19 Days Left, But Who’s Counting?
With less than 20 days left in session, lawmakers are scrambling to make their legislative mark. This is a week of crucial deadlines in the House. If a House bill has not been considered on the House floor calendar by Thursday at midnight, it is dead, at least in that form. As bills are dying, a handful have reached Governor Abbott’s desk and have been signed into law. Three are effective immediately:
SB 149, Seliger: This bill will allow high school students who fail state exams to pursue an alternate route to graduation; effective immediately.
SB 219, Schwertner: This bill is a technical clean-up and clarification of the statutes addressing the powers and duties of the Health and Human Services Commission and its agencies.
SB 293, Nelson: This bill makes changes to ensure that ESPN, NASCAR, and UFC events are eligible to receive funding from the Major Events trust fund.
- Swan Song for Sylvester Turner: Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) will retire from his long tenure in Austin in pursuit of becoming the Mayor of Houston. Turner has served in the Texas House for over 20 years. He has witnessed (and, at times, orchestrated) dramatic shifts in the state’s political climate. Representative Turner and his abacus will be missed.
- Candid Camera: The fallout continues this week over the secret filming of Texas lawmakers by a group called the American Phoenix Foundation. It’s unclear who funds the foundation or what their exact intentions are, but they’ve turned over the videos to conservative news outlet Breitbart Texas.
Only In Austin…
Walking into Nau’s Enfield Drug is like stepping into a time machine. This neighborhood drug store hasn’t aged a day since it first opened its doors back in 1951. The original grill and soda fountain in the back still serve up the original menu of burgers, shakes, and fried sandwiches. You can’t get fries with that old timey hamburger but you can get a heaping helping of nostalgia for the good old days gone by.