New laws will change your life, if …

By Emily Banks Wooten
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Texas lawmakers get together once every two years to pass the budget, set new laws and rules and change old ones. The 88^th session of the Texas Legislature adjourned sine die following one regular session and four special sessions. During that time, a total of 13,090 bills were filed, with 5,179 actually passing and 77 being vetoed. Most of those new laws went into effect Jan. 1 of this year, while others just went into effect Sunday.

How does it all affect you? Read on …

If you’re a child who surfs the internet … The Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act, or SCOPE Act, tightens restrictions for online users under the age of 18 by limiting a minor’s access to social media platforms and protecting them from seeing harmful content if they do gain access. Additionally, sites must block and filter harmful material pertaining to suicide, self-harm, bullying, trafficking and other exploitation from minors. Texas will enforce the SCOPE Act through penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.

If you’re a victim of dating violence … Senate Bill 1841 gives survivors of dating violence access to family violence centers. It also clearly defines dating violence as someone in a dating relationship who causes physical harm, makes someone fear for their safety, or suffers emotional abuse. 

The bill also updated the qualifications for family violence shelters, which provide housing and care for victims of domestic abuse.

If you’re a judge … House Bill 1710 requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to notify a judge if a defendant has served 75 days. This doesn’t apply to those convicted before Sept. 1, however. This notice could be used by a judge during sentencing, as time served is granted to a convict as a credit against their sentenced time in prison.

If you’re a company that makes insulin … Senate Bill 241 cracks down on companies that make insulin, forcing transparency over generic versions of the product. Name-brand insulin manufacturers must give written notice if no generic option is available. This law only applies to manufacturers that are part of the Medicaid vendor drug program formulary.

If you’re a state agency or public college … House Bill 4510 changes how and when agencies and public colleges report financial information to the government, specifically when annual reports must be submitted.

If you’re a mountain lion in Texas … In a significant win for wildlife advocates in Texas, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department took the first step to actively manage the state’s mountain lion population after granting protections for the large cats in May. Commissioners unanimously voted to ban canned hunting of mountain lions and to require that live mountain lions not be held in traps for longer than 36 hours. Canned hunting involves trapping a lion and releasing it in an enclosed area for hunting. With the historic ruling, Texas now stands with all 16 states home to breeding mountain lions in regulating the hunting and trapping of the species. To help manage the state’s populations, TPWD will prepare materials on mandatory mountain lion harvest reporting – a standard hunting practice and wildlife management tool used in other states. It would begin to fill the significant gap in scientific data on the animal’s abundance, mortality causes and population trends.