Government

The San Antonio City Council could soon take up an anti-discrimination ordinance to include additional groups.

District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal proposed a policy that would also be consolidated with other anti-discrimination regulations that he said are scattered about in a constellation of codes and ordinances.

City staffers are researching how to go about consolidating the policies. The council’s governance committee will meet Tuesday and decide whether to advance the issue to the full city council.

After several late-nights of heated discussions, a joint committee of senators and representatives unanimously approved a $100 billion state budget. 

For the last week Republicans and Democrats have gone back and forth arguing about what should be left in the state’s budget and what should be left out.  

The biggest factor was how much Republicans would be willing to give up to restore funding for public education.

A House budget committee passed Senate Joint Resolution 1 to fund state-related water plans. The measure sets up an empty fund that the state can use to fund water projects over the next 50 years, and now heads to the House floor for a vote.

While many of the committee confidently voted for the resolution, others had reservations.

At this point in the legislative calendar many bills are facing a looming demise, but Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, said he has found another way to get money for transportation needs.

"One of the obvious ways is to take some money in the budget and devote it to our energy related zones that have borne the burden of most of the oil and gas production. They are just simply deteriorating and they’re not safe anymore," Darby said.