In its never-ending mission to educate and inform its members and the hunting community at large, Texas Trophy Hunters Association, with the assistance of and through its work as a member of Texas Outdoor Partners, has compiled everything the outdoorsman needs to know about what happened this past legislative session in Austin. Lawmakers certainly had their plates full, so here’s what did and did not manage to cross the governor’s desk for his signature.
SB 2534 by Sen. Jeff Wentworth set up a stakeholder process and panel headed by the Comptroller and Commissioner of Agriculture to work with Camp Bullis and area stakeholders on endangered species issues in a manner similar to the successful work at Fort Hood.
SB 1742 by Sen. Florence Shapiro on hunting in the city limits had proposed noise ordinances for gunfire and excessive buffers and was bracketed to Collin County. However, it continued to require a 1,500-foot distance from buildings and residences, affecting those landowners in the area, and quite probably Denton and Fort Bend Counties. The Texas Outdoor Partners (TOP) remained concerned that other communities would request this type of practice the next session. However, Sen. Shapiro worked with TOP to replace the 1,500 foot buffer restriction from any residence or building by keeping the existing law in place that provides 150 feet from a residence or building, but creating new buffers for schools, hospitals, athletic events and well-signed commercial day-care centers of 1,000 feet, and 600 feet from subdivision or multifamily complexes.
Sen. Kip Averitt’s changes to the Environmental Flows process were in jeopardy, but he was able to attach the language in HB 3335 by Rep. Bill Callegari. Texas Wildlife Association (TWA), Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) and TOP groups worked with Sen. Averitt to ensure that existing deadlines and processes were maintained as much as possible, and that Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) was included in decision-making with the Texas Water Development Board.
SB 801 by Sen. Glenn Hegar provides the wildlife management tax valuation will now be extended to those landowners with timber valuations as a new timber practice. The wildlife valuation bill is currently on the Governor's desk.
Those with crossbows may now legally hunt during archery season in Texas. Gov. Rick Perry, a longtime archer and bowhunter, signed House Bill 963 into law May 23, which goes into effect Sept. 1. State Rep. Mark Homer had introduced the legislation at the request of a friend and hunting partner. Texas has become the third major deer-hunting state to approve the use of crossbows during archery-only deer-hunting seasons in 2009, according to outdoor blogger J. R. Absher.
SB 958 by Sen. Hegar and HB 3144 by Rep. Yvonne Gonzales-Toureilles provide sales tax relief for aircraft and helicopters in agriculture, but Sen. Hegar's bill was amended by Rep. Gonzales-Toureilles to also provide for wildlife management activities. Both await the Governor’s action.
SB 205 by Sen. Eliot Shapleigh and sponsored in the House by Rep. Donna Howard would have provided for the development of curriculum for the Partnership for Children in Nature. This fell victim to stall tactics over voter ID. Although TOP attempted to work with others to attach the language to a bill by Rep. John Smithee
and Senate sponsor Sen. Kel Seliger, the House parliamentarian ruled the language non-germane and ordered it removed, killing the PCIN effort in legislation. TOP is working with the authors on a post-session letter requesting the process be implemented with oversight of TPWD and Texas Education Agency.
HB 3180, also known as the "puppy mill bill", by Rep. Senfronia Thompson was killed when public opposition led by TOP groups and its allies drove Sen. John Whitmire to not hear it in committee. The legislation would have defined dog breeders, required licensing and fees, and while it had some protections it would have created many unintended consequences. The bill’s language had also been attached as an amendment in the Senate by Sen. Whitmire to Rep. Edmund Kuempel's Licensing and Regulation bill. Rep. Kuempel bill had vowed before his untimely heart attack that he would remove the amendment in conference, and his colleagues lead by Rep. Charlie Geren supported that position and it was removed.
Sen. Kel Seliger had proposed SB 634, the tethering bill that would have removed tethering as a means to restrain dogs and require a 150 square foot minimum kennel size. He pulled the bill down after discussions failed to find compromise language.
The "pork chopper" bill, HB 836 by Rep. Sid Miller, provided a direct payment to landowners for depredation shooting out of a helicopter. Landowners can basically do everything now in depredation control of feral hogs except that currently, the landowner cannot take direct payment for the activity. TPWD can provide specific details on how to achieve the goal or you are interested in how to do this. The bill died when it was referred to
the Senate Ag and Rural Affairs Committee late, but it was rerouted to the Senate Natural Resources. The last meeting of SNR did not garner a quorum, with other committees meeting simultaneously in their last meetings, so it was never heard.
HB 1595 by Rep. Tracy King and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Carlos Uresti, would have allowed members of the Kickapoo tribe to hunt female white-tailed deer year round. TOP groups were very concerned about the bill’s language and the precedence it would have set, including out of state (and out of nation) tribesmen hunting year-round as a resident, and how this would affect other tribes that had ever claimed parts of Texas as their hunting grounds. Gov. Perry has vetoed the bill the last two sessions.
HB 1965 by Rep. Drew Darby addressing issues with white-tailed deer depredation control in croplands passed and was sent to the Governor. Several TOP groups had worked with ag groups and affected farmers prior to the session on ways to streamline depredation permitting and timely control activities by removing the extensive existing bureaucratic procedures in law. After significant negotiations providing TPWD authority and identifying different approaches for mule deer and pronghorn antelope, Rep. Darby was able to capture the issues and create significant, helpful legislation.
HB 3113 by Rep. Kuempel and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Eddie Lucio will ensure that traditional raffles for wildlife groups will continue as a practice. Previous legislation had put a sunset deadline in April on this activity as well as a restriction of two per organization. The new legislation provides that subunits such as local chapters, regions, and teams may now have two raffles per year. The bill passed and was sent to the Governor.
HB 3330 by Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock allows Texas Animal Health Commission to develop elk disease protocols for CWD and other diseases. Several TOP groups participate in the CWD Task Force with several large animal veterinarians and it has developed disease protocols for white-tailed deer. Expect action that will center on movement and transfer of elk for testing protocols that are yet to be developed.
SB 1121 and 1122 by Sen. Glenn Hegar, provided waste of meat clarifications and flexibility for penalties less than Class A violations (as it had existed in law), and cold storage and tagging clarifications. Hunting lessees will now be able to use the private, non-commercial cold storage facilities as long as tagging continues, and existing private cold storage rules were codified.
Other bills provided authority and funding for enhanced rural development of large animal veterinarians, that deer breeders could specifically participate in Texas Ag Finance Authority, that a universal data base would be developed for disease management between TPWD and TAHC for permittees, and for proper sewage disposal in marinas.
Bills that would have helped the landowner’s ability to perform prescribed burning activities, especially during county burn bans, did not get out of committee, and Rep. Jim McReynolds, a leader in the legislature on this issue, will work with TOP groups and others over the interim to find common ground.
Gun Legislation
SB 730 by Sen. Hegar, to allow storage of legally owned firearms in private motor vehicles parked in employer-owned parking lots, passed in the Texas Senate. SB 730 overtook HB 1301 in the process and was picked up by Rep. Frost, who moved the bill through the House Public Safety Committee. SB 730 went on the House Calendar May 23, but was listed after the Voter-ID bill. The subsequent slow-down to stop Voter-ID killed any chance for SB 730 to pass.
SB 1164 by Sen. Wentworth & HB 1893 by Rep. Driver, the Campus Personal Protection Act, was set on the House Calendar too late for a House bill to be debated. SB 1164 by Wentworth passed in the Texas Senate, cleared the House Public Safety Committee and just missed being set on the House Calendar. This was the first time this self-defense issue came before the Legislature and while it didn't pass, more than half the Texas House signed on as co-authors.
SB 1888 signed by Gov. Rick Perry makes it legal for Texas Residents to purchase firearms, ammunition, reloading components and firearms accessories from the rest of the country. Before the new law went into effect, Texans were limited in purchasing those items only from in-state merchants and those from New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. That limitation went back to a time when the Federal Gun Control Act prohibited gun sales from non-contiguous states. But the United States Code, specifically 18 U.S.C. Section 922 (b)(3)(A), had been updated to allow for interstate purchases. The new law now allows for approval of legal interstate purchases from the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
HB 410 by Rep. Isett & SB 838 by Sen. Hinojosa—Stand-alone legislation to repeal the requirement for a CHL when carrying a handgun and stopped by law enforcement to display their license and repealing the penalty.
This bill failed, but its language was amended to HB 2730 by Rep. Kolkhorst , the DPS Sunset bill. A CHL is still required to display their license to law enforcement when in possession of a handgun, but there is no penalty for failure to do so.
HB 2730 by Rep. Kolkhorst & Sen. Juan Hinojosa—DPS Sunset Bill
This 207 page omnibus bill dealing with most departments within the Texas Department of Public Safety became a vehicle for change in the last days of session. Here’s a brief summary of the changes related to Concealed Carry Licensing and Eligibility: No more TR-100s and no more $5 charge per form. Instructors will only have to go to Austin to renew their certification every four years, and can renew on the Internet in between. Also:
* All application materials will be available on the Internet.
* Delinquent school loans are no longer disqualifying for a CHL.
* Any conviction that was set aside, voided, or any manner invalidated will no longer be a conviction for CHL
purposes.
* In order to be disqualifying for CHL purposes, a conviction must be classified as a felony both at the time it
was committed and at the time of application for a CHL.
* The duty to display your CHL when asked for ID remains, but the penalty for not doing so is repealed.
Source: Texas Outdoor Partners