The 89th Texas Legislature officially gavels in today, and once the dust settles on the drama over Texas House Speaker there is an ambitious agenda for lawmakers to tackle. It starts with school choice, Gov. Greg Abbott's top issue which he failed to get through two years ago, despite multiple special sessions. After several anti-school choice Republicans were defeated in the primaries, Abbott is confident a school choice bill will pass this time around. Other issues on the legislative radar this year include cannabis laws, casino gambling, and sports betting.
And there is plenty more where that came from. "I've already filed a bunch of bills on voter integrity as well as education, and I expect to file more bills about taxation and other issues related to local government," says Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston). In particular, Bettencourt is seeking to repeal the loophole in the law that allowed Harris County to exceed state limits on property tax hikes last year due to a disaster declaration. That led to a 15% property tax increase for Harris County residents. "That loophole needs to be closed," says Bettencourt. "There's just no reason that a local government needs 15% more revenue in one year to operate."
Bettencourt adds that many of the bills he and others have filed are simply re-files of bills that died in the last session, many in the House. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has promised the Senate will pass a conservative agenda, but the uncertainty over House leadership means there are no guarantees there.
While some issues will get more attention, Bettencourt promises others won't be forgotten. "You'll have top tier bills like school choice, but right below that, for example, there's special education and truancy, there's the bills I filed on taxes and other items," he tells KTRH. "From the border to other issues, there's not only the bills people hear about, but there's a whole backlog of bills that can really help."
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