There have been over 8,600 House and Senate bills filed and, as of the second week in April, there are 45 more days until sine die June 2nd. See below for a spotlight on bills from April in the following categories: Education, Energy & Environment, Healthcare, Legal, Property and Miscellaneous.
Education
HB 6 (Leach / Harris / Buckley / Metcalf / Hull / et al.) Relating to discipline in public schools.
- Finally passed the House (124-20) with one adopted clean up amendment
HB 121 (King) Relating to measures for ensuring public school safety, including the commissioning of peace officers by the Texas Education Agency, the composition of the board of directors of the Texas School Safety Center, and public school safety and security requirements and resources.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (93-52) on 4/22
HB 126 (Tepper) Relating to the compensation and professional representation of prospective student athletes and student athletes participating in intercollegiate athletic programs at certain institutions of higher education.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (109-35) on 4/14
CSSB 37 (Creighton) Relating to the governance of public institutions of higher education, including review of curriculum and certain degree and certificate programs, the powers and duties of a faculty council or senate.
- Passed the Senate (20-11) on 4/16, with 2 floor amendments
- The first amendment clarified language relating to governing board authority, language on faculty senate review, and codifies language on shared governance
- The second amendment clarified that the director of ombudsman would be appointed by Governor and confirmed by Senate
CSSB 568 (Bettencourt) Relating to special education in public schools, including funding for special education under the Foundation School Program.
- Passed the Senate unanimously on 4/7
SB 2185 (A Hinojosa) Relating to the bilingual education allotment under the public school finance system.
- Passed the Senate (31-0) on 4/22
Energy & Environment
HB 14 (Harris) Relating to support for the development of the nuclear energy industry.
- Passed to engrossment via voice vote in the House on 4/22 with one amendment adding to the criteria to be considered when analyzing grants
HB 144 (King) Relating to plans for the management and inspection of distribution poles.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (126-16) on 4/28 with one adopted amendment expanding list of requirements, requiring monthly plan updates, allowing for annual updates in certain cases, and shifting the due date for plans
- Finally passed in the House (125-21) on 4/29
HB 145 (King) Relating to risk mitigation planning and associated liability for providers of electric service; providing an administrative penalty.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (139-7) on 4/24 with one adopted amendment preventing the bill from affecting existing contracts
- Finally passed in the House (131-8) on 4/25
HB 365 (González, Mary) Relating to the authority of the Texas Water Development Board to provide financial assistance from the economically distressed areas account that is not required to be repaid.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (101-44) on 4/9
- Finally passed the House (101-46) on 4/10
HB 1400 (Harris) Relating to creation of the groundwater science, research, and innovation fund to be administered by the Texas Water Development Board.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (135-11) on 4/9
- Finally passed the House (133-14) on 4/10 with an amendment prohibiting requiring matching funds for projects done in conjunction with institutions of higher education
HB 2152 (Morales, Eddie) Relating to a reliability plan for electric transmission service in the Permian Basin.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (144-1) on 4/28
- Finally passed in the House (146-0) on 4/29
CSSB 34 (Sparks) Relating to the preparation, prevention, and mitigation of wildfires.
- Passed the Senate unanimously on 4/15, with 1 floor amendment that created a structured process to address unsafe conditions at oil and gas well sites
CSSB 819 (Kolkhorst) Relating to renewable energy generation facilities.
- Passed the Senate (22-9) on 4/15, with 2 floor amendments
- The first amendment requires the PUC to post decisions online
- The second amendment moves parts of the bill to the mandatory section, requires documentation demonstrating there won’t be a negative impact on national security and changes the setback requirements for turbines
SB 1261 (Perry) Relating to the financing of water supply projects included in the state water plan.
- Passed the Senate (31-0) on 4/22, with 1 floor amendment which made non-substantive changes
SB 1756 (Birdwell) Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to use certain tax revenue for hotel and convention center projects and other qualified projects.
- Passed the Senate (27-4) on 4/28, with 1 amendment which clarified the limitation of one project per authorization and adjusted the hold harmless transition from Sep. 1 to Jan. 1 of 2026
SB 1963 (Creighton) Relating to a financing mechanism allowing electric utilities to obtain recovery of costs associated with a weather-related event or other natural disaster.
- Passed the Senate (27-4) on 4/23
SB 2268 (Schwertner) Relating to disbursement of initial funds under the Texas Energy Fund.
- Finally passed the Senate (29-2) on 4/29, with two floor amendments
- The first amendment allows for separate awarding of loans and grants for projects that want to be included in the completion bonus but not the loan aspect
- The second amendment clarifies that a municipal owned utility can issue public securities as collateral
CSSB 2692 (Hancock) Relating to the eligibility of ratepayers to file an appeal regarding water, drainage, or sewer rates with the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
- Passed the Senate (29-2) on 4/28
Healthcare
HB 26 (Hull) Relating to requiring contracts with Medicaid managed care organizations to permit the organizations to offer nutrition counseling and instruction services in lieu of other state Medicaid plan services.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (138-9) on 4/22 with one amendment that allows nutrition services to be offered for a limited time in tandem with nutrition counseling
HB 138 (Dean) Relating to the establishment of the Health Impact, Cost, and Coverage Analysis Program; authorizing a fee.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (137-4) on 4/30 with one perfecting amendment specifying the fee charged.
CSSB 31 (Hughes) Relating to exceptions to otherwise prohibited abortions based on a physician’s reasonable medical judgment.
- Finally passed the Senate (31-0) on 4/29
CSSB 95 (Hall) Relating to informed consent to immunizations for children and civil liability for failure to obtain the consent.
- Passed the Senate (21-9) on 4/10
CSSB 331 (Kolkhorst) Relating to the disclosure of health care cost information by certain health care facilities.
- Passed the Senate (31-0) on 4/22, with 1 floor amendment which clarified that the term “facilities” includes acute care facilities
CSSB 407 (Middleton) Relating to a health care facility’s required policy for vaccine preventable diseases.
- Passed to engrossment in the Senate (19-12) on 4/28
SB 619 (Sparks) Relating to protection of persons from participation in a health care service for reasons of conscience.
- Finally passed the Senate (20-11) on 4/30
CSSB 1822 (Johnson) Relating to the use of artificial intelligence-based algorithms in utilization review conducted for certain health benefit plans.
- Passed the Senate (24-6) on 4/9
SB 2880 (Hughes) Relating to abortion, including civil liability for distribution of abortion-inducing drugs, and to the destruction of certain property.
- Finally passed the Senate (19-11; 1 PNV) on 4/30
Legal
SB 14 (Capriglione) Relating to reforming the procedure by which state agencies adopt rules and impose regulatory requirements and the deference given to the interpretation of laws and rules by state agencies in certain judicial proceedings.
- Passed the Senate (26-5) on 3/26
- Passed to engrossment in the House (97-51) on 4/8 in lieu of HB 10
- Finally passed the House (97-51) on 4/9
CSSB 30 (Schwertner) Relating to recovery of damages in civil actions.
- Passed the Senate (20-11) on 4/16, with 2 floor amendments
- The first amendment clarified the noneconomic damages definition
- The second amendment allows for the health care costs to be adjudicated based on May 1st Medicare schedule
Property
SB 23 (Bettencourt) Relating to an increase in the amount of the exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district of the appraised value of the residence homestead of a person who is elderly or disabled.
- Passed the Senate (30-1) on 4/23
CSSB 32/SJR 81 (Bettencourt) Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of tangible personal property that is held or used for the production of income and a franchise tax credit for the payment of certain.
- Passed the Senate unanimously on 4/9
CSSB 38 (Bettencourt) Relating to the eviction from real property of certain persons not entitled to enter, occupy, or remain in possession of the premises.
- Passed the Senate (21-8) on 4/10, with 1 floor amendment that established a clear list of permissible delivery methods for vacate notices, removed the burden for tenants to give pre-suit notices and confirmed that JP courts may set hearings
Miscellaneous
HB 12 (Bell, Keith) Relating to the review and audit of certain state agency operations.
- Passed to engrossment in the House unanimously on 4/8 with one adopted perfecting floor amendment
- Finally passed the House unanimously on 4/9
HB 186 (Patterson) Relating to prohibiting use of social media platforms by children.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (125-20) on 4/29
- Finally passed in the House (116-25) on 4/30
HB 1500 (Bell, Keith) Relating to the continuation and functions of the Department of Information Resources, including the composition of the governing body of the department.
- Passed to engrossment in the House (143-1) on 4/29
- Finally passed in the House (139-1) on 4/30
HB 1522 (Gerdes) Relating to notice of a meeting held under the open meetings law.
- Passed to engrossment in the House unanimously on 4/8 with one adopted amendment allowing local governments to post to their websites to satisfy notice requirements under the bill and require a taxpayer impact statement
- Finally passed the House unanimously on 4/9
CSSJR 4 (Schwertner) Proposing a constitutional amendment providing for the maximum amount of money allowable in the economic stabilization fund.
- Passed the Senate (23-7) on 4/10, with 1 floor amendment which clarified the ballot language and aligned the effective date with that in current ESF policy
CSSB 22 (Huffman) Relating to the Texas moving image industry incentive program and the establishment and funding of the Texas moving image industry incentive fund.
- Passed the Senate (23-8) on 4/16, with 1 floor amendment that will create an additional incentive uplift of 2.5% for faith-based projects
CSSB 36 (Parker) Relating to homeland security activities of certain entities, including the establishment and operations of the Homeland Security Division in the Department of Public Safety.
- Passed the Senate (26-4) on 4/10
CSSB 2004 (King) Relating to the eligibility of the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Arlington for funding under the major events reimbursement program.
- Finally passed the Senate (25-6), with one floor amendment that clarified the Arlington Grand Prix will sunset from the fund at the end of the fifth year
SB 2225 (Hancock) Relating to the creation of a spirit cooler certificate.
- Finally passed the Senate (23-8) on 4/30 with one floor amendment
- The first amendment reclassifies RTDs as malt beverages, lowers the allowable ABV in RTDs from 17% to 10%, and clarifies that distillers can produce RTDs and sell them, while making sure the revenue remains neutral
