Campbell files bills before start of legislation session

The 86^thTexas Legislative Session doesn’t start until Jan. 8, but District 25 Senator Dr. Donna Campbell (R-representing Dripping Springs) has pre-filed 4 bills for the next legislative session. 

• Campbell’s SB (Senate Bill) 196 would make the surviving spouse of a member of the U.S. armed forces who is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty exempt from taxation of the total appraised value of the surviving spouse’s residence homestead if the surviving spouse has not remarried since the death of the armed services member. 
• SB 63, which Campbell co-authored with other senators, would create the Texas Mental Health Care Consortium, an agency meant to coordinate the expansion and delivery of mental health care services by using the infrastructure and expertise of higher education institutions, nonprofits and other stakeholders.
• SB 38, also a co-authored bill, relates to the offense of hazing. It’s meant to strengthen the statutory definitions of hazing, clarify immunity provisions and broaden reporting requirements for universities. The definition of hazing would include coercing the student to consume an alcoholic beverage, liquor or drug, along with the existing definitions of physical brutality, sleep deprivation, confinement in a small space, or other activities that subject the student “to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety of the student.” Immunity would be extended to any person who voluntarily reports a specific hazing incident before being contacted by the institution concerning the incident and is considered to be acting in good faith throughout any institutional process regarding the incident as determined by the dean of students or other appropriate official.
• SB 208 extends requirements for setbacks, or buffer zones, around aggregate facilities. The bill would double the current 440-yard requirement between concrete plants or quarries and existing residences, schools, and churches to 880 yards, or half-mile. The proposed change is the result of multiple discussions with Kendall and Comal County residents after Vulcan Materials proposed expanding their operations in the Hill Country, including opening a concrete batch plant 500 yards from a Montessori school.

Campbell, an emergency room physician, was the 15th woman ever elected to the Texas Senate. She is the Chairman of the Veteran Affairs and Border Security Committee and represents Senate District 25 which includes portions of Hays County, Bexar County, Guadalupe County, and Travis County; and all of Comal County and Kendall County. During the 85th Legislature, Campbell authored or sponsored 109 pieces of legislation-- with 53 making it to the governor’s desk. She received her M.D. from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock.