Senate water committee advances tenant-billing reform, rural-definition cleanup, wildfire equipment database and bond-threshold changes

The Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs advanced five bills at a committee hearing at the State Capitol, moving measures intended to speed dispute resolution for tenant water bills, clarify the state definition of rural political subdivisions, expand a statewide inventory for firefighting equipment, authorize interlocal water planning agreements, and raise bond thresholds for certain Parks and Wildlife projects.

Sen. Alvarado laid out Senate Bill 790, which would authorize the Public Utility Commission to establish a simplified, expedited process to resolve tenant complaints about water or wastewater bills. "A simple $25 discrepancy could take months to resolve through administrative hearings," Sen. Alvarado said, and the bill would let the PUC create a faster resolution path that could include an online portal and reduce the need for attorneys. The committee opened public testimony and recorded none; the measure was later voted out of committee.

Sen. Sparks described a statutory cleanup in the wake of the Water Development Board's sunset review: Senate Bill 971 would revise inconsistent definitions of "rural political subdivision" in the Texas Water Code that the review found had unintentionally included some urban entities. Laura Zent of the Texas Rural Water Association, which represents more than 900 utilities, told the committee the association worked with stakeholders and the Water Development Board…