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Before anyone loses hope that OC will get passed, I would note that Charles has been absent from these conversations for several days and the last comment I saw from him is that OC will pass. I am hopeful that something is being worked out in the background that none of us is aware of yet. I won't give up hope until such time as Charles says OC is dead for this session.

v7a wrote:Analysis: Legislative Dance Partners, Stepping on Toes

Read what the Senate did as you choose: They either fumbled a major piece of legislation that’s on the governor’s hot list and slowed it down, or they offered a bit of retaliation for the House’s disregard of the Senate’s open carry bill.

Maybe you saw some of the heated reaction from state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, directed at Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Senate?

“Had they chosen to do what historically happens and pass the House bill over with their changes, we could be quickly moving to a conference committee and getting this bill on the governor’s desk much sooner rather than later,” Bonnen said.

He might have said the same about the House and handguns.

I read the same article today. I am thinking that open carry has enough visibility that the "squabble" between the House and Senate will get resolved relative to open carry. Other less visible issues may not be as lucky.

A slightly late but heartfelt thanks to Charles and all the others who have worked behind the scenes to bring the OC legislation to the point where we are today--almost to completion.

v7a wrote:I can just imagine Stickland's 162 amendments:

Amendment 1: Exempt people whose first name starts with J from needing a license to conceal or open carry.
Amendment 2: Exempt people whose last name starts with S from needing a license to conceal or open carry.
Amendment 3: etc...

Are the people who voted for Stickland aware that this Friday he'll be acting as Bloomberg's useful idiot?

Does the House have a procedural option to "move the previous question" similar to Roberts Rules of Order. If so, how many votes are required to invoke it? Simple majority? Two thirds? Other?

louisf1 wrote:Will hb910 be amended when it gets to the senate? If so does it go back to the house?

I will defer to those more knowledgeable of the Texas legislative process if what follows is not correct, but I believe if there are any amendments to HB910 (assuming it passes the House next week) once it gets to the Senate, then I think there would be a conference committee made up of both House and Senate members that would be convened to work out a compromise between the House and Senate versions of HB910. Both the House and the Senate would then have to approve the compromise bill which might be dicey to get done before the Legislature adjourns. As it stands right now, the language in the committee substitute of HB910 is almost identical to SB17 language as already passed in the Senate. Unless there are significant amendments required to pass HB910 next week in the House, I would anticipate that the Senate would pass HB910 without any further amendments. All of the preceding is my opinion only. I don't have any inside information and would welcome anyone who has such info to share it with the forum if possible.

Kolamer wrote:It's nice to see some progress on one of the bills! So question.. Since HB910 was reported favorably as substituted and is now on the house floor for second reading, does that mean that HB910 will be dropped and SB17 will be entered in it's place since SB17 has already cleared the Senate? I don't really understand the substitution process.

SB17 cannot be substituted for HB910 unless it (SB17) has received a first reading in the House and been approved by the House committee it is assigned to (most likely the Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee). All of that has to occur before HB910 is called up for second reading on Tuesday. Unless something changed today, SB17 has not gotten a first reading in the House as of today so my opinion is that HB910 will probably be the bill voted on on Tuesday. If HB910 passes, it goes to the Senate where it has to go through the same steps there (i.e., first reading and assignment to Senate Committee (I'm guessing Senate State Affairs Committee since that is the committee that SB17 went through), hearing by the Senate committee and favorable report by said committee, placement on the Senate Intent Calendar, floor debate and approval by the entire Senate. Only then can OC go to the Governor for signature. I am fairly optimistic that HB910 will get through the Senate process in a timely manner given that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is an OC supporter (assuming that HB910 passes the House next week).

It will be an interesting several weeks!