10
PRIORITY LEGISLATION
HB 40 Darby, Drew Relating to the express preemption of regulation of oil and gas operations and the exclusive jurisdiction of those
operations by the state. Remarks: TXOGA Preemption Bill. Local Ordinance. The authority of a municipality or other political subdivision to regulate an oil and gas operation is expressly preempted, except that a municipality is authorized to enact, amend, or enforce
an ordinance or other measure that regulates only surface activity that is incident to an oil and gas operation, is commercially reasonable, does not effectively prohibit an oil and gas operation, and is not otherwise preempted by state or federal law.
HB 539 King, Phil Relating to the procedural requirements for the adoption of a municipal regulation, limitation, or prohibition on
the production, storage, or transportation of oil or natural gas. Remarks: Prior to adoption of an ordinance or referendum to regulate,
limit, or prohibit O&G production, storage or transportation, a local government must first obtain and pay for a fiscal note and an
equalized education funding impact statement (impact statement) from the LLB. The Fiscal note will include: (1) the costs to the state
and local government; (2) the cost of reimbursing the state for each of the following 5 years. The impact statement will calculate the
measure's resulting reduction in operations tax revenue or reduction in land value for each of the next 5 years. A hearing must be held
before a vote to disclose the costs of reimbursing the state, the lost revenue, and the increase in tax or other revenue source to be used
to make up the loss. Notice of this information must be widely published before enforcement of the measure.
SB 611 Perry, Charles (F) Relating to the confidentiality of certain water well reports. Remarks: Same as HB 898. Provides confidentiality for a groundwater withdrawal report required by a groundwater protection district when requested in writing by the owner or
operator of a privately owned water well.
HB 1946 Bonnen, Dennis Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of a real property interest in oil or gas in place.
Remarks: Good Bill. Ties the specific method for tax appraisal of the future income from the sale of oil or gas to be produced from an
interest to the spot per-barrel price of West Texas Intermediate crude or the spot price of natural gas at the Henry Hub in nominal dollars per million British thermal units on specific dates as published in specific reports.
SB 1165 Fraser, Troy Relating to the express preemption of regulation of oil and gas operations and the exclusive jurisdiction of
those operations by the state. Remarks: Identical to HB 40 (Darby). TXOGA Preemption Bill. Local Ordinance. The authority of a
municipality or other political subdivision to regulate an oil and gas operation is expressly preempted, except that a municipality is
authorized to enact, amend, or enforce an ordinance or other measure that regulates only surface activity that is incident to an oil and
gas operation, is commercially reasonable, does not effectively prohibit an oil and gas operation, and is not otherwise preempted by
state or federal law.
HB 589 Burkett, Cindy (R) Relating to a disqualification for unemployment benefits for refusing to take or failing a preemployment
drug test. Companions: SB 722 Perry, Charles (F) Remarks: After 12/1/15, any unemployed person who refuses to take a drug test
or fails a drug test will be deemed to have failed to accept suitable work for purposes of qualifying for unemployment benefits.
HCR 57 Anchia, Rafael (D) Urging the U.S. Congress to end the ban on crude oil exports. Companions: SCR 13 Seliger, Kel Remarks: House concurrent resolution urging the president and congress to lift the export ban on crude oil experts
HCR 63 Wu, Gene (D) Urging the U.S. Congress to expedite natural gas exports. Remarks: A House Concurrent Resolution urging the US Congress to expedite natural gas exports and that the Texas secretary of state forward official copies to the president, the
Congress and request that the resolution be entered in the Congressional Record.
SB 1 Nelson, Jane (R) Relating to certain restrictions on the imposition of ad valorem taxes and to the duty of the state to reimburse
certain po ]X