(The Center Square) – As the Texas House enters the last stretch to vote on more than 400 bills ahead of a Thursday deadline, they’re also killing bills in the process.
Under House rules, bills that aren’t voted on by midnight Thursday will effectively die. Thousands of bills are expected to meet their end by then.
Some aren’t making it that far, including bills prohibiting the imposition of a carbon tax and creating a Mexican guest worker program. Both failed largely along party lines.
House Joint Resolution 138, filed by state Rep. Daniel Alders, R-Tyler, proposed a constitutional amendment to prohibit the legislature “from imposing a tax on the carbon content of a fuel or on the emission of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas that results from the use, production, or consumption of any good or service.”
With Texas leading the U.S. in oil and natural gas production and other states and countries implementing carbon taxes, Alders wanted to ensure that no carbon tax is ever imposed “in the future” as such a tax “could deter the oil and gas industry from producing as much as it has in Texas,” the bill analysis states.
HJR 138 had multiple authors, including Democrat Reps. Eddie Morales of Eagle Pass and Josey Garcia of San Antonio, who represent districts heavily reliant on oil and natural gas development. It also had 58 cosponsors, including seven Democrats.
It was read for a third time on May 6, then postponed twice until May 12. It needed a two-thirds vote to pass and failed by seven votes. Eight members were absent, two voted present, not voting; 47 Democrats voted against it, effectively killing it. If it had passed, it would have been presented to the voters on a November ballot to approve or reject.
Alders made the case for the resolution arguing the tax prohibition was needed to ensure Texas doesn’t become California. As a result of California energy policies, refineries are closing, restrictions have increased and costs have exponentially gone up, The Center Square reported. In Texas, the oil and natural gas industry has broken records by both expanding production and reducing emissions, The Center Square reported.
“Our free market approach to energy policy in Texas is substantially better for the people of Texas and the global economy as a whole,” Alders argued. The resolution would “enshrine that approach in our constitution.” Democrats disagreed and killed it.
Texas voters have already approved multiple constitutional amendments banning taxation, including a constitutional ban of a state income tax, wealth tax, and real estate transaction tax. This session, a capital gains and stock exchange transactions tax and occupation tax ban championed by Gov. Greg Abbott are being presented to the voters, The Center Square reported.
Another bill that failed was barely killed by Republicans.
HB 2858, filed by state Reps. Ray Lopez, D-San Antonio, and Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, proposed establishing a temporary Mexican guest worker program “if a waiver or other authorization can be obtained from the appropriate federal agency.” After receiving federal authorization, the governor would then “negotiate and enter into a memorandum of understanding with the government of a state in Mexico to create the program” and “facilitate the migration of legal Mexican temporary guest workers to fill jobs in Texas businesses identified as being most in need of skilled and unskilled migrant labor,” according to the bill language.
Abbott has already entered into MOUs with four Mexican governors to implement border security, The Center Square reported. He did not need the legislature’s approval to do so. He also facilitated the removal of illegal foreign nationals from Texas by providing voluntary transportation to other states.
Under the Biden and Obrador administrations, the greatest number of Mexican illegal border crossers were reported of nearly three million, The Center Square reported. Under the Trump administration, criminal Mexican nationals are continuing to be deported, including through major enforcement operations out of Houston, The Center Square reported.
The measure was filed after Darby also filed a bill addressing oil field theft in West Texas, which has largely been facilitated by Mexican cartel operatives and illegal border crossers from Mexico, The Center Square reported.
The measure got pushback from Republicans, but not all of them. Nine voted with Democrats. After an initial vote of 70-73 was recorded, a verification of the vote was requested. The final verified vote tally was 65 for, 76 against, two present (not voting), according to the House Journal.
Republicans who joined Darby in voting for it included Charlie Geren, Ryan Guillen, Ken King, Stan Lambert, Janie Lopez, John Lujan, Candy Noble and Denise Villalobos.
