Abbott’s Executive Overreach

Gov. Greg Abbott took his big, red pen to the list of approved bills from this year's legislative session on Friday, vetoing 50 measures that had been passed through the House and Senate. Not surprisingly, a number of the bills would have proved directly beneficial to residents in Austin and other Texas municipalities had they been signed into law. Here's a smattering of the bills nixed by the Guv; for a full list, see gov.texas.gov/news/category/legislative-veto-statement.

SB 744: Would have offered a "tree planting credit" to offset tree mitigation fees established by city ordinances. (Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham)

SB 790: Would have extended the Women's Health Advisory Committee by two years. (Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston)

HB 61: Would have allowed former special education students in public schools to be switched to the standard "A through F" grade system. (Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City)

HB 961: Would have allowed board of trustees elections at junior colleges to be won with a plurality vote rather than a majority. (Rep. Justin Rodriguez, D-San Antonio)

HB 2410: Would have allowed for mail-in voting for small counties in run-off elections. (Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin)

HB 2798: Would have allowed counties to implement a pilot program to reuse wastewater at county facilities for subsurface irrigation and toilet and urinal flushing. (Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston)

SB 1912: Would have allowed counties to create a public defender office to serve defendants with mental health issues. (Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo)

HB 3055: Would have allowed election administration officers to hold public office in counties with populations of less than 1,000. (Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City)

HB 1342: Would have required that child abuse anti-victimization programs at schools include research-based sexual abuse prevention training designed to promote self-protection, prevent sexual abuse and trafficking of children, and reduce child pregnancy. (Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound)

HB 2792: Would have made technical changes in order to support housing initiatives by cities and counties. (Rep. Mary González, D-Clint)

HB 3281: Would have let cities collect a percentage of property taxes from certain districts to make way for affordable housing, and continued the city of Austin's ability to establish homestead preservation districts. (Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin)