Sunset bill advances in special session

AUSTIN (KXAN/AP) - A sunset safety net bill passed the Texas House and Senate committees on Wednesday, just hours after both chambers gavelled in the special session.

A separate bill giving transportation officials the authority to issue another two billion dollars in bonds was working its way toward passage as well.

The third and final bill on the agenda, dealing with privately financing toll roads, is mired in debate and not likely to come out of the Legislature on the first day.

House Bill 2 allows five state agencies to continue running until they get a review 2011 - a task that was supposed to have been done during the regular session of the Legislature, which ended last month.

The measures extending the agencies, which include the Texas Department of Transportation, were caught, however, in end-of-session politics and never passed - the main reason Gov. Rick Perry called the special session.

Every 10 years, state agencies come under a "sunset" review to determine if they are still viable or if they need to be updated or combined with other agencies. If it isn't addressed - at the very minimum to postpone their review dates until the next session - the agency ceases to exist.

On Wednesday, the measure passed easily, though not without some protests from people who wanted to use the sunset measures as a chance to fix issues within the agencies. Particularly, one lawmaker said,

“We ought to be dealing with TxDOT overall and doing some reforms with TxDOT rather than just extending it for two more years and we think we ought to be doing the same in regard to the insurance commission,” said Representative Jim Dunnam, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “We ought to really be doing some insurance reform to lower rates in Texas as opposed to just extending the agency and having status quo for next two years.”

A special session is typically called for specific issues and may run no longer than 30 days.

The proposed House schedule sent to members Sunday suggests they will finish up Friday - that's the goal of Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst - but some lawmakers are not so optimistic.

“The legislature is always unpredictable, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see if we have to come back on Monday and finish up Monday or Tuesday,” said Representative Larry Taylor, House Republican Leader.

Lawmakers have planned ahead in case they do have to spend 4th of July weekend in Austin,.

“My kids are coming to Austin today. They are going to be here no matter where I am,” Dunnam said. “If my obligations require me to be here, I will be here. But my family is going to be with me.”

Nevertheless, neither the Democratic nor Republican House leaders anticipate the session dragging on past next week.

House Bill 1, by El Paso Democratic Rep. Joe Pickett, passed a House committee as well. The measure gives TxDOT the authority to issue  $2 billion dollars in bonds and authorizes the use of $5 billion in highway bonds.

The most contentious issue is House Bill 3, which deals with whether or not toll roads should be privately financed.  Pickett said the Comprehensive Development Agreement would give local transportation entities first dibs on developing roads, and the chance to buy back a toll road from a private company.

“The CDA bill, that has to do some with toll roads,” said Dunnam. “There’s going to be some questions about that people are really going to want to understand what is being asked of them.”

Right now there is no consensus on either side for House Bill 3.

The Texas House gaveled in just after 10 a.m. Wednesday to kick things off. The plan for this session, which Gov. Rick Perry called after the regular session ended June 1, is to wrap things up quickly, the governor said.