HB3 would create the Texas Pandemic Response Act, allowing the governor to issue “pandemic disaster” declarations. It also establishes the 10-member Pandemic Disaster Legislative Oversight Committee, which includes the lieutenant governor, to oversee pandemic disaster declarations when the legislature is not convened in regular or special session.
The Senate passed HB3 on May 25, 2021, by a vote of 30 to 1. We have assigned pluses to the nays because oversight of executive emergency powers belongs to the legislative branch of government. HB3 relegates the Legislature as less than a co-equal, granting too much authority to the Governor, who should not be able to renew a disaster declaration beyond 30 days. Under Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, each state is guaranteed a republican form of government, which requires a limitation and separation of powers.