Clock Ticking on Moving Bills

The clock is ticking on getting bills out of the House and to the Texas Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned last week in a story in the Austin American- Statesman. Patrick presides over the Senate and is worried many bills that have made it out of House committees but have not gone before the full chamber will not be considered before the session ends.

“I previously expressed concern the House was far behind in the passage of bills and a train wreck was coming,” Patrick tweeted. At that time, more than 1,100 bills had made it out of committee but still had not been set on the House calendar. All bills must meet a May 11 deadline for a second reading to be further considered for final passage.

House Speaker Dade Phelan did not comment on Patrick’s concern but has put that chamber on a six-day work schedule for the rest of the session.

Poll: Raise Minimum Age for Gun Purchases

A new poll released by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin indicates three-fourths of Texans polled said they support raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21, the Texas Standard reported. “That included 91% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans,” Joshua Blank, director of research, said. “This is a consistent finding, to be quite honest. We’ve asked this question before. We’ve asked similar questions. So, there’s an appetite in some ways for stricter gun laws in Texas. It’s just not something that is politically palatable in the process that we have.”

Attempts by some Democratic legislators to push a similar measure in this legislative session have not gained traction and appear unlikely to pass.