AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers filed more than 400 bills Monday, the first day legislators could submit ideas for laws they want to enact next year.

The 181 members of the Texas House and Senate have until March 8 to file bills. The Legislature, which meets once every two years for 140 days, will kick off its next session on Jan. 8.

In 2017, lawmakers filed more than 13,000 bills and resolutions. Just around 10 percent became law. That year, the most heated debates took place over immigration policy and LGBTQ rights. In 2019, top GOP leaders have pledged to focus on property taxes, while both parties have expressed an interest in tackling the state's long-maligned method of funding public schools.

After a contentious election, lawmakers could also focus on voting, school safety and teacher benefits.

Lower bill numbers indicate legislation made a priority by the lieutenant governor and speaker, who lead the Texas Senate and House, respectively. These bills are not usually filed this early in the process and none had been submitted by Monday afternoon.

Today is the first day of bill filing, when #txlege members can post online which bills they want passed next year.



So far this AM, there have been 333 bills filed. Only about 20% of bills are ultimately passed into law.



The 2019 session goes from Jan. 8-May 27. #txlege — Lauren McGaughy (@lmcgaughy) November 12, 2018

Taxes and schools

On Monday, the bills expected to frame the big property tax battle ahead of the Legislature had yet to be filed.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov Dan Patrick have vowed to combat skyrocketing property taxes by fighting for a law that would cap annual property tax revenue growth collected by local governments. Multiple efforts were rejected during the 2017 special session, as city and county leaders argued the local intrusion would tie their hands as they try to fund services like police and fire.

So far, both state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, and Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, filed bills to create a property tax administration advisory board to provide oversight to local appraisals and local tax offices.

Many Republican and Democrat leaders have been united in a belief that the state needs to increase its share of dollars funding public schools -- though they disagree about how to achieve that goal.

Fort Worth Republican Rep. Charlie Geren put forth an ambitious attempt calling for a constitutional amendment that would require the state to fund half of the public school costs. Currently, the state pays about 38 percent of public school costs, while local taxes provide the rest. The state's portion has been declining -- in 2009, the state covered 46 percent of school costs.

Many lawmakers have said increasing the state's funding on the front end could allow property tax rates to be reduced on the back end.

"The state's reducing their share of spending every year, and locals are covering the difference," said Dax Gonzales, Texas Association of School Boards government relations spokesman.

Voting and elections

After the highly contested midterm elections, several bills were filed to change the ways Texans cast ballots.

Texas is one of 12 states that doesn’t allow online voter registration. Three Democrats, including Dallas Rep. Eric Johnson, want to allow this, and Johnson also wants to urge Congress to make Election Day a national holiday.

Rep. Ina Minjarez, D-San Antonio, filed a bill that would automatically register Texans to vote whenever a driver’s license is issued or changed.

Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, filed a bill to make student identification cards issued by colleges an acceptable form of voter identification.

Rep. Ramon Romero Jr. and Sen. Bob Hall filed bills in the Senate and House that would require voting machines to print a paper receipt. Throughout voting for this year's midterms, several voters reported machine glitches or problems, but poll workers were not able to provide receipts for voters after they had cast their ballot.

Culture war clash

Bills to ban sanctuary cities and restrict bathroom use based on sex dominated the 2017 session.

While the former passed, the so-called bathroom bill died in a contentious midsummer special session. And despite promises by conservative groups that the bill would be back, no lawmaker has filed one so far.

The number of LGBTQ lawmakers in Texas will double in January, and Democrats hope to use this watershed moment to extend more rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Texans. But, as in previous years, these attempts are unlikely to pass in the Republican-dominated Legislature.

Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso, Rep. José Menéndez of San Antonio, and Rodríguez, want to repeal a state law outlawing gay sex.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down this "anti-sodomy" law in 2003, but it remains on the books in Texas.

Democrats have tried to ax this unconstitutional law several times in the past without any luck. Menéndez's bill would remove language in the Texas health code that says "homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public."

Two Democrats have also filed legislation to raise the minimum wage this year, and Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, has again filed a bill to abolish the death penalty.

Health care

Farrar also wants to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days after a woman gives birth or miscarries to one year. During interim hearings, experts told lawmakers that better access to health care can reduce the state's maternal mortality rate and other pregnancy-related complications.

Long a divisive and partisan issue, marijuana legalization is beginning to garner support from Texas Republicans and Democrats. This year, both party's platforms called for Texas marijuana laws to be loosened, with the Texas GOP's delegates voting to support the decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of pot.

Consensus is also growing to expand the state's Compassionate Use Act, which allowed some epilepsy patients to use small amounts of low-THC cannabis oil, although there's disagreement over how far to go.

Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, wants to dramatically alter this law to legalize marijuana use for a huge variety of "debilitating medical conditions" including cancer, glaucoma, autism, Alzheimer's or any other chronic condition that produces pain, nausea or muscle spasms.

Reynolds filed his bill from the Montgomery County Jail, where he's serving a one-year sentence for illegally using a middleman to drum up business for his law firm.

More ambitiously, Rodriguez, proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to decide if recreational marijuana use could be legalized.

Transportation

In bills that affect drivers, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, wants to expand the state's ban on texting while driving into a broader, statewide hands-free device law. Her Senate Bill 43 would also clarify that drivers caught using their phone behind the wheel cannot be arrested unless the offense leads to an accident that ends in serious bodily injury or death.

Edinburg Democratic Rep. Terry Canales filed a bill to create a pilot program for digital driver's licenses and identification. The law would require the Department of Public Safety to test the program and prepare a report with recommendations of how to implement digital identification using a mobile application.

Hall, an Edgewood Republican, wants to repeal a state law requiring new school buses to have seat belts. He opposed the law when it was enacted in 2017, calling it an unfunded mandate that doesn't make kids safer.

Romero is sponsoring a bill that would give undocumented people in Texas the ability to get a conditional driver's license if they have an employment identification number and don't have a criminal record. He authored the same bill last year, but it didn't get a hearing.

"Look, I know this is a long shot," the Fort Worth Democrat said. "But we got 12 more additional seats [filled by Democrats in the House] so the gap is a lot narrower. I'm hoping we can at least get a hearing."

Clarification: A previous version of this story said Sen. Judith Zaffirini's Senate Bill 43 would "decriminalize" texting while driving. It has been updated to state her bill would clarify that drivers caught using their phone behind the wheel cannot be arrested unless the offense leads to a serious accident.