> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # This week: Attempting to give ICE, SpaceX and anti-vaxxers more power - URL: https://bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io/this-week-attempting-to-give-ice/ - Published: 2025-03-17T02:22:09.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-07T22:47:58.000Z - Description: And why does a Dallas-area Rep. want to give a tax exemption to the sale of game and exotic animals? - Author: Sara Cress - Tags: Newsletter, #Migrated-1794091451356, #Import 2026-11-07 22:47 Below is a quick look at just a portion of the bills that are coming up for hearings through Wednesday this week. The lege is heating up, which means there are hearings all the time in both houses and keeping up with all of it is a fool’s errand. What I’m posting here isn’t every hearing, nor all of what is being discussed in the hearings. It’s just the bills that stood out to me. It’s like 10 years ago when my employer would kindly send me to SXSW Interactive for a few years on their dime. I’d comb through every panel of the day to find the ones that resonated with me and devise a schedule, but we’re talking hundreds of panels every day with often inscrutable titles that required further digging to find out what exactly was being discussed. This post has taken me nearly three hours to write because the density of hearings in just three days is DENSE. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) ### Monday, 3/17: **Senate State Affairs 9 a.m.:** [**SB 8**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB00008&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Schwertner | et al. *Relating to agreements between sheriffs and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enforce federal immigration law.* > *The sheriff of each county with a population of 100,000 or more shall request, and as offered, enter into a written agreement with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Section 287(g), Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1357(g)), or an agreement under a similar federal program to authorize officers and employees of the sheriff ’s department to enforce federal immigration law.* This would force the sheriffs of our larger cities, which typically have refused to enforce federal immigration laws because it’s not their job, to do so. If they do not, they feel the wrath of Ken Paxton, who only loves federal overreach if it disappears brown people. [**SB 1349**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB01349&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Hughes *Relating to creating the criminal offenses of transnational repression and unauthorized enforcement of foreign law and to a study and law enforcement training regarding transnational repression.* — I’m having a hard time parsing this one, but it feels real shady. [**SB 2312**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB02312&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Hughes *Relating to the establishment and powers and duties of the Texas Advisory Committee on Geopolitical Conflict.* — Same as above. **House Energy Resources 11 a.m.:** [**HJR 107**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HJR00107&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Landgraf *Proposing a constitutional amendment protecting the right to engage in the exploration for and production and export of oil, gas, and other minerals. —* Rep. Brooks Landgraf is the chairman of the House Environmental Regulation Committee, he doesn’t believe in climate change, and he wants to amend the Texas constitution to read “The people have the right to engage in generally accepted practices concerning the exploration for and production and export of minerals.” **House Ways & Means 1 p.m.:** [**HB 135**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB00135&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Button *Relating to an exemption from sales and use taxes for game animals and exotic animals.* — Can anyone explain to me why Rep. Angie Chin Button (R-Dallas area) wants to exempt the sale of game and exotic animals from taxation? **Senate Local Government Affairs 3:15 p.m.:** [**SB 617**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB00617&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Schwertner *Relating to hearing and public notice requirements regarding the conversion by a municipality of certain properties to house homeless individuals.* > *A municipality ’s governing body may not approve the conversion of a property under the municipality ’s control to provide housing to homeless individuals unless the governing body holds a public hearing not less than 90 days before the municipality begins the conversion.* I find “properties to house homeless individuals” interesting. Clippy asks, “did you mean to type ‘housing?’” ### Tuesday, 3/18: **Senate Criminal Justice 8 a.m.:** Not a fan of Sen. Joan Huffman (R-coastal south of Houston), but her bills in this hearing need support from the public and survivor communities to make them a priority. [**SB 535**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB00535&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Huffman *Relating to the admissibility of evidence regarding a victim's past sexual behavior in prosecutions of certain trafficking, sexual, or assaultive offenses.* — It doesn’t matter what a person’s past is, when they are seeking legal assistance after sexual assault or trafficking, their behavior previous to that incident should not be admissible in court. [**SB 1019**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB01019&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Huffman *Relating to the admissibility of certain hearsay statements in the adjudication of certain sexual or assaultive offenses committed against a child or a person with a disability.* — This raises the age of the “person with a disability” in this context from age 12 to age 18. **House Intergovernmental Affairs 8 a.m.:** [**HB 530**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB00530&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Troxclair *Relating to the authority of a political subdivision to establish and operate a guaranteed income program.* — This would ban all attempts at basic income programs, which have come under fire in Texas, even though [THEY WORK](https://19thnews.org/2024/07/study-guaranteed-income-program-results/?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io), particularly for low-income women. [Ken Paxton](https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-stops-second-harris-county-guaranteed-income-scheme-preventing-public?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) [has fought](https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-harris-county-stop-new-unlawful-guaranteed-income-scheme-violates?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Harris County’s attempt to implement a UBI program. [**HB 636**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB00636&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Walle *Relating to the implementation of a statewide homeless data sharing network to share real-time data on homelessness.* — You’d think this is something we’d already have in place, but just like maternal morbidity, the state of Texas chooses to defiantly look the other way at the chronic problems we face. This doesn’t seem like a huge ask. **Senate Health & Human Services 1 p.m.:** There’s so much packed into this schedule, it might be a good one to just stick with: [**SB 95**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB00095&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Hall *Relating to informed consent to immunizations for children and civil liability for failure to obtain the consent.* [**SB 493**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB00493&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Kolkhorst *Relating to certain protected disclosures by pharmacists and pharmacies regarding amounts charged for prescription drugs.* [**SB 619**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB00619&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Sparks *Relating to protection of persons from participation in a health care service for reasons of conscience; providing a civil remedy; authorizing disciplinary action.* [**SB 1822**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB01822&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Johnson *Relating to the use of artificial intelligence-based algorithms in utilization review conducted for certain health benefit plans.* ### Wednesday, 3/19: **House State Affairs 8 a.m.:** This has a LOT of wild bill hearings in it: [**HB 14**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB00014&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Harris *Relating to funding mechanisms within the Office of the Governor and Texas Public Utility Commission to support the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors in this state.* [**HB 267**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB00267&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Patterson *Relating to affirmative defenses to prosecution for certain offenses involving material or conduct that is obscene or otherwise harmful to children.* [**HB 274**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB00274&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Cain *Relating to the establishment of the District of Austin as the seat of state government.* [**HB 1393**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB01393&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Metcalf *Relating to daylight saving time.* [**HCR 101**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HCR00101&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) King *Designating the tomahawk rib-eye steak as the official State Steak of Texas and directing the Texas Department of Agriculture to promote the tomahawk rib-eye steak as part of efforts to support Texas beef and agricultural products.* [**HR 51**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HR00051&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Raymond | et al. *Condemning the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and denouncing political violence.* **Senate Natural Resources 9 a.m.:** [**SB 2188**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB02188&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Hinojosa, Adam *Relating to space flight activities.* [**SB 2230**](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB02230&ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io) Hinojosa, Adam *Relating to the closure of beaches for space flight activities; creating a criminal offense.* Some context: Sen. Adam Hinojosa is a Republican representing the Rio Grande Valley, where SpaceX resides and blows up shit, polluting beaches. When he won this office in Nov. 2024, he was the first Republican [to represent any part of the Rio Grande Valley in the Texas Senate since 1874](https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/05/adam-hinojosa-morgan-lamantia-texas-senate-rio-grande-valley/?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io), no doubt in part due to the influence of Elon Musk’s billions. --- To watch House hearings, [go here](https://house.texas.gov/videos?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io). To watch Senate hearings, [go here](https://www.senate.texas.gov/events.php?ref=bayou-city-sludge.ghost.io). --- Three. Good. Things. 1. Complete spring garden rejuvenation this weekend. It’s always a lot of work, but these early spring weeks are active and make me feel alive. 2. Foster dog Art is feeling a lot better after having a pretty severe cold since we got him. He’s playing with toys and having zoomies and playing with our other dogs. I suspect he will transport out of state this week to a home that will spoil him endlessly. I will miss him, I’m not a brick wall. But fostering is always its own reward. He is number 120 of our fosters, and I love every second of it. 3. It really was a beautiful weekend in Houston, wasn’t it?