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What KXAN is watching during the 89th Legislative Session

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas lawmakers will enter their 89th legislative session at noon on Jan. 14, the biennial, five-month period where they can pass new bills.

Legislators have already filed more than 2,400 bills for the 89th Legislative Session as of Friday, a new record for the state. Texas leaders issued their priorities to lawmakers ahead of the session. The only bill that Texas lawmakers are required to pass during the session is the state's budget, HB 1.

The Texas House of Representatives could enter the session with an unresolved Speakership fight between Representatives David Cook, R-Mansfield, and Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, which could limit the chamber's initial momentum. Lingering enmity over the fight could further slow down its work.

Prior to the 88th session in 2023, legislators filed 1,642 bills. That session ended with more than 8,000 bills filed and only 1,222 bills reached Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. Some of the bills that died last session have returned for this year's session.

With so many bills, KXAN plans to focus on the following topics during the 2024 session: Education, health care, immigration, natural resources, housing, legislation aimed at Austin and other big cities, and LGBTQ+ issues.

House bills (HB) and Senate bills (SB) mentioned in these categories are examples of already-filed legislation and not an exhaustive list for each topic.

Education

Abbott and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick both have said that "school choice," specifically education savings accounts, is their top priority for the session.

“We plan on coming back with a very strong bill, even stronger than last time around, and I think we’ll have the support,” said Senate Education Committee Chair Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, in a December interview with Nexstar.

The issue requires a balance between funding for ESAs and public schools. Democrats and rural Republicans in 2023 opposed attempts to pass an ESA bill because it would have limited funding for public schools. Abbott indicated support for accomplishing both goals during the 2023 session.

Curriculum and educational materials are also on the agenda for 2025 -- at least 49 such bills have been filed, including ones for mandatory instruction of digital citizenship (HB 641), personal financial literacy (HB 1331) and the Cold War through the War on Terror (HB 1457).

There are also bills related to parental consent before lessons on certain topics, such as sex education (HB 1158, SB 87) or religion (HB 1390). HB 344 would ban instruction about LGBTQ+ topics or people.

Border & Immigration

Immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border are hot-button campaign issues for some Texas politicians. According to the Texas Legislature's website, at least 31 related bills have been filed as of Friday afternoon.

Sen. Bob Hall, R-Rockwall, has filed bills to create a Texas Department of Homeland Security (SB 135) and allow DPS to repel an "invasion or imminent danger" (SB 81). Creighton filed SB 316 to allow the state to use eminent domain to seize private land for Texas to build a border wall (SB 316).

Several other bills instead focus on cooperation between state and federal authorities (SB 658, HB 1491). HB 180, filed by Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande City, would allow Texas' governor to enter agreements with Mexico.

Housing/Property Rights

The key word for housing policy is currently "affordability." Ideas for how to bring down home prices range from reducing the cost of insurance and property taxes, to banning foreign investment in real estate (HB 518).

At least 156 bills have been filed related to construction.

An interesting idea by some members of that committee is to sell off under-utilized state land, such as the Texas Department of Public Safety's North Lamar facility, for real estate development (SB 465, HB 158).

"Squatting," or the adverse habitation of real property, is also a Patrick priority. Interim hearings by the Senate Local Government Committee about the issue drew the ire of committee members over the lack of statutes against the behavior.

Texas vs. Cities

Longtime residents of Austin may be aware of the tension between the Capitol and its surrounding city. In previous years, legislators have tried to pass bills specific to local policies, with mixed success.

One such attempt is a ban on guaranteed income programs (HB 530, SB 395). A battle over high speed rail funding is also looming, with SB 424 poised to mandate a route between Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, while HB 1402 would ban the use of public funds on such a project.

A ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in higher education passed in 2023, and a bill to further expand that ban to other Texas governmental entities (HB 1521, SB 689). However, Sen. Royce West has filed bills to create new exclusions to last year's ban (SB 579-581).

Two of Patrick's priorities are legislation to allow for the recall of district attorneys and judges who fail to prosecute certain crimes.

LGBTQ+ Issues

Transgender Texans remain in the minds of a few Republican legislators, some of whom filed their first bills of the session to target transgender adults' transition-relation medicine (SB 115) and their ability to change the sex marker on their government paperwork (HB 477, SB 406).

Restrooms, and the sex of those who use them, are also a focus of some legislators (HB 1015, SB 240). Those bills and bills related to government-issued paperwork each have different wording on how to codify "biological sex" in Texas law (HB 229).

Bills related to drag performances (HB 1075, 938) and women's sports (HB 370, 1123) have also been filed. Texas Democrats filed bills to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's laws against discrimination.

Neither Abbott or Patrick have said that they consider LGBTQ+ issues to be a priority this session.