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General & Misc. 89th TX Legislative Session, 2025

Mar 515 min read

Updated: 20 hours ago


Latest Update:  28 March, 2025

Summary: Journal of blogs, articles, and sources about GENERAL & MISC ISSUES in the 89th Texas Legislature, 2025. • Willow Park Civics reads widely, deeply, and daily, and then provides an INDEX of the activities of the 89th Texas Legislature, whose regular session is scheduled to meet from 14 January 2025 to  02 June 2025.

• Latest post: 05 March, 2025





 

General & Misc. 89th TX Legislative Session, 2025

• Journal of blogs, articles, and sources about GENERAL & MISC ISSUES in the 89th Texas Legislature, 2025. • Willow Park Civics reads widely, deeply, and daily, and then provides an INDEX of the activities of the 89th Texas Legislature, whose regular session is scheduled to meet from January 14, 2025, to June 2, 2025.


Journal

• Texas Legislative Session 2025, Fort Worth Report

• Texas Legislature 2025, The Texas Tribune

• 89th-session, The Texan

• 89th, Texas Scorecard


The budget now moves to the House, which will have a marathon proceeding whenever it reaches the floor.

• Texas Senators Unanimously Approve Biennial Budget, Texas Scorecard, 25 March 2025

Senate Bill 1, authored by State Sen. Joan Huffman (R–Houston), includes sweeping appropriations across all areas of government, with major investments in public education, healthcare, and border security—while reserving billions in surplus funds for tax relief.


Senate Bill 1026, filed by state Sen.Bryan Hughes, a powerful Republican from Central Texas, would amend the law to require the Texas attorney general’s office to prosecute election crimes if no local proceedings have begun after six months. The bill was approved by the GOP-led Senate Committee on State Affairs Thursday. Similar bills have also been filed in the House.


The Texas Senate passed legislation intended to ban “taxpayer-funded lobbying” late Wednesday night, but tacked on an amendment that exempts groups like the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB).

Senate Bill 19, filed by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R–Galveston), prohibits political subdivisions from using public funds to hire registered lobbyists.

State Sen. Mayes Middleton’s (R-Galveston) Senate Bill (SB) 19 passed along party lines last night in a marathon floor proceeding. The bill prohibits local governments from hiring registered lobbyists under the Texas Ethics Commission and allows citizens to sue those localities if they violate the ban. It applies only to political subdivisions and not constitutional offices, like county sheriffs.

Originally, SB 19 also barred nonprofit organizations representing cities, counties, and school districts from employing lobbyists.

However, an amendment by State Sen Robert Nichols (R–Jacksonville) removed that restriction, allowing groups like the Texas Association of School Boards, Texas Municipal League, and Texas Association of Counties to continue hiring full-time lobbyists with public funds.


House Bill (HB) 748 by Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) has various replicas filed in both chambers — Senate Bill (SB) 835 by Sen. Angela Paxton, SB 1587 by Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills), HB 2411 by Rep. Mitch Little (R-Lewsiville), and Rep. David Cook’s (R-Mansfield) HB 1974 — all of which would also void the use of NDAs in cases involving sexual abuse of minors.


Senate Bill 15 — a top priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate — would reduce the amount of land cities require single-family homes in new subdivisions to sit on. The idea is to reduce the final cost of new homes by allowing homebuilders to construct smaller homes on smaller lots. The bill cleared the Senate by a 28-3 vote.


Senate Bill 95, authored by State Sen. Bob Hall (R–Edgewood), seeks to codify federal requirements into Texas law and hold healthcare providers accountable if they fail to properly inform parents about the risks and benefits of immunizations.


State Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, filed House Bill 13 this month. The bill would create The Texas Interoperability Council, which would be tasked with creating a statewide strategic plan for governing the use of emergency equipment and infrastructure. King filed the bill in response to the devastating wildfires last year that engulfed the Panhandle, when more than 1 million acres burned and three people died. King, who lost part of his property in the fires, said he found communication problems as he led the investigative committee last year.


• OPINION: Allegation: House Stalling Ban on Social Transitioning, Texas Scorecard, 18 March 2025,

Activists worry Speaker Burrows’ referral to the House’s “catch-all” committee will harm children. Questions about the legislative process are at the center of a battle over a measure filed by State Rep Steve Toth (R–Conroe). House Bill 2258, the Vulnerable Youth Protection Act, would create a civil liability on individuals who cause or contribute to the social transitioning of a minor.


Sen. Joan Huffman’s (R-Houston) Senate Bill (SB) 293 expands the definition of official misconduct to include judges and magistrates who engage in “persistent or willful” violations of state codegoverning bail, or who fail to meet deadlines set by statute or binding court order.


House Bill 930, introduced by Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), seeks to impose stricter requirements on the activation of the Texas National Guard for active combat duty. Specifically, it mandates that the Texas National Guard can only be deployed into active combat duty if the U.S. Congress officially declares war or takes official action under the War Powers Clause of the U.S. Constitution.


The Texas legislative session has reached another key milestone: the deadline for lawmakers to file bills. With the session lasting 140 days, legislators have had the first 60 days to introduce their proposals, and as of 6 p.m. on Friday, that window has officially closed.

In total, 5,646 bills were filed in the Texas House and 3,028 in the Senate, excluding resolutions. From this point forward, new bills can only be introduced if a lawmaker secures a four-fifths majority vote in their respective chamber to suspend the rule—a high hurdle that ensures only the most urgent or widely supported measures can still be considered.

The 60-day mark also signals another major shift: all filed legislation is now eligible for debate and votes. Until now, lawmakers could only take action on bills designated as emergency priorities by Gov. Greg Abbott or those that received the rare four-fifths approval to bypass the restriction.


The upper chamber has already moved quickly to pass a number of priority bills.


“We are confident this legislation does not have the votes necessary to pass the Texas House this session,” the letter reads. “Given the certainty of its failure, I urge you not to waste valuable committee time on an issue that is dead on arrival.”


H.R. 2039 is a response to previous Biden administration Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s June 2024 advisory declaring firearm violence a “public health crisis.”


Two measures penalizing the distribution of AI-generated sexual content depicting children and non-consenting adults now move to the House.

Senate Bill 20, filed by State Sen. Pete Flores (R-Pleasanton) and a priorityof Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, was the first measure passed by lawmakers on Wednesday.

SB 442, filed by State Sen. Juan Hinojosa (D-McAllen), was passed directly after SB 20. The measure strengthens the definitions of what constitutes the non-consensual distribution of AI deepfakes of adults.


Senate Bill (SB) 315 focuses on establishing a DNA property right for individuals and prohibits the collection, testing, or sale of a person’s DNA without “informed, written consent,” except for specific cases such as an “emergency medical treatment” or for “law enforcement purposes.” The bill enables the Texas attorney general to seek civil penalties or injunctive relief against violators.


Senate Bill (SB) 29 by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), which was heard in the Senate Committee on State Affairs on Monday, is moving through the upper chamber as the welcome mat for major companies who are worried that Delaware may intervene in their internal decision-making processes.

Its identical companion — House Bill 15 by state Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) — will be heard in committee on Wednesday.


House Bill (HB) 3577, filed by State Rep. Mitch Little (R-Lewisville) on March 3, says that the purpose of the grant program would be to “improve clearance rates for violent and sexual offenses,” meaning a crime has been solved and penalties have been dealt out to the correct offender — essentially the measure of a law enforcement entity’s effectiveness.


Owners obtain a 100 percent tax exemption, but in some cases may charge higher rent.

“What the industry did after we did the reforms last session is just jump over to another part of the code because it allows them to do the exact same thing with just a slightly different ownership structure,” Rep. Gary Gates (R-Richmond) told The Texan. 

“This is huge because as of right now, $277 million a year of tax revenue has been wiped out,” said Gates. 

In 2023 Gates, along with former Rep. Jacey Jetton and Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), championed legislation adding restrictions to the state’s public facility corporation (PFC) program. 

The program allowed both new and existing multi-family properties to obtain tax exemptions for up to 99 years with no notice to the local county, city, or school districts, which were deprived of tax revenue while still being obligated to provide services. 


Senate Bill (SB) 17 is a priority piece of legislation for the upper chamber, proposed by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), that seeks to impose restrictions on the purchase or acquisition of real estate property by certain foreign individuals, organizations, and government entities associated with “designated countries” that pose national security risks.


Senate Bill 17 by State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) would prohibit government entities, companies, and individuals that are domiciled in a country designated as a national security threat from acquiring “real property” in Texas. Real property includes agricultural land, commercial property, industrial property, and even mines.


Texas lawmakers have once more vowed to provide tax relief to property owners, and the House and Senate have so far agreed to spend at least $6 billion in state funds to do so. But the two chambers have competing ideas about how to deliver the cuts.

The biggest difference they’ll have to reconcile is whether homeowners or businesses get the bigger break.


Legislation filed in the Texas Legislature that would prohibit individuals from using state-funded bathrooms or locker spaces of the opposite sex has bipartisan support from 75 co-authors, tapping back into the hottest topic of the 85th Legislative Session and a current nationwide conversation.

House Bill (HB) 239, also called the Texas Women’s Privacy Act and filed by state Rep. Valoree Swanson (R-Spring), outlines the definition of biological sex and asserts that “private spaces” controlled by a state agency or other publicly-funded facilities must allow persons into such spaces only on the basis of biological sex, instead of gender identity. These include prisons, domestic violence shelters, state department buildings, and all other publicly-funded facilities with bathrooms, locker rooms, sleeping quarters, and other such intimate spaces. 


The bill would require IVF providers to report the fate of each embryo created.


The state’s newly empaneled House Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee gets down to work this week in what its leader says will be a long overdue assault on bloat, red tape and excessive spending throughout Texas state government.

In addition to Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ creation of the Texas DOGE panel — composed of eight Republicans and five Democrats — comparable efforts are underway in nearly 10 other states in response to Trump’s outcry against “bloated” and “sloppy” government.

"At this time, I have no reason to believe the committee will be doing any real work to cut waste or reduce fraud between now and June,” Cain said by text. “Leaving the work to be done in the interim is a part of the problem. I’m seeing zero desire to do real work now.”


House and Senate lawmakers plan to spend at least $6 billion on property tax cuts, but haven't yet agreed on how much relief should go to homeowners over businesses.


• Irving Could Inch Closer To Casinos With Next Vote, Dallas Express, 01 March 2025

The Irving City Council will soon vote on the first step in a multi-step process that could bring casinos to DFW.

The city council held a hearing ahead of a future vote on rezoning a section of the city for gaming. During the work session on February 27, the council heard a presentation from Assistant City Manager Phillip Sanders on how a portion of land could be rezoned to allow gaming and resort development.

Sanders’ PowerPoint presentation to the council members acknowledged that “a destination resort may include casino gaming if authorized by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas.”



Bills addressing parental rights, curricula, and sex education were taken up in the Senate committee hearing.


Among the proposals is a bill that would force more inspections of power lines, which a committee concluded ignited a blaze that burned more than 1 million acres last year

Three Republicans — state Sen. Kevin Sparks of Midland, state Rep. Ken King of Canadian, and state Rep. Caroline Fairly of Amarillo — are carrying the package of bills. Their proposed legislation would give two state agencies more oversight of unregulated power lines, increase funding for rural volunteer fire departments and create a database of firefighting equipment available during a wildfire.

King’s House Bill 2453 would require the Railroad Commission, which oversees the oil and gas industry, and the Public Utility Commission to notify electric utilities when substandard power lines are found at well sites or at facilities used for oil and gas development or production.

House Bill 3091, filed by state Rep. Vikki Goodwin of Austin, would create a fund for injection and abandoned wells cleanup. While King is not carrying that bill, he said orphan wells are a problem in Texas and have been for a long time.

Senate Bill 868 calls for the cap to be removed from the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance program to clear the backlog of funding requests.


• Proposed Law Would Allow Ivermectin to be Sold OTC in Texas, Texas Scorecard, 25 February, 2025

Legislation filed in the Texas House would allow Texans to purchase ivermectin over the counter, after its use was discouraged by the Biden administration’s FDA.

State Rep. Wes Virdell (R-Brady) has introduced House Bill 3175 to “authorize a pharmacist to dispense ivermectin without a health care practitioner’s prescription order.”


One of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s top legislative priorities, the Dementia Prevention Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT), has been filed in the Texas Senate. Patrick first proposed DPRIT in November 2024 to draw “leading Dementia researchers and companies” to the state, and it has now been filed by Senate Committee on Finance Chair Joan Huffman (R-Houston) as Senate Bill (SB) 5, per Patrick’s prior indication.

The legislation would require voters to approve the $3 billion start-up cost, and then the fund would be maintained at no more than $300 million annually.

The Texas Senate on Wednesday advanced to the House a bill that would create America's largest brain health research center.

Senate Bill 5, by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, would create the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Senate Joint Resolution 3, which would require voter approval if passed by the Legislature, would fund it with $3 billion in surplus revenue. This funding is intended to attract physicians, researchers, and experts in the field of dementia to Texas. This institute would research all brain diseases, not just dementia.



State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) filed [SB19] the act on Thursday, asserting that utilizing public funds for lobbying efforts is unethical and needs to end.


The bill would create new warning labels for food products that contain artificial colors and certain chemicals.

On the heels of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being confirmed as the new U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Texas has followed the “Make America Healthy Again” path with its own legislation to address health and wellness.

Senate Bill (SB) 25, dubbed the “Making Texas Healthy Again” bill on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s list of priority legislation, was filed by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) and is designed to promote healthy living by setting standards for physical activity in schools, enhancing nutrition education in higher education, establishing a nutrition advisory framework, and improving food labeling practices.


Previous attempts to amend the state constitution sailed through the Senate but failed in the House.

In a bipartisan vote, Texas senators have overwhelmingly approved placing an amendment to the state constitution on the ballot in hopes that despite previous failures, this year’s House members will finish the job. 

Sen. Joan Huffman’s (R-Houston) Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 5, would give judges and magistrates the discretion to deny bail to defendants charged with 1st degree felony sexual offenses in which a weapon was involved or where serious bodily injury, violent offenses, or continuous trafficking of persons occurred.


The measure would allow the attorney general’s office to step in if they suspect that a certain foreign purchase would create a national security risk. State Sen Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) introduced the measure, Senate Bill 17, on Thursday.


State Sen. Mayes Middleton’s (R-Galveston) Senate Bill (SB) 19 is described as “relating to the use by a political subdivision of public funds for lobbying and certain other activities.”


Gov. Greg Abbott said cutting taxes is a top priority, however, state lawmakers don’t have as much money to plug into tax cuts as they did two years ago.



“Texans can visit their beautiful capitol and be reminded of the reason for the season,” Middleton said.


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.

Tuesday marked the first day lawmakers could file bills they hope to pass when the Texas Legislature reconvenes next year. Republicans control both chambers and expanded their majority in the House and Senate after flipping a handful of seats during this year’s elections. The ouster of many Republicans by challengers further to their right during this year’s primaries means that the Texas GOP’s far-right wing will have unprecedented sway over the upcoming legislative session. Few of those lawmakers filed bills on Tuesday, but it's likely they'll seek to push the Legislature's already deep-red agenda even further right once they file their own bills.




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