The Bills Done Gone
May 11th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
We’ve been picking through the rubble of last night’s House floor debate to see which bills survived the deadline to pass House bills and which ones didn’t.
A couple good bills that snuck under the deadline and reached the Senate:
HB 3693 — A massive energy conservation bill aimed at reducing peak demand, which will hopefully lead to fewer new power plants. Passed unanimously.
HB 2238 — Replaces the state’s current outdated system for collecting public education data with a modernized system that also tracks higher education data and teacher certification. Passed unanimously.
This bad bill died on a point of order:
HB 2508 — Would have expanded restrictions on the use of internal email by government bodies to include “political communication,” not just political advertising. Effectively, would have gutted political organization for teachers.
This bad bill passed to the Senate, but not before being de-fanged … a bit.
HB 1287 — Rep. Chisum’s version would’ve mandated that schools offer elective courses studying the Bible if a minimum number of students expressed interest. An amendment replaced the mandate with an optional provision, leaving it up to the school boards to create the courses. Another rider required that the AG’s office vet any proposed Bible course to make sure it meets constitutional standards before students can enroll.
There’s bound to be plenty more, good and bad, to keep track of. Got a pet bill you’re following down the homestretch? Let us know in comments.
