Natural Resources committee advances eight bills including P3 cap increase and park ranger pay; unanimous pass for tax credit extension

The Natural Resources A & B Subcommittee moved eight bills forward after brief presentations and limited questioning.

Pet overpopulation (House Bill 39 15): Representative Dallins said the bill directs existing animal‑friendly tag revenue to a structured spay/neuter grant program overseen by the Department of Agriculture and does not raise tag fees. Representative Newton confirmed it requests no state appropriation. The chair reported the committee to pass the bill, 5 yays and 4 nays.

P3 program cap increase (House Bill 33 11): Representative Eves asked the committee to raise the P3 statutory cap from $200 million to $250 million because demand has grown; she said the fund is a revolving program, not an appropriation. The committee voted to pass, 8 yays and 1 nay.

Mission tax credit sunset extension (House Bill 3,465): Representative Bowles asked for a two‑year extension of a mission tax credit sunset from July 1, 2027, to July 1, 2029, noting existing appropriations remain unchanged. The measure passed unanimously, 9 yays and 0 nays.

Park ranger pay raise (House Bill 37 86): Representative Adams proposed a 15% pay increase to address turnover. He testified there are about 45 park rangers, roughly 11 vacancies, and turnover he described as approximately 20% in recent testimony. The committee passed the bill, 9 yays and 1 nay.

Commissioners of the Land Office modernization (House Bill 4,333): Representative Moore said the bill removes outdated statutory language, clarifies Title 64 definitions and allows the CLO to retain external property managers with commission approval; the bill passed, 10 yays and 1 nay.

Corporation Commission court reporters (House Bill 31 77): Representative Archer said removing the statutory cap on court reporter FTEs will help the Corporation Commission recruit competitively; the committee passed the bill, 9 yays and 1 nay.

Concurrent enrollment revolving fund (House Bill 31 26): Representative West proposed creating a CLO revolving fund for concurrent enrollment modeled on the CLO stabilization fund to reduce future appropriations; the bill passed, 8 yays and 2 nays.

All vote tallies and motions are taken from committee announcements in the transcript; the record did not list individual member votes.