By Matt Smith/msmith@trcle.com
State Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, likened the recent session of the Texas Legislature to the current summer weather.
“It was hot in there,” Orr said. “The hardest session I’ve been through.”
Orr delivered a summary of the recent session during the Wednesday quarterly luncheon of the Cleburne Chamber of Commerce.
“I have a lot of admiration for [the Cleburne chamber],” Orr said. “It’s through community involvement that I became involved in running for office and I think we need more small business people in the Legislature. But you all are the boots on the ground that work to promote and attract business to the area, and I encourage you to stay involved.”
Several factors helped shape this year’s session including the Republican super majority, a contentious situation over choosing the House speaker and what Orr called the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. Not to mention the state’s $27 billion shortfall.
Important issues going in, Orr said, included balancing the budget, redistricting, addressing voter identification and election integrity reform and other matters such as sanctuary cities, eminent domain and pro-life issues.
“So what did we do,” Orr laughed. “Well, noodling [catching fish by hand] is now legal in Texas. You can also now legally hunt feral hogs and coyotes from a helicopter.”
On a more serious note, Orr said the Legislature reduced state spending by $15 billion, balanced the budget [something required by the Texas Constitution] without raising taxes.
Orr also applauded passage of the Voter ID bill, a law requiring voters to show photo identification before voting.
“When people go to the polls, we need to know who is pulling that lever,” Orr said. “You can’t cash a check or rent a movie without ID.”
The redistricting project also proved contentious, Orr said, but added that his district, District 58, was one of only two in the state to remain intact. “We knew there would be lawsuits before we drew the [redistricting] maps,” Orr said. “Going through the process I expect there may be some tweaks just like there were tweaks 10 years ago.”
The new Congressional District 25 means that Johnson County will have a new Congressional representative next year, Orr said. The district of the current congressman, U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, will no longer include Johnson County.
The new district keeps Johnson County intact, Orr said. Something that almost didn’t happen, Orr said, as initial plans called for splitting the district into two Congressional districts.
Headway was also made in the areas of eminent domain and protection of property owners, Orr said, thanks to a bill requiring that landowners receive a bona fide written offer and appraisal on their land, and that allows them to repurchase their land should it not be used for the purpose stated.
The bill also further restricts eminent domain to public use, such as roadways and such, not public purpose, such as economic development uses, Orr said.
Orr touted the success of his bill changing the name of the planned expansion of Texas 121 from Fort Worth to Cleburne to the Chisholm Trail Parkway. Initial plans called for naming the road Southwest Parkway in Tarrant County and Chisholm Trail Parkway in Johnson County.
“I know this project has been in the works for about 40 years,” Orr joked, “It’s good to see that it finally seems to be coming to fruition and that we all should be able to drive on it by, oh, at least 2050. But when we do, it will be called the Chisholm Trail Parkway.”
Orr also cited a bill eliminating a 15 cent court fee as a lesson in the frustrations in attempting to pass legislation.
The original bill tacked a 15 cent fee on to each ticket issued to drivers for not having their children secured in safety seats. The money was to be used to buy child safety seats for those unable to afford them, Orr said.
Court officials in Johnson County said they rarely encountered such tickets and often had to spend 44 cents, the price of a stamp, to send monthly collection of the fee, often only 15 cents, into the state.
On closer investigation, Orr said he discovered the fund had only collected about $1,000 in the whole state, and that no safety seats had been purchased or distributed.
Orr’s bill passed the House then moved on to the Senate, where a committee decided that the problem wasn’t the fee, Orr said, but that the fee was too low. The bill fell apart in committee, Orr said, so he tried again, only to see it once again fall.
Undaunted, Orr returned a third time, attaching the bill onto Senate Bill 1.
“So we have SB 1 involving billions of dollars in state funding and here I am trying to save the state $1,000,” Orr laughed. “Anyway, it goes through the House again then, get another call that they’re thinking of taking it out again. Finally though it gets passed. So, starting Sept. 1, if you get pulled over and get a ticket for no safety seat, your ticket fine will be 15 cents less.”
Orr said he is already thinking of issues that will likely be important in the next Legislative session.
“I’m honored to serve Johnson and Bosque counties and working with you and hearing your concerns,” Orr said. “And, if you have a 15 cent bill, let me know. I can get it done.”