensions, etc. — but a new entry will be at the front of the line. His name is Harvey. This year’s regular and special legislative sessions were marked by financial wrangling, and by some analysts’ reckoning, lawmakers dug their successors a deep hole. The Te

House rail subcommittee hears from industry stakeholders

An Infrastructure Deal Should Be Easy, But Isn't

The stars should be aligned for a big infrastructure deal. The lingering devastation from the hurricanes that crippled Houston and Florida underscored the national problems of crumbling roads and bridges, inadequate transportation systems and aging electrical grids. President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats both want Washington to spend billions on repairs and construction. The need is critical. The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the country's infr

What Infrastructure Needs: Smart Permitting

The Trump administration has begun to lay out its infrastructure rebuilding strategy, and it is increasingly clear that a cornerstone involves private-sector funding through public-private partnerships (P3s). The administration knows that the only way to succeed is by overcoming private-sector concerns about federal permitting delays. That’s why the president and senior officials have gone out of their way to stress that this administration’s permit approvals will come faster

Special Session Proclamation For Sunset Legislation

TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME: WHEREAS, the legislature adjourned its 85th regular session without extending the existence of the Texas Medical Board, the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, the Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists, the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors, and the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and WHEREAS, without legislative action, these five agencies will be abolished

Office of the Texas Governor: Supplemental Call

NOTICE: This document is an unsigned working draft. It is being released for informational and discussion purposes only. It is subject to change. It has no legal effect. TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE EIGHTY-FIFTH TEXAS LEGISLATURE, FIRST CALLED SESSION: WHEREAS, the people of Texas have placed the constitutional power to call the legislature into special sessions in the hands of the governor; and WHEREAS, the members of the 85th Legislature, first called s

Gov. Abbott eyes repeal of local tree ordinances

In January 2015, a few weeks before taking office as governor and four months before selling his Central Austin home, Gov. Greg Abbott blasted tree ordinances as part of the “patchwork quilt” of local bans hurting the state. “Texas is being Californianized, and you may not even be noticing it,” Abbott told a 2015 conference hosted by the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, an influential think tank. “It’s being done at the city level with bag bans, fracking bans, tre

CBO: Debt ceiling will be hit in October

The Congressional Budget Office on Thursday projected that the U.S. Treasury would “most likely” run out of cash in early to mid-October unless Congress raises the debt ceiling. The exact timing is unclear, the CBO said in a new report, as unpredictable swings in revenues and outlays may deplete funds more quickly or slowly than projected. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has urged Congress to lift the debt limit before its August recess, though he has said that the nation c

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