(Thursday, March 30, 2017)

The Senate met at 4:41 p.m. pursuant to adjournment and was called to order by the President.

The roll was called and the following Senators were present:  Bettencourt, Birdwell, Buckingham, Burton, Campbell, Creighton, Estes, Garcia, Hall, Hancock, Hinojosa, Huffines, Huffman, Hughes, Kolkhorst, Lucio, Menéndez, Miles, Nelson, Nichols, Perry, Rodríguez, Schwertner, Seliger, Taylor of Galveston, Taylor of Collin, Uresti, Watson, West, Whitmire, Zaffirini.

The President announced that a quorum of the Senate was present.

Senator Estes offered the invocation as follows:

Members, before we pray, let me share with you the words of Paul of Tarsus to his young charge, Timothy. He said, I urge then first of all that request prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our savior who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Please bow your heads with me. Father in heaven, first of all we thank You for all of those men and women of faith who sincerely pray for us according to this particular instruction from holy writ. We add to their prayers with prayers of our own for wisdom, for enlightenment for all of us involved in this 85th legislative session, for our Governor, for the House, the Speaker, for our Lieutenant Governor, and for ourselves, that we may positively affect the people of our great state, and that we may live peaceful, quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. Amen.

Senator Whitmire moved that the reading of the Journal of the proceedings of the previous day be dispensed with and the Journal be approved as printed.

The motion prevailed without objection.

At the request of the President, the Senate observed a moment of silence for the Traylor family.

Senator Watson was recognized and presented Dr. Donna Campbell of New Braunfels and Dr. Charles Schwertner of Georgetown as the Physicians of the Day.

The Senate welcomed Dr. Campbell and Dr. Schwertner and thanked them for their participation as the Physicians of the Day.

The President at 4:48 p.m. announced the conclusion of morning call.

Senator Taylor of Galveston moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 3 at this time on its third reading and final passage:

CSSB 3, Relating to the establishment of an education savings account program and a tax credit scholarship and educational expense assistance program.

The motion prevailed by the following vote:  Yeas 19, Nays 12.

Yeas:  Bettencourt, Birdwell, Buckingham, Burton, Campbell, Creighton, Estes, Hall, Hancock, Huffines, Huffman, Hughes, Kolkhorst, Lucio, Nelson, Perry, Schwertner, Taylor of Galveston, Taylor of Collin.

Nays:  Garcia, Hinojosa, Menéndez, Miles, Nichols, Rodríguez, Seliger, Uresti, Watson, West, Whitmire, Zaffirini.

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote:  Yeas 18, Nays 13.

Yeas:  Bettencourt, Birdwell, Buckingham, Burton, Campbell, Creighton, Estes, Hall, Hancock, Huffines, Hughes, Kolkhorst, Lucio, Nelson, Perry, Schwertner, Taylor of Galveston, Taylor of Collin.

Nays:  Garcia, Hinojosa, Huffman, Menéndez, Miles, Nichols, Rodríguez, Seliger, Uresti, Watson, West, Whitmire, Zaffirini.

Senator Bettencourt moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration SB 151 at this time on its third reading and final passage:

SB 151, Relating to voter approval of obligations for certain municipal liabilities to a public pension fund.

The motion prevailed by the following vote:  Yeas 21, Nays 10.

Yeas:  Bettencourt, Birdwell, Buckingham, Burton, Campbell, Creighton, Estes, Hall, Hancock, Huffines, Huffman, Hughes, Kolkhorst, Nelson, Nichols, Perry, Schwertner, Seliger, Taylor of Galveston, Taylor of Collin, Whitmire.

Nays:  Garcia, Hinojosa, Lucio, Menéndez, Miles, Rodríguez, Uresti, Watson, West, Zaffirini.

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote:  Yeas 21, Nays 10. (Same as previous roll call)

Senator Huffman moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 13 at this time on its third reading and final passage:

CSSB 13, Relating to payroll deductions for state and local government employee organizations.

The motion prevailed by the following vote:  Yeas 20, Nays 11.

Yeas:  Bettencourt, Birdwell, Buckingham, Burton, Campbell, Creighton, Estes, Hall, Hancock, Huffines, Huffman, Hughes, Kolkhorst, Nelson, Nichols, Perry, Schwertner, Seliger, Taylor of Galveston, Taylor of Collin.

Nays:  Garcia, Hinojosa, Lucio, Menéndez, Miles, Rodríguez, Uresti, Watson, West, Whitmire, Zaffirini.

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote:  Yeas 20, Nays 11. (Same as previous roll call)

Senator Hancock moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration SB 9 at this time on its third reading and final passage:

SB 9, Relating to the constitutional limit on the rate of growth of appropriations.

The motion prevailed by the following vote:  Yeas 20, Nays 11.

Yeas:  Bettencourt, Birdwell, Buckingham, Burton, Campbell, Creighton, Estes, Hall, Hancock, Huffines, Huffman, Hughes, Kolkhorst, Nelson, Nichols, Perry, Schwertner, Seliger, Taylor of Galveston, Taylor of Collin.

Nays:  Garcia, Hinojosa, Lucio, Menéndez, Miles, Rodríguez, Uresti, Watson, West, Whitmire, Zaffirini.

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote:  Yeas 20, Nays 11. (Same as previous roll call)

Senator Rodríguez submitted the following reason for vote on SB 9:

I submit this statement to explain my vote against S.B. 9.

Senate Bill 9 ties the hands of future legislatures unnecessarily. In the words of the bill author, it would tie the budget "to the needs of the state rather than the wants of the state." The needs are determined by the people, through their elected representatives - the Legislature is one such body, as are local entities such as cities and counties.

In my opinion, we have fallen short of addressing our needs. This Legislative body does not agree with that assessment, but future legislatures may agree. This measure, along with others that have passed this session, not only tie the hands of future Legislatures, but also of local communities.

Putting aside the fact that Texas already has various constitutional caps on elements of the budget, we must look at the fact that each Legislature is tasked with setting the budget it thinks appropriate. That's what the Senate did with SB 1, which as it stands today actually grows more slowly than population times inflation, whether All Funds or GR.

This bill further limits future legislative ability to respond to the needs of the state by amending Section 316.008(a), Government Code, to require a finding of an emergency and a 3/5 vote to exceed the cap, instead of allowing a simple legislative majority.

These unnecessary and undemocratic restrictions on future Legislatures also limits the ability to address new needs through General Revenue. For example, while I strongly disagreed this was a need, the Legislature created a new mission, and appropriated from the General Fund, for border security. This funding has grown exponentially faster than population times inflation.

We serve in a representative democracy, and we have to make tough choices. Pre-empting future Legislatures from making the basic decisions about the state budget is an unnecessary infringement on the rights, responsibilities, and role of representatives.

It is for this reason that I vote against SB 9.

RODRÍGUEZ

Senator Huffines moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 258 at this time on its third reading and final passage:

CSSB 258, Relating to the disposition of embryonic and fetal tissue remains; imposing a civil penalty.

The motion prevailed by the following vote:  Yeas 22, Nays 9.

Yeas:  Bettencourt, Birdwell, Buckingham, Burton, Campbell, Creighton, Estes, Hall, Hancock, Huffines, Huffman, Hughes, Kolkhorst, Lucio, Nelson, Nichols, Perry, Schwertner, Seliger, Taylor of Galveston, Taylor of Collin, Zaffirini.

Nays:  Garcia, Hinojosa, Menéndez, Miles, Rodríguez, Uresti, Watson, West, Whitmire.

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote:  Yeas 22, Nays 9.  (Same as previous roll call)

Senator Kolkhorst announced that a Local and Uncontested Calendar had been furnished to each Member of the Senate. She then gave notice that the Local and Uncontested Calendar Session would be held at 12:30 p.m. Monday, April 3, 2017, and that all bills and resolutions would be considered on second and third reading in the order in which they were listed.

On motion of Senator Huffman and by unanimous consent, Senate Rule 11.10(a) and Senate Rule 11.18(a) were suspended in order that the Committee on State Affairs might meet at the end of today's session.

On motion of Senator Creighton, Senator Taylor of Galveston will be shown as Co-author of SB 28.

On motion of Senator Huffman, Senator Perry will be shown as Co-author of SB 292.

On motion of Senator Rodríguez, Senator Burton will be shown as Co-author of SB 430.

On motion of Senator Seliger, Senator Huffman will be shown as Co-author of SB 463.

On motion of Senator Huffman, Senators Nelson and Zaffirini will be shown as Co-authors of SB 576.

On motion of Senator Bettencourt, Senator Creighton will be shown as Co-author of SB 598.

On motion of Senator Miles, Senator Hinojosa will be shown as Co-author of SB 673.

On motion of Senator Hancock, Senator Huffines will be shown as Co-author of SB 680.

On motion of Senator Menéndez, Senator Zaffirini will be shown as Co-author of SB 758.

On motion of Senator Rodríguez, Senator Watson will be shown as Co-author of SB 928.

On motion of Senator Watson, Senator Zaffirini will be shown as Co-author of SB 968.

On motion of Senator Watson, Senator Zaffirini will be shown as Co-author of SB 969.

On motion of Senator Schwertner, Senator Bettencourt will be shown as Co-author of SB 1066.

On motion of Senator Seliger, Senator Bettencourt will be shown as Co-author of SB 1091.

On motion of Senator Garcia, Senators Burton and Menéndez will be shown as Co-authors of SB 1163.

On motion of Senator Buckingham, Senators Bettencourt, Burton, Campbell, Hancock, and Nelson will be shown as Co-authors of SCR 1.

The following resolutions were adopted by the Senate:

SR 541 by Buckingham, Recognizing the Lake Travis High School football team for winning a state championship.

SR 543 by Schwertner, Recognizing the Brazos County World War I Centennial Committee for their work on behalf of local veterans.

SR 544 by Creighton, Recognizing the Tin Roof BBQ Cook-off.

On motion of Senator Whitmire and by unanimous consent, the Senate at 5:32 p.m. agreed to recess until 12:30 p.m. Monday, April 3, 2017, for the Local and Uncontested Calendar Session.

The Senate further agreed to adjourn, in memory of Louis Constancio, Charles Akins, Gilbert Lozano, and Laura Lee Traylor, upon conclusion of the Local and Uncontested Calendar Session, until 2:00 p.m. Monday, April 3, 2017.

The following committee reports were received by the Secretary of the Senate in the order listed:

STATE AFFAIRS — CSSB 42

BUSINESS AND COMMERCE — CSSB 706

TRANSPORTATION — SB 1001, SB 1034, SB 1205, SB 1251, SB 1523

FINANCE — CSSB 533

INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS — SB 1620, SB 990, SB 467, CSSB 488, SB 1090, CSSB 744, CSSB 1229, CSSB 1544

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT — SB 832, SB 1045, SB 1046, SB 1421, SB 1422, CSSB 1541, SCR 26

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES — SB 304, SB 203, CSSB 584, SB 948, SB 314, SB 1414, SB 1063, CSSB 293

SB 30, SB 87, SB 88, SB 256, SB 330, SB 490, SB 622, SB 670, SB 705, SB 843, SB 884, SB 1107

SR 478, SR 515, SR 516, SR 518, SR 519, SR 520, SR 521, SR 522, SR 523, SR 524, SR 525, SR 526, SR 527, SR 528, SR 529, SR 530, SR 531, SR 532, SR 533, SR 534, SR 535, SR 536, SR 537, SR 538