House Speaker announces committee assignments

House Speaker Joe Straus announced committees today.

Here is a list of committee chairs most likely to receive bills affecting property rights: 

• Agriculture & Livestock: Rep. Rick Hardcastle (Vernon)
• Border & Intergovernmental Affairs: Rep. Veronica Gonzales (McAllen)
• Business & Industry: Rep. Joe Deshotel (Beaumont)
• County Affairs: Rep. Garnet Coleman (Houston)
• Culture, Recreation & Tourism: Rep. Ryan Guillen (Rio Grande City)
• Defense & Veterans' Affairs: Rep. Joe Pickett (El Paso)
• Economic & Small Business Development: Rep. John Davis (Houston)
• Energy Resources: Rep. Jim Keffer (Eastland)
• Environmental Regulation: Rep. Wayne Smith (Baytown)
• Homeland Security & Public Safety: Rep. Sid Miller (Stephenville)
• Land & Resource Management: Rep. Rene Oliveira (Brownsville)
• Licensing & Administrative Procedures: Rep. Mike Hamilton (Mauriceville)
• Natural Resources: Rep. Allan Ritter (Nederland)
• Public Health: Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (Brenham)
• State Affairs: Rep. Byron Cook (Corsicana)
• Transportation: Rep. Larry Phillips (Sherman)
• Urban Affairs: Rep. Harold Dutton Jr. (Houston)
• Ways & Means: Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (Kerrville)

S.B. 18 passes Senate

S.B. 18 by Estes, providing comprehensive eminent domain reform, passed the Senate today.  This bill would require good faith negotiations, fair compensation to include diminished access, a ten-year buyback provision, better notice and disclosure by condemning entities, relocation assistance for displaced property owners and a comptroller's list of entities with eminent domain authority.