Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral |
HB 2179, if passed, would modify the Water Code (Section 36)
regarding permitting and registration procedures regarding groundwater
conservation districts. The changes introduced are mostly procedural, the most
notable being the requirement that resolutions be made more clear by requiring that
groundwater conservation districts hold a hearing regarding the application for
a permit. A major new addition to code would be a section regarding contested
case hearing procedure (Section 36.4051). Other, more minor changes, include
those to decision making procedure, and subdivision requirements.
Currently there is no language in this section of the Water Code dealing with contested case hearings, and hearings regarding the permitting process (Section 36.403) are not public. HB 2179 would add new language to change this. On the one hand, it could be argued that the procedural changes make the process more transparent. On the other hand, these new sections of code could be seen as making the process unnecessarily bureaucratic. The changes themselves are benign enough but the end result would be difficult to ascertain. As such, ultimately, we are neutral on HB 2179.
The second chamber sponsor is Senator Perry.