Two new Texas transparency laws passed in the spring legislative session took effect September 1:
Senate Bill 930 by Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and Representative Mayes Middleton, R-Wallisville, ensures that governmental entities must release information on COVID-19 and other communicable disease outbreaks in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The names and locations of the facilities must be made available to the public. Individual patient information will be protected.
Senate Bill 1225 by Senator Joan Huffman, R-Houston, and Representative Chris Paddie, R-Marshall, clarifies the “catastrophe notice” provision of the Texas Public Information Act to prevent abuse of the law during a time of emergency. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some governments filed multiple catastrophe notices with the Texas attorney general, claiming they didn’t have to respond to open records requests for weeks on end. The law was clarified to note that only one seven-day pause in replying to TPIA requests, and possibly one seven-day extension, are allowed per emergency under the catastrophe notice provision.