With the deadline for House bills to pass third reading last Friday at midnight, the 81st Session entered its final phase. The good news is that seven of ACT’s high priority bills have made it to the last two weeks of the session. Here’s a run-down of the bills’ current status:

ACT will continue to follow these bills and post updates on their progress. To receive action alerts from ACT, please sign up for our email list. And to follow bill progress in real-time, sign up to follow ACT on Twitter.

Tuesday April 14 was a big day for energy efficiency legislation in the Capitol. Senator Averitt’s SB 16 passed through the Senate on a final vote of 22-8 (with one absence). Often referred to as the omnibus clean air bill of the 81st Session, SB 16 is also among the most important energy efficiency bills filed this year. Senator Averitt’s bill includes upgrading state-wide building codes, energy efficiency standards for appliances, and the Energy Star appliance rebate program.

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Business and Industry unanimously passed another major energy efficiency bill out of committee. SB 546 by Senator Fraser sets an aggressive goal for energy efficiency for the state: a 50% reduction in growth by 2015. This bill now moves to the full Senate.

Not to be left out, Tuesday saw activity on energy efficiency on the House side as well, but this time, it was in the form of a press conference. Representative Anchia and Representative Strama, joined by members of ACT’s energy efficiency team, called for the Texas House to pass energy efficiency legislation this session.

Representative Anchia’s omnibus efficiency bill HB 280 and Representative Strama’s HB 1391 provide the programs and financial incentives that will help Texas realize its potential in the cleanest energy source of all – the watt you never use. ACT urges the Chairman Keffer and the House Committee on Energy Resources to move these two bills (among many others) out of committee and onto the House floor in the coming week.