Senate reads bills on first reading, chair signs House Bill 4; session adjourned until 3 p.m.

The Senate on Aug. 26 read several bills and resolutions on first reading, referred them to standing committees and acknowledged the signing of House Bill 4, then stood adjourned until 3 p.m. that day.

The matters read on first reading included House Bill 16, relating to administration and procedures for judicial-branch proceedings; House Bill 17, on notice requirements for certain property-tax information provided by taxing units and appraisal districts; House Bill 23, on an exemption from ad valorem taxation for property owned by certain nonprofit corporations; and House Bill 27, directing a groundwater study of aquifers in the Nueces and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District. The presiding officer also read Senate Bill 19, concerning a prohibition on making and accepting political contributions during a special legislative session, and two bills by Hughes, Senate Bills 53 and 54, both relating to election procedures for voters whose residential addresses are not current. The reading placed each measure on first reading and referenced them to the committees named on the floor (for example, to State Affairs or to the Select Committee on District Preparedness and Flooding).

A House messenger told the Senate, “I am directed by the house to inform the senate,” and later added, “the house will take everything you have as fast as you can bring it,” while delivering the messages from the other chamber. The presiding officer announced the signing of House Bill 4 “in the presence of the Senate.”

No debate, amendments or recorded roll-call votes on the listed measures were recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. Members did not discuss the merits of the bills during the read-aloud; the actions were procedural—placing measures on first reading and referring them to committee, and the presiding officer’s acknowledgment of the signed bill.

Pursuant to a previously adopted motion, the presiding officer said the Senate would stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Aug. 26.