Government
BY HANNAH NORTON
What to expect after a historic year at the Texas Capitol
$100,000. The legislation also reduces how much homeowners pay their local school districts in taxes and eliminates a tax for some small businesses. The state anticipates spending $5.3 billion to reimburse schools for revenue lost from the lower property taxes. “There was really no other issue ... coming out of the election and going into the session that Republican leadership was more committed to,” Henson said. “If there’s any surprise about that, it’s that they had so much di culty actually getting the bill across the nish line.” Looking ahead, Texas will soon have the power to arrest and deport migrants who enter the state illegally under Senate Bill 4. Despite several groups suing Texas over the new law’s constitutionality, it is currently scheduled go into e ect March 5. What else? At the local level, House Bill 2127 prevents city and county o cials from adopting or enforcing ordinances that go beyond state or federal law. “The bill was the culmination of several sessions of e orts in the Legislature to assert authority over local governments,” Henson said. “The primary targets of this bill ... are the big urban centers in the state that are primarily overseen by Democratic elected o cials.” This is playing out in Austin and San Marcos, as the cities are being sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over voter-approved ordi- nances to end low-level marijuana o enses. House lawmakers repeatedly rejected another one of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s top
With a 140-day regular legislative session and four special sessions in 2023, Texas lawmakers spent more time in Austin than ever before. While lawmakers passed over 1,000 new laws, they struggled throughout the year to cut property taxes, increase state support for public school teachers, tighten border security and more. Community Impact spoke with Jim Henson, the director of the Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin, to break down some of the most consequential things Texas lawmakers did in 2023 and what Texans need to know for the year ahead. A closer look Eligible homeowners can expect an adjust- ment to their 2023 property tax bills after lawmakers approved an $18 billion property tax relief package, which raises the tax exemption on Texans’ primary homes from $40,000 to “Border security tops the list of things that Republican [voters] consistently identify as the most important problem facing the state. The politics of that are magni ed by the fact that there’s a Democrat in the White House. ... It’s
Texas lawmakers spent 246 days at the Capitol in 2023—more than any prior calendar year. In that time, lawmakers passed 1,326 bills.
Regular sessions
Special sessions
246 days total
140
106
2023
140 87
2021
227 days total
140
2019
140 days total
140 29
2017
169 days total
140
140 days total
2015
207 days total
140
67
2013
SOURCE: TEXAS LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE LIBRARY COMMUNITY IMPACT
priorities, education savings accounts, in 2023. The voucher-like program would give families public money to pay for private schools. Several public education proposals also died amid high tensions within the Texas GOP. “[The voucher debate] poisoned the whole discussion of public education at a time when there was the potential to provide more funding for these very wildly popular measures like increasing teacher pay and putting more money into school safety,” Henson said. What’s next? The governor has the power to call lawmakers back for a fth special session. The 89th regular legislative session is set to begin Jan. 14.
been a thorny and real policy problem given migration ows over the last couple of years.” JIM HENSON, DIRECTOR OF THE TEXAS POLITICS PROJECT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
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