Tuesday marked the first day Texas lawmakers could file bills for next year's legislative session. Here's what's on the top of their list.
Lawmakers in the Texas House and Senate filed more than a thousand pieces of legislation Tuesday, offering an early look at the issues they hope to prioritize when they gavel in for the 89th legislative session in January.
Lawmakers filed dozens of bills Tuesday seeking to further lower Texans' property taxes. Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, filed a bill that would eliminate property taxes altogether and create a committee to study "alternative methods of taxation" to replace them. Eliminating all local property taxes would cost the state an estimated $81.5 billion, based on figures presented by the Legislative Budget Board.
Under HB 257, physicians would be able to rely on their "best medical judgment," which could not be overruled by an external review process. It would additionally allow abortions to preserve a patient's mental health or future fertility, and in cases where the fetus is either not going to survive after birth or is "incompatible with life without extraordinary medical interventions." HB 395, also filed by Howard, would allow abortions in cases of rape or incest.
House Bill 212, proposed by Rep. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, would establish a process for parents or legal guardians to get reimbursed by the state for enrolling their children into private schools. Any school-aged child would be eligible for the program. Houston Democratic Rep. Christina Morales filed House Bill 178, reviving legislation that seeks to include ethnic studies as part of the required social studies curriculum. Public education advocates have sought to ensure students are learning about historically underserved groups - like Black and Indigenous communities - different from their own.
In 2001, lawmakers passed the Texas Dream Act, which extends in-state tuition to undocumented students who graduated from a Texas high school, lived in Texas for three years before graduating and lived in the state for a year before enrolling at a Texas public college or university. Students who qualify must sign an affidavit declaring their intent to apply for permanent resident status as soon as they are able. The Texas Dream Act also applies to students who are not U.S.
Meanwhile, Sen. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, filed a bill requiring all public college and university students to take an economics course to graduate.Almost two dozen border and immigration-related bills filed Tuesday suggest some Republican lawmakers will remain bullish on those issues. Another bill filed by Hall - SB 134 - would require counties and cities to request and enter partnerships with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to authorize officers and employees of the municipality or county to enforce federal immigration law. The attorney general's office could seek injunctive relief against counties and cities that do not make such requests.
Last year's Senate Bill 4, which gives police the authority to arrest people suspected of having entered the country illegally, has yet to go into effect after the U.S. Justice Department sued to stop it; the legal dispute remains unresolved. The federal government argued that Texas' law encroached on the authority of the federal government, who has been solely responsible for immigration enforcement. It is unclear whether the Trump administration will continue the lawsuit.
Austin Democratic Rep. John Bucy, meanwhile, filed several pieces of legislation that would expand voter access and education. House Bill 374 would designate certain election days as state holidays, and House Bill 665 specifies information the secretary of state's website must contain about upcoming elections.
Hall also filed a bill that would prohibit government health insurance programs from covering gender-affirming care, and increase civil liabilities for doctors who offer transition-related medical procedures. Another Vasut bill would make Texas one of four states that allow "covenant marriage," a legal arrangement that has been favored by some conservative Christians, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson. Under House Bill 931, both parties would have to agree to a divorce in order for a court to grant it. Before that, they'd also have to undergo at least five hours of counseling by a member of the clergy or a licensed mental health professional.
Rep. John Bucy, an Austin Democrat, also filed a bill seeking to abolish the death penalty. Texas is one of just a handful of states that impose death sentences. Democratic lawmakers have previously put forth bills seeking to abolish the death penalty, but they have never garnered bipartisan support.Lawmakers from both parties filed bills that seek to ensure a faster response to power outages after storms and to strengthen utility infrastructure.
Some electricity experts have proposed burying power lines because it protects them from fire and tree limbs that might fall during storms. Others say putting power lines underground is costly and might not be appropriate for flood-prone places like Houston.
Several bills were filed to expand Medicaid health insurance coverage in Texas, an issue that is considered unlikely to gain traction despite how much federal funding it would unlock. GOP leadership has been steadfastly opposed to any expansion of Medicaid, which currently covers mostly children, disabled individuals and older adults. The state's uninsured population, which now sits at about 16%, is considered the largest in the nation.
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