(The Center Square) – At the close of the 88th legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed scores of bills, the majority of which he said was because the legislature failed to reach an agreement on property tax relief. On June 16 and 18, he vetoed over 50 bills.
However, he also previously vetoed bills unrelated to the legislative stalemate, as well as 16 more on June 17. For some of them, he said he’d work with the authors to improve the bills.
Abbott vetoed SB 498 to regulate the operation of statewide technology centers because it conflicts with another bill he already signed into law, according to his veto statement.
He vetoed SB 796 related to arbitration provisions in surplus lines insurance contracts because “interference with freedom of contract in this market could inadvertently increase premiums and drive out insurers who want to do business in Texas,” he said.
He vetoed SB 813 related to providing notice to state lawmakers about certain Texas Commission on Environmental Quality actions because it “would add unnecessary bureaucratic duties to what is already required by Texas law. Our goal should be to eliminate bureaucracy, not add to it,” he said.
He vetoed SB 1393 related to the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, “an insurer of last resort for owners of residential property in underserved markets.” He vetoed it because it “would fundamentally change the Association’s purpose by making certain homeowners eligible for subsidized FAIR polices even though insurance is available to them on the traditional market,” he said.
He vetoed SB 1399 related to renewing and reviewing standard permits for certain concrete plants because it “appears to add more bureaucracy and cost.”
He vetoed SB 2016 to regulate and license dietitians because it “would impose an unnecessary occupational-licensing limitation that hurts workers and consumers, while straining the economic engine of Texas. A dietitian should not be required to obtain a master’s degree to become registered or licensed by the State of Texas.”
He vetoed SB 2275 relating to the authority of the Supreme Court of Texas to adopt certain rules. He said the bill rightly “calls out a sloppy subsection in the 1939 Act that lets the Texas Supreme Court write procedural rules for the judicial branch.” The bill’s author, “Senator Hughes is right to ring the alarm about this statutory text, thoughtful lawyer that he is,” he said. However, he vetoed it “to avoid unintended consequences within our courts” suggesting “the offending subsection should be rewritten rather than repealed” and “the three branches of government should collaborate on new-and-improved language.”
He vetoed HB 3159 related to the use of an accessible absentee mail system “to benefit blind, visually impaired Texans, people with dyslexia, or persons with limited dexterity of their arms or hands such as persons with quadriplegia.” However, the bill isn’t limited “to assisting this group. Instead, it allows any voter who qualifies to vote by mail to receive a ballot electronically,” he explained.
Abbott vetoed HB 181 relating to creating a sickle cell disease registry because it would force hospitals to share sensitive health information. jeopardizing patient privacy and because he signed a different bill into law related to sickle cell disease, he explained.
He vetoed HB 558 relating to the Texas Disaster Act for several reasons including because it doesn’t “carefully distinguish between a future pandemic, in which those organizations should stay open, and a hurricane or a wildfire, in which a mandatory evacuation order might be necessary. Hacking away at the Texas Disaster Act like this poses an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of Texans,” he wrote.
He vetoed HB 729 relating to a statewide intellectual and developmental disability coordinating council because “several Texas committees already do that same important work. Creating a new bureaucracy to duplicate their efforts is wasteful at best, and could even frustrate existing programs.”
Abbott vetoed HB 1466 relating to regulating certain continuing education programs because it “would raise an unjustified obstacle to maintaining an occupational license for installing fire alarms. This bill can be reconsidered at a future special session only after education freedom is passed.”
He vetoed HB 2416, which allows the gulf coast protection account to be administered by the General Land Office because it requires “the deposit of any federal money the State receives for coastal protection into an account that can be spent only on a small portion of the Gulf Coast, if at all,” he explained.
Abbott also vetoed HB 4128 related to associate judges for guardianship and protective services proceedings because it “goes too far … in building a new state bureaucracy.” He also previously approved a bill last session “to protect vulnerable Texans through a system of specialized guardianship courts with associate judges,” he said.
He vetoed HB 4759 related to expanding the criminalization of dog attacks because “the justice system should be allowed to work without the overcriminalization found in this bill,” he said.
He also vetoed HB 4779 relating to prosecuting organized retail theft crime because it “could inadvertently chip away at that foundation, by making it harder to prosecute and punish organized retail theft,” according to his veto statement.
This article First appeared in the center square