Early on in this legislative session I talked about SB 105 that would create a new law school in Dallas. I wanted to track the bill’s progress.

HB 1000 eliminates sales tax collection on certain products if the products are energy efficient. The list of products is long, and includes dishwashers, refrigerators, ceiling fans, and compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

Tuition at our state universities is different for in-state students and out-of-state students. In-state “residents” pay less to attend our colleges. This reality is repeated in most states in the United States.

About five years ago, my office was located in the same building as the local chapter of Communities in Schools (CIS). The staff at CIS would have lunch with us and recruit us for various events. I took several field trips and made some school visits, and I found that kids today are as bright, sassy, and nervous as when I went to school. These kids, however, needed a little bit more help to keep them on the road to graduation due to other distractions going on in their lives.

SB 583, introduced by Senator Dan Patrick, would change the mandatory waiting time before finalizing a divorce. Currently, the waiting period is 60 days. This legislation would increase the waiting period to 180 days. In a strange exception, couples that go to 10 hours of counseling would only have to wait 90 days. The bill was left pending in committee.

HB 2683 made it out of committee and passed in the House. The unofficial record vote was 72 – 68. The bill has five authors and numerous coauthors.

Senator Van de Putte introduced SB 601 and 602. These bills arduously restrict the activities of labor organizations that represent peace officers when and if the labor organization accepts state funding.

SB 602 prohibits a labor organization that represents peace officers from: 1) establishing a political committee, 2) assisting a political committee in performing political activities, and 3) making political contributions or political expenditures IF the labor organization accepts a grant or appropriated money from a state agency.

Our Presidential hopefuls have been busy. Raising $25 million dollars in a few months at $2,300 clips is quite difficult. By comparison, Texas political hopefuls do not have any limitations on how much they can raise from one particular individual.

In an effort to clean up the state house, SB 129 seems on its way to becoming law. SB 129 has a long list of companions: HB 72, HB 255, SB 558 are essentially all the same bill.

SB 86 would require each school district to adopt and implement a policy to address dating violence. The bill dictates that a definition of dating violence must be included in the policy.