The House today appointed conferees for HJR 14, from Rep. Frank Corte (R-San Antonio), a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at strengthened property rights protections by reforming eminent domain. The conferees are: Corte as chair, Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville), Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton), Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg) and Kino Flores (D-Mission).

The House conference committee members were named today for House Bill 4409, a disaster preparedness bill that now serves as a lifeboat for reform of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. They are: Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) as chair; John Smithee (R-Lubbock), Craig Eiland (D-Galveston), Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi), and Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City).

Sen. Kevin Eltife's (R-Tyler) SB 1569, sponsored by Mark Strama (D-Austin) in the House, flatlined at the stroke of midnight last night. It was the first bill following the long local and consent calendar that the Democrats used to stall in order to kill voter ID, which along with a great many other bills is now also dead.

SB 1569 would have expanded eligibility for unemployment insurance in Texas to part-time workers and others -- the strings attached by Washington in order for the state to be able to draw down $555 million in HR 1 "stimulus" money.

Gov. Rick Perry spoke personally with Speaker Joe Straus on the dais today about the top 10 percent rule, which grants automatic admissions to the university of choice to high school students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. A bill to loosen the top 10 percent rule, to give more recruiting flexibility to the state’s flagship universities, is set to be taken up sometime today on the House floor.

After meeting with Straus, Perry spoke briefly with the press corps and called the bill an “important piece of legislation.”

Higher education students 21-years-old and older who hold concealed handgun licenses (CHLs) will be able to carry concealed firearms on campus grounds not just outdoors (as current law allows) but also inside on-campus buildings like student unions, dorm rooms, class buildings etc., under SB 1164 from Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio), which the Senate today passed to third reading 20-10.

The House May 18 passed Sen. Jane Nelson’s (R-Lewisville) SB 643 to reform Texas’s state schools, which are residential facilities for persons with mental disabilities. Her original bill changed the names of state schools to “state developmental centers,” but the version passed by the House changes the name to “state supported living centers.” Rep. Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs) sponsored the bill in the House. The bill passed without objection to third reading.

Said Gov. Rick Perry following the House’s vote: “This comprehensive legislation provides enhanced protection for some of our most vulnerable citizens. A key provision in this bill, the use of surveillance cameras in common areas of state schools, is paramount to preventing, deterring and detecting abuse and neglect of state school residents.”

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst told the press corps today that the Legislative Budget Board has recommended up to another $1 billion in general revenue for Medicaid in the state budget, on top of the $750 million that was already in the Senate budget (but not in the House version). Expanded case loads and more expensive services account for the increased need.