Lawmakers bid farewell to 80th Texas Legislature

Lawmakers want to scrap the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test that is required for high school graduation, for end-of-course subject tests.

To reduce prison populations and ease overcrowded Texas jails, early release was authorized for some prison inmates. Some parolees would also have a chance to shorten their terms.

The duties of the Texas Building and Procurement Commission (TBPC) are to be divided between the Comptroller of Public Accounts and the newly created Texas Facilities Commission. Another bill moves the charter for IT Texas Multiple Award Schedule (TXMAS) contracts from TBPC to the Department of Information Resources (DIR) and allows assistance organizations to purchase under DIR's cooperative contracts. Competitive bidding will be required for a purchase by a state agency if the purchase exceeds $5,000 and is made under a written contract.

Lawmakers authorized hospitals to access electronically readable information from an individual's driver's license as a faster, more efficient way to identify a patient.

Texas voters will decide whether to spent $3 billion on cancer research initiatives during the next 10 years. The Senate and House concluded that voters should approve the plan during a November bond election. The goal of establishing the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas is to find cures for cancer.