The Blast - May 19, 2025

4 days until the House’s local bill deadline
8 days until the House’s Senate bill deadline
14 days until sine die

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• THC amendment incoming

• Bail measures advance, but more work to go

THC AMENDMENT INCOMING

State Rep. Tom Oliverson will present an amendment tomorrow to revert the THC bill from a regulation back to a ban, potentially bringing the House in line with the Senate on a position that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says is worth a special session.

House State Affairs Committee Chair Ken King, R-Canadian, has been carrying Senate Bill 3. However, his version would regulate consumable THC products instead of instituting the Patrick-backed ban. But on the House floor today, Oliverson and King were shopping the amendment with members, briefing them on the plan.

Quorum Report’s Scott Braddock was the first with the news.

“The speaker, Ken King and myself are all in agreement that the body should have an opportunity to vote on the issue,” Oliverson told The Blast. “The House committee substitute is a significant departure and a very different vision for how we would manage this going forward than what the Senate proposed, and we all are in agreement that we believe that the members need to have the option to have a vote — a clean vote on the issue.”

Oliverson was a second-term member when the Legislature passed the hemp bill in 2019. The Cypress Republican, now chair of the Texas House Republican Caucus, said lawmakers repeatedly asked and were assured that the bill wouldn’t allow a backdoor to THC sales.

“I feel like we were lied to. It was misrepresented,” Oliverson continued. “I feel like the industry is populated by a lot of manufacturers who are very unscrupulous and desire to satisfy the letter of the law while totally violating the intent.”

Oliverson thinks he has the votes. Around 50 members have signed on to the amendment — Republicans and Democrats alike. The exact number is in flux, but expect it to be a serious debate tomorrow. Signers, as Oliverson later posted them on social media, included Democratic Reps. Alma Allen of Houston and Venton Jones of Dallas.

Patrick has threatened to force a special session if the Legislature doesn’t ban THC. Notably, Oliverson and Patrick are neighbors in Cypress, and they share Allen Blakemore as their consultants.

Part of the newfound appetite for the Senate version, Oliverson says, is that members feel more confident to support a ban now that the House has passed King’s HB 46, which modernizes the Texas Compassionate-Use Program. The Senate State Affairs Committee considered the TCUP bill this morning, although the hearing may have been a little premature.

Sen. Charles Perry, the Lubbock Republican who is managing the THC bills in the Senate, told the panel that he would have a committee substitute for HB 46, but it’s not ready yet. He said he wanted to have the bill heard so they could fast-track it later on.

Per Perry, HB 46 makes some improvements on the Senate version, SB 1505, but comes up short in other ways, including potentially opening a backdoor on THC. Sen. Brian Birdwell, a Republican from Granbury who serves on Senate State Affairs, likened it to placing C-4 on the door.

“We’ve got a week or so here to hammer this down,” Perry told the committee. “Senate Bill 3 is up tomorrow in the House, so we’ll see where that lands and see where all this fits together. It’s all kind of a packaged deal.”

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BAIL MEASURES ADVANCE, BUT MORE WORK TO GO

With potential progress on a THC deal, that makes two potential special session-triggering measures that could resolve tomorrow.

The House preliminarily passed SB 664, SB 40 and SB 9 and adopted Senate Joint Resolution 5 today, all elements of the Legislature’s bail package. However, SJR 1, stumbled on a near-party line vote that denied it the 100 votes necessary for adoption. With the 88-50 vote, the House can try again tomorrow.

SJR 1 would deny bail to some immigrants who are in the country illegally and are accused of certain violent offenses. However, Reps. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, and Joe Moody, a Democrat from El Paso who has helped negotiate the bail package on behalf of Democrats, were the only members of the minority party to support the measure.

SB 664, SB 40, SB 9 and SJR 5 sailed through with well more than 100 votes each, but Democrats’ resistance to SJR 1 became apparent after Rep. Mary González, a Democrat from El Paso who frequently works closely with House leadership, brought an amendment to exempt T and U visa recipients, who are victims of human trafficking and other crimes.

After presenting the amendment, González huddled with Criminal Jurisprudence Committee Chair John Smithee, R-Amarillo, Moody and several other Democrats. Smithee then briefly huddled with Speaker Dustin Burrows before telling the House that they have 24 hours to get to 100 votes.

“I’ve told Ms. González that I will work with her,” Smithee said, before González withdrew the amendment.

Freshman Rep. David Lowe, R-North Richland Hills, appeared to give an erroneous, solitary round of applause after the 88-50 vote, but the success of the overall bail package was enough for folks to celebrate — including the governor.

Gov. Greg Abbott made his first stop by the House floor of the session, getting a “congrats” from Burrows and shaking hands with Republicans and Democrats alike. Asked by Rep. Carrie Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, why he was gracing the House with his presence today, Abbott responded, “Because you’ve done a great job, don’t ya think?”

Even activist Michael Quinn Sullivan lauded Burrows on social media for being “on the verge of presiding over a House advancing more conservative priorities than any in more than a decade.”

On his way to a meeting with the speaker, Abbott told reporters that he applauds the House for their votes today.

“We’ll see what happens with the JR, but it needs to get done,” Abbott said of SJR 1. “They’re still working it.”

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House actions

• The House today passed House Concurrent Resolution 40, which calls on Congress to reimburse Texas for Operation Lone Star. That comes as U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, and others push for a full $11.1 billion reimbursement.

• The House formally agreed today to the language of the business personal property tax portion of the property tax deal, HB 9 and HJR 1.

• SB 22, the film incentives bill, is ready to be scheduled for the House floor after the House Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee sent the bill to the House Calendars Committee today.

• On top of the consumable THC bill, SB 3, the House calendar tomorrow includes SB 21, creating the Texas Bitcoin Reserve, and SB 23 and SJR 85, which aim to raise the homestead exemption to $200,000 for seniors. Those bills, are at the top of the House’s daily calendar for that day.

• While the House Calendars Committee waits for SB 38, an alternate anti-squatters bill, SB 1333, is on the calendar for Wednesday.

Senate actions:

• The Senate Education K-16 Committee voted to advance its version of the school funding package, HB 2. Read the story here.

• The Senate passed the Uvalde Strong Act, HB 33.

• The Senate passed HB 2003, the measure by Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, for periodic reports on Texas high-speed rail projects.

View the House and Senate floor calendars here and here.

The House will convene at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
The Senate will convene at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

View the full list of upcoming committee notices here and here.

• Rep. John Bryant, D-Dallas, graduated summa cum laude from SMU’s Perkins School of Theology this weekend.

• Rep. Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, presented House Concurrent Resolution 135 today, which would designate Slaton as the official Banana Pudding Capital of Texas for a 10-year period. Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, noted that Slaton is in Speaker Dustin Burrows’ district. “Is somebody pudding you up to this?” Frank asked Tepper.

• Plenty of members and staff were wearing black today to honor the Capitol’s Man in Black, House Calendars Committee Chair Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi. Those donning black included Burrows and Gov. Greg Abbott, although few were sporting the Hunter-traditional all-black getup, black shirt included.

First round of TribFest speakers announced!

Texas’ future takes center stage at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, happening Nov. 13-15 in downtown Austin. TribFest brings together Texas’ boldest thinkers and doers for three days of conversations guaranteed to inspire, challenge and surprise you.

This year’s lineup includes Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas. These dynamic speakers — and hundreds more — will take the TribFest stage to dive into the issues shaping Texans and the nation. See the lineup so far.

Get tickets now and join us this November. Donate $50 or more to become a Texas Tribune member and get a ticket discount, access to members-only sessions, and more. Also, discounted tickets (just $65!) are available for educators and students.

Buy your tickets now and see the future of Texas at TribFest.

Attorney general: U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Woodville, today endorsed state Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston.

• U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will be in Austin tomorrow morning to address President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on English language requirements for truckers.

• Gov. Greg Abbott will speak at a wreath-laying ceremony tomorrow morning at the DPS Fallen Officers Memorial in Austin.

• The federal case over the 2021 redistricting maps is set to go to trial on Wednesday.

“Stricter bail rules advance through Texas House, which had blocked an overhaul in previous sessions” by Kayla Guo of The Texas Tribune

“A Texas teen was the victim of fake AI nudes. Now a new law requires platforms to remove such content.” by Katharine Wilson of The Texas Tribune

“Austin will make a once-in-a-generation decision this week on whether to build I-35 parks” by Nathan Bernier of KUT

ABIA had us in the first half.

Do you or someone in your office have a birthday you’d like mentioned? Email us.

State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian

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