A Look at What Bills Our State Senator Has Been Filing
The State Legislature will begin its 89th session on Jan. 14. Members have already started filing bills for the next session.
State Senator Lois Kolkhorst, who represents Fayette County, has become one of the most important Republican leaders in the Legislature. Listed below are some of the bills she filed for the next session.
Kolkorst has proposed a state constitutional amendment that would set a lower limit on the maximum appraised value of a homestead for property taxes. Currently, appraisal districts may not increase the appraised value of a homestead more than 10 percent above the previous year. Kolkhorst’s amendment would limit the increase to five percent a year. Both the State Senate and House would approve a package of bills for the amendment to appear on the next election ballot.
Kolkhorst’s Senate Bill 207 would prohibit certain foreign individuals, organizations or governments from acquiring title to real property in Texas. The parties subject to the prohibition are defined in the bill as those from countries identified by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence as a country that poses a risk to the United States in each of the three most recent Annual Threat Assessments of the U.S. Intelligence Community. Currently, those countries are China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
She also proposed SB 315, which would establish a property right for DNA. The bill would prohibit anyone from collecting, testing, retaining, modifying or transferring an individual’s DNA without their consent. The bill would not apply to law enforcement collecting or testing DNA to identify the perpetrator of a crime. The bill provides civil and criminal penalties for violations.
Kolkhorst filed SB 324, which would require all government contractors in Texas to participate in the federal E-Verify system to verify employment eligibility for all employees. The bill aims at preventing illegal immigrants from finding employment through contractors who work for the state or its political subdivisions. If passed, the law would apply to city and county governments, school districts and other local governmental entities.
Kolkhorst authored SB 473, which would provide additional regulation over telephone solicitations. The bill would allow citizens to bring a lawsuit if they are harmed by telephone solicitors. It provides for injunctive relief and statutory damages between $500 and $10,000.
She also filed a bill requiring certain disclosures by nonprofit organizations that contract with governmental entities. SB 504 would apply to contracts greater than $500,000 annually. Nonprofits receiving payment from the state or its political subdivisions would have to publish their operating budget and the salaries of employees who make more than the median salary of state employees.