The 86th Texas Legislative Session officially reached the halfway mark Monday.

An ever-greater number of bills are being set for hearings in House and Senate committees. TSCRA government and public affairs staff continue to monitor the legislation and are actively working to inform legislators of the potential benefit or harm of various legislation that could impact cattle producers.

Negotiations on an eminent domain reform package brought by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, intensified this week with extensive meetings between leaders of landowner organizations and our opponents. We would like to thank Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for his leadership in bringing all the parties together.

Groundwater rights were also an important topic this week. The TSCRA government affairs team had several important meetings throughout the week to ensure property owners retain ownership of the groundwater that rightfully belongs to them.