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Votes at a glance: committee clears a slate of bills on municipal classification, passports, marriage licenses, wholesalers and fire dues
Summary
The committee voted to advance several bills by voice vote. Short summaries list each bill, the sponsor, and the committee action; the transcript records no roll-call tallies for these items.
The committee took voice votes to advance a group of bills with little on-record opposition. Below are the items discussed and the committee’s recorded outcome.
House Bill 1783 (Representative Nicole Clowney): Raises the population threshold for which a city may opt to be classified as a city of the second class from 5,000 to 7,500, allowing some smaller cities more time before incurring first-class-city requirements (for example, hiring a city attorney). Representative Nicole Clowney presented the bill and the committee passed it by voice vote.
Senate Bill 1901 (passport-fee retention; Senator Crowell): Allows county passport-accepting facilities (typically county clerks) to retain passport fees to defray operational costs rather than sending them to a general fund; witnesses noted fees currently collected at the county level go to the county general fund absent direction in law. The committee passed the measure by voice vote.
Senate Bill 1902 (replacement marriage license; Senator Kroll): Creates a $10 process to replace a lost or destroyed marriage license and removes the older $100 bond requirement; sponsors said the bill simplifies a process that can be unworkable when the solemnizing official is unavailable. The committee passed the measure by voice vote.
House Bill 1730 (wholesaler permits; sponsor representation in committee): Representatives and advocates described repeal of the 2013 prohibition on issuing new wholesaler permits to allow the Alcoholic Beverage Control to reengage in permit issuance and to create market access for smaller producers; the committee passed the bill by voice vote.
House Bill 1416 (fire-dues collection for small municipal volunteer fire departments; Representative Lee Johnson): Allows certain small municipal fire departments whose districts extend into unincorporated county areas to use the county process (petitioning the quorum court) for collecting fire dues through property tax collection. Sponsors said the bill does not change current fee limits or the process of required signatures and court approval; the committee passed the bill by voice vote.
For all items in this roundup, the transcript shows committee explanation, limited questions, and passage by voice vote; no roll-call tallies or detailed vote records were recorded in the transcript.
