Texas House publishes priorities ahead of next legislative session

The Texas House of Representatives has released its list of interim charge recommendations, highlighting its legislative priorities when the next session reconvenes. The 53-page document will guide lawmakers up until and during the next legislative session, covering dozens of government sectors and select committees, totaling 28 combined. 

The interim charges reflect the Legislature’s primary focuses for the 90th Legislative Session. Ranging from agriculture practices to state affairs, the dockets cover critical points requiring resolution to ensure bills are either passed into law or properly executed to maintain effective budgetary, operational, regulatory and policymaking efficacy. The full list of charges may be found here. 

State Affairs 

The Legislature will monitor the implementation of several pieces of legislation passed by the 89th Legislature and review potential disaster response, energy resources, communications, project delivery and data center actions. Monitored bills passed during the most recent session include: 

• HB 14 – Support for nuclear energy industry development. 
• HB 143 – Addressing the Railroad Commission of Texas (RCT) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) to resolve operator failures to maintain electrical power lines serving well sites or surface facilities. 
• HB 144 – Plans to manage and inspect distribution poles. 
• HB 145 – Risk mitigation planning and liability for electric service providers. 
• HB 4211 – Covering residential property interests controlled by select entities. 
• SB 6 – Management of providing service for electrical loads and to generate power by a water supply or sewer service corporation. 
• SB 1789 – Addressing electric service quality and reliability; providing an administrative penalty. 

Applications of current state law pertaining to disaster preparedness, response and recovery will be reviewed. The state will also work to review associated state and municipal requirements for operations in this field, identify best practices to improve communication and recommend policy changes to other regulatory requirements that hinder disaster response and recovery. 

Broadband and other forms of communication will also play a part in the consideration of State Affairs, including the establishment of an Interoperability Council to coordinate a statewide emergency communications strategy and set a series of interoperability standards. 

The council will provide recommendations for funding, oversight and implementation alongside potential state policies and strategies to integrate new technologies and improve information sharing. Additional work will involve studying the impact of pole attachments and other potential impediments to the provision of broadband service. 

Energy priorities will center around battery storage and safety, microgrids and distributed energy resources. For batteries, the state will examine relevant rules and regulations and provide solutions enabling the ongoing deployment of battery storage without increasing risk. 

Additional consideration will be given to existing aggregate and distributed energy resource projects and microgrids across the state. Actions will include studying these programs and making recommendations to make them more available, improve reliability, reduce consumer costs and support grid resilience. 

Data centers will be a lynchpin for discussion in the next session, prioritizing methods to increase Texas’ competitiveness for developing these facilities and positioning the state as a global leader. Topics of discussion will include evaluating economic growth potential caused by in-state development, education and training opportunities, reviewing the regulatory framework governing development and offer proposals to streamline regulations. 

Safeguarding workforce security is included as another key point for consideration, including if the state has the capacity to identify harmful patterns that affect the Texas workforce. The state will also evaluate public-private partnerships for effectiveness, competitiveness and transparency and recommend revisions to encourage strong agreements. 

Delivery of Government Efficiency 

When the 90th Legislature examines elements featured under the Delivery of Government Efficiency docket, lawmakers will start with the monitoring of the following bills: 

• HB 150 – Establishment of the Texas Cyber Command and transferring responsibilities from the Department of Information Resources to it. 
• HB 3963 – Creating an early childhood integrated data system. 
• SB 14 – Reforming how state agencies adopt rules and impose regulatory requirements as well as the deference given to the interpretation of laws and rules by state agencies in judicial proceedings. 

As the state works to increase government efficiency – aligning its goals with widespread efficiency efforts executed during the early days of the current federal administration – deliberation will prioritize methods to prevent fraud, waste and abuse. These may include using technology, including AI, to detect these issues. The state will also examine the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act to see if the law offers enough protection for residents and businesses. 

Appropriations 

The 89th Legislature passed several notable appropriations bills and featured an array of major spending items. The next session will oversee their ongoing implementation, including funding for: 

• Maintaining existing property tax relief and significantly increasing the homestead and business person property tax exemptions. 
• Addressing cybersecurity threats and establishing the Texas Cyber Command. 
• Establishing the Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office. 
• Providing grants to support rural law enforcement and prosecutors. 
• Increasing personal attendant wages. 
• Supporting and expanding rural health care. 
• Funding to implement the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. 
• Capital funding for Texas State Technical Colleges. 
• Hiring additional state troopers and improving driver license office customer service at the Texas Department of Public Safety. 
• Addressing water infrastructure, supply issues and flood mitigation projects. 
• Improving local rail grade crossing separation projects. 
• Additional grants and loas through the Texas Energy Fund. 

Appropriations for infrastructure, technology and the workforce for economic development will be of particular interest. The state will examine existing investments and new opportunities for programs targeting these areas. Critical areas of focus will include improvements to ports, flood management, domestic semiconductor production, space commercialization, the moving image industry and opportunities for higher education institutions to pursue federal partnerships for critical initiatives. 

Photo by Paul Hudson from United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, from Wikimedia Commons