The bottomline: we didn’t make the kind of progress on clean energy and clean air issues we had hoped to make. ACT bills faced two hurdles that could not be overcome this session. The first was strong industry opposition that both slowed the process (especially getting bills voted out of committee) and undermined the bipartisan support these measures had going into the session. The second was a legislative session that was behind from the beginning and ultimately derailed by a partisan stalemate in the House.

It’s important to note that bills did indeed pass that will continue to move Texas toward a cleaner, healthier future. Over the coming weeks, we’ll take a look at each of the 2009 issue areas in-depth and publish an assessment of how we fared on each. By the end of the month, ACT plans to publish a 2009 Legislative wrap-up.

Today, it’s worth taking a look at where ACT’s high priority bills ended up. First, the good news. Two of the ACT’s nine high priority bills are headed to the governor’s desk. HB 821 (TV producer takeback recycling) and SB 184 (greenhouse gas registry study) passed to engrossment in both chambers. ACT would like to thank everyone who worked on these bills – both this year and in years past laying the foundation for their success.

As for the other seven bills: frankly, last Friday, three more high priority bills seemed poised to make it: SB 546, SB 545 (as an amendment) and HB 300 (TXDoT sunset). However, SB 546 failed in the conference process, taking SB 545 with it. HB 300 died when the Senate chair of the Transportation Committee threatened to filiabuster it. Obviously, members of the ACT issue teams did everything possible to keep these bills alive – particularly SB 545. But Sine Die came without a solar bill headed for Gov Perry’s desk, without the increase in energy efficiency goal recommended by the PUC’s Itron Study, and without needed improvements to make TXDoT a more environmentally-sound agency.

SB 16 became ensnared in a tremendous amount of industry push back, particularly against future air permits requiring ozone impact analysis and cumulative impact studies. After a considerable delay in voting the bill out of House Environmental Regulation, the House Calendar committee finally placed SB 16 on the House Major State calendar on May 23. But by that point, the House had ground to a halt and SB 16 failed to be passed by the midnight deadline on May 26. Eventually, parts of SB 16 were amended onto other legislation, but between the stripping of non-germane amendments and the abrupt adjourning of the Senate last night, most of them died as well.

HB 280 was made the companion for SB 546 by the House on May 14th, so it essentially shared the fate of SB 546. And HB 1553 – the climate adaptation plan bill – was voted out of House Envirnonmental Regulation but was not placed on the House calendar.

The disappointing news: SB 545 and HB 1243 have failed to gain final passage in the House. They will not go to the governor’s office. They will not be passed into law.

SB 545 was the solar rebate bill that would have pumped up to $500 million into rooftop solar and other “distributed generation” renewable energy. It passed through the Senate and the House Committee on Energy Resources. It failed to be taken up by the full House even though it was placed on the Major State calendar (the high priority calendar). The slow start to the session, significant industry resistance (this time from the Texas Association of Manufacturers) and the five-day stalemate over Voter ID each contributed to SB 545 failure to pass the House.

When SB 545 failed to pass the House, there was one more chance for it to continue on – as an amendment to a House bill already waiting passage in the Senate. While not what you set out to do when you’re drafting legislation, this is a standard path to take. So when Sen Fraser attached SB 545 (his solar bill) to HB 1243 (Rep Gallego’s net metering bill which he was sponsoring in the Senate) late Wednesday night, our hopes for solar legislation in 2009 were restored.

But at 11:58 on Friday night, with two minutes to go, a point of order was called on HB 1243 questioning whether its amendments were germane. (A second amendment on electric co-operatives had also been attached by Sen Fraser.) This point of order by Rep Turner had the effect of running out the clock, and midnight, the sun seemed to set on solar.

However, several of solar energy’s strongest advocates in the House worked all weekend trying to find a way to save solar. Unfortunately, they were unable to resolve differences over the goals for solar and efficiency that the amended bill would set. The doubly disappointing news: as a result of these failed negotiations, SB 546 failed to be reported from conference committee.

It’s very disappointing that we came so close to passing this legislation. However, while the news is bad on these three bills, we are heartened by the success of bills such as HB 821 (TV recycling), SB 184 ( the “no regrets” greenhouse gas strategy), and the green jobs training bill (included as an amendment to another workers’ training bill and as a rider to the budget).

But we’ll

As anyone who has been following this bill on ACT knows, this is a terrible outcome to years of work by environmental organizations, emerging energy industry groups, and legislators. Most of all, it represents a great loss for Texas.

Last night was the deadline for House bills to pass the Senate. And for what seemed like a very long two minutes, the Senate saved many of its own bills by adding them as amendments to House bills already on the Senate intent calendar. (The House had failed to take them up before its deadline the night before.)

ACT’s been following  HB 1243 by Rep Gallego is because it addresses one of ACT’s recommendations for renewable energy – establishing net metering. Net metering enables people to sell back surplus electricity they generate from roof-top solar, small windmills and other renewable sources to their electric provider. HB 1243 is one of the final bills passed by the House last week.

As we’ve reported all week, as the House stalemate continued through Tuesday, the chances for Senate bills to make it through the House evaporated. When the clock hit midnight on Tuesday, all the bills on the House Major State and General State calendars died. What the Senate did last night was to attach bills onto other bills – as amendments. Senator Fraser, the Senate sponsor of  HB 1243, offered SB 545 (his bill) as an amendment, so SB 545 has a second life as an amendment on HB 1243.

Now SB 545/HB 1243 faces another hurdle: being accepted as a germane amendment by the House. If the House concurs on the bill as amended, it goes on. If not, the amendment is removed in a conference committee and the amendment dies. The deadline for the House to consider all Senate amendments is tomorrow at midnight. So while we can all celebrate that the sun didn’t set on solar energy last night, we’re still riding the roller coaster.

(For a far-more entertaining and personal explanation of the current state of solar legislation in the Texas Legislature, you might try Public Citizen’s Texas Vox. This post is already making the rounds on the web. Pass it on so your friends can get a feeling for how happy we all are about what happened last night.)

SB16, SB 545 and SB 541 are on the House Major State Calendar today. As we’ve said on this site repeatedly, this is great news. However, midnight tonight is the deadline for the House to pass Senate bills on second reading. The Alliance for a Clean Texas asks all Texans who want clean air and clean energy to call their representatives immediately and ask them to vote for these three crucial bills.

In the final six days of the 81st Session, the Alliance for a Clean Texas urges all Texas lawmakers to take up clean air, renewable energy, green jobs and other important environmental issues that will make our state healthier and more sustainable. There are still many opportunities for the Texas Legislature to act on behalf of all Texans. It’s time to put the health and future welfare of our state first and make the commitment to clean air and clean energy by passing these three bills.

The challenge: not only is time short (there are only seven days left in the session and 36 hours until all Senate Bills must pass 2nd reading in the House) – the Texas House has come to a virtual standstill over the last four days. The time has come for all Texans to ask their representatives to put aside the partisan issues that are keeping them from taking up the business of our state. There are many extremely important issues that remain undecided at this time. The Alliance for a Clean Texas believes that clean energy is one of the crucial issues that the House must take up before the midnight deadline tomorrow.

Texans want to breathe cleaner air. They want their water to be used sustainably. They want their state to remain a world leader in energy innovation and production. They want their children to grow up to in a state where the jobs of the 21st century economy are plentiful. They want to be proud of their state – for its historic leadership in energy, for its great gifts of natural resources, and for its unique ability to lead our nation (and our world) into a cleaner, healthier future.

Call your representative right now. Ask her or him to vote for both solar bills. To stop stalling. To take action. This person is your representative in Austin. It’s time for all of us to act on behalf of our state. As we all know, what we do in Texas matters. Let’s show the world that Texas is ready to lead the way.

On the renewable energy bills front, SB 545 has been sent to the House Calendars committee. SB 541 has beed reported favorably by the House Committee on State Affairs; the committee report has not yet been filed. ACT has two urgent recommendations on behalf of these bills:

1. ACT urges the House Calendars Committee to place SB 545 on the calendar for Major State Affairs at its next meeting.
2. ACT urges the House Committee on State Affairs to take all necessary steps to have the committee report on SB 541 in the House Calendars Committee before its next meeting.

Two more ACT high priority bills are poised to move to the next step. HB 821 (producer TV takeback recycling) was heard in Senate Business and Commerce yesterday afternoon and passed out on a 9-0 vote.  It is now eligible for the Senate Intent calendar; ACT will continue to follow this bill and let supporters know if and when calls to the Lieutenant Governor’s office might be needed.

Finally, SB 184, Senator Watson “no regrets” greenhouse gas bill was reported favorably from House Environmental Regulation yesterday. The next step for this bill is for the committee report to be sent to the House Calendars Committee.

The next step for these three bills is to be placed on the House calendar. ACT urges the members of the House Calendars committee to place SB 545, SB 16 and SB 541 on the calendar before Sunday (the deadline for Senate bills to be heard in the House). The people of Texas expect their lawmakers to take bold action on energy this session. The Texas Legislature could make the 81st Session an historic one for the development of the next great Texas energy industries. While many traditional energy businesses and their allies oppose these bills, the people of Texas know that for Texas to be as strong in the 21st century as it has been in the 20th, it needs to stay ahead of the curve on all energy development.

Another ACT high priority bill reaches the next step in the legislative process tomorrow morning. HB 821, the producer TV takeback bill, will be heard in the Senate Committee of Business & Commerce tomorrow morning. An unusual committee referral (most recycling and landfill bills are referred to Senate Natural Resouces), ACT hopes that the members of Senate B & C can see the value of this timely bill that will help keep more lead, mercury and other hazardous materials out of our landfills.

Representative Anchia’s trio of energy efficiency bills remain a top priority. By passing these, the House will enable Texas to adopt a set of efficiency measures that will help lower emissions by decreasing the overall demand for electricity.

Energy Efficiency:

Renewable Energy:

Clean Air:

To receive updates on the debate and votes, follow ACT on Twitter. To receive action alerts on ACT priority legislation, join our mailing list. ]]> http://www.acttexas.org/2009/05/12/important-bills-on-house-calendar-today-may-12/feed/ 0 http://www.acttexas.org/2009/05/07/act-now-sb-541-needs-our-support-may-7/ http://www.acttexas.org/2009/05/07/act-now-sb-541-needs-our-support-may-7/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 16:34:52 +0000 lize http://www.acttexas.org/?p=956 Great news! Senator Watson’s SB 541 has been placed on the Senate intent calendar and will soon be on the Senate floor. This bill would establish a 3,000 MW renewable portfolio standard for the state – a commitment to solar and other renewable energy very much like the one made to wind in 1999. This bill would pave the way for Texas to become the national leader in solar generation. (Today, Texas is ranked 9th in solar power generation, hard as that may be to believe.)

Please call your senator today and ask him or her to support SB 541.

SB 541 is one of the two essential renewable energy bills ACT supports this session. (The other bill, Senator Fraser’s SB 545, has been passed by the Senate and is now in the House Committee on Energy Resources.) Passing both bills is essential to making Texas the national leader in solar. SB 541 would establish solar and other renewable energy on a utility scale, as was done for wind. SB 545 would establish a statewide goal for distributed generation such as rooftop solar – the essential component to making Texas the leader in the booming solar manufacturing industry.

How important is adopting an RPS for solar to jumpstarting the solar industry in Texas? Even Luke Bellsnyder, executive director of Texas Association of Manufacturers, acknowledges as much, despite his association’s opposition to these two bills. Here’s what he said to The New York Times on Monday:

solar advocates “tell us constantly that panel manufacturer X or Y was looking to Texas, but decided to go to other states because they have a better R.P.S. or better incentives for production.” (R.P.S. refers to “renewable portfolio standard,” which is a target for renewable energy production.) “I want solar manufacturers to come to Texas,” Mr. Bellsnyder added. “If we’re going to expand and have solar on the grid, as I think we can acknowledge, then let’s make sure they’re coming here.”

Please call you senator today in support of HB 541. Let’s do for solar what we did for wind – and make Texas the energy leader of the 21st century.