Capitol Watch Alert Archive
May 11: House Public Education Committee to Meet
The House Public Education Committee will meet at 10 a.m. May 11, 2026, in Room 140 of the John H. Reagan Bldg. (Capitol complex) to hear invited and public testimony on the following interim charges: State of Education: Study the current state of public education in...
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Releases Second Round of Senate Interim Charges
After releasing round one of Senate interim charges on January 30 and announcing new chairs of standing and interim select committees on March 23, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has released his second round of interim charges for the Texas Senate to study in preparation for...
Speaker Dustin Burrows Releases House Interim Charges
Speaker Dustin Burrows released House Interim Charges for the 89th Legislature, assigning each committee a charge to monitor key legislation passed during the 89th and special sessions, along with additional charges under their purview. Burrows added three new select...
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Announces New Chairs of Standing and Interim Select Committees
With the exit of five Texas Senate members, including four committee chairs, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has named new chairs to lead standing and new interim select committees. The chairs serving on the interim select committees will remain in their positions through the...
TEA Provides Update on Property Value Data and Frozen Levy Hold Harmless Methodology
The Comptroller has identified vendor-related data discrepancies that affect a significant number of districts statewide. These issues are actively being corrected, and the Comptroller will issue a recertification of the affected data once updates are complete. TEA is...
2026 Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Releases First Round of Interim Charges
The first round of interim charges for the Texas Senate committees were released January 30, 2026. In a statement from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, he said: "These first 5 interim charges, released today, reflect issues that I am particularly focused on, and Texans have...
Governor Calls for Second Special Session
Blink and you may have missed it. The House and Senate adjourned the first special session sine die on the morning of Friday, August 15, without passing any legislation. Soon after, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he had issued a proclamation calling for a second...
House and Senate File Identical Assessment and Accountability Bills
On Monday, August 4, 2025, House Public Education Committee Chair Brad Buckley filed HB 8 and Senate Committee on Local Government Chair Paul Bettencourt, who also serves on the Senate Committee on Education K-16, filed an identical bill, SB 8, in response to the...
Senate State Affairs to Hear ”Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying” Bill
On the first day of the 2025 Special Session of the Texas Legislature, the Senate State Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), posted a notice for a hearing, July 22, at 9 a.m. in the Senate Chamber. One of the bills on the agenda is SB 12,...
Speaker and Lieutenant Governor Gavel in for the First Called Special Session of the 89th Legislature
In accordance with Gov. Greg Abbott’s proclamation, which lists 18 items for the agenda of the First Called Special Session of the 89th Legislature, both chambers of the Texas Legislature convened Monday, July 21. Speaker Dustin Burrows gaveled in the Texas House and...
Education Bills Passed by the 89th Texas Legislature
The following bills related to K-12 education have been passed by the 89th Texas Legislature and sent to and/or signed by the governor. For bills sent to the governor within 10 days of final adjournment, which is June 2, 2025, the governor has until 20 days after...
Sine Die Update
Today, June 2, 2025, is the final day of the 89th Texas legislative session. We have updated our list of bills passed by the Legislature that are on their way to the governor or awaiting signature. Review the list of education-related bills that passed. Funding Bill...
Update on Friday, May 30, 2025
Funding Bill Goes to Governor Yesterday the Texas House voted 122 to 13 to agree to the Senate's amendments to HB 2, the school funding bill, sending the bill to Gov. Greg Abbott. As previously reported, the Legislative Budget Board runs were released Wednesday: FY...
89th Legislative Session is Winding Down
With the 89th Texas legislative session officially ending Monday, June 2, and deadlines fast approaching, we are waiting for final approval of several key bills. HB 2 - School Finance - The Senate passed the school finance bill (HB 2) Sunday, May 25, with amendments,...
Senate Amends HB 2 on Floor and Passes to Third Reading
Late last night (Thursday, May 22), the Texas Senate voted to advance HB 2, the major public school funding bill, to third reading. The Senate must vote on it one more time before sending it to the House, where members may agree with the Senate's changes or call for a...
School Funding Compromise Reached
The Texas House and Senate have reportedly reached an agreement on HB 2, the major public school funding bill. It will provide for $8.5 billion in additional funding for Texas public schools, including teacher pay raises. A one-pager that circulated the Capitol on...
May 22: Senate Ed K-16 to Hear House Bills on Assessment/Accountability, Superintendent Severance, More
Several K-12 bills were added to the hearing agenda after the original hearing notice was released. See below. The Senate Committee on Education K-16 will begin meeting at 9:45 a.m. Thursday, May 22, to hear testimony on a mix of bills on K-12 and higher education...
Senate Education Committee Advances HB 2 Funding Bill
Late Monday afternoon, HB 2 as substituted was voted out of the Senate Committee on Education K-16. The bill is expected to be debated by the full Senate as early as Wednesday, May 21. As voted out of committee, CSHB 2 includes about $8 billion in funding for public...
May 20: Senate Ed K-16 to Hear House Bills
After issuing the hearing notice on Monday, May 19, the committee added two additional bills later that afternoon. See below. The Senate Committee on Education K-16 will begin meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 20, to hear testimony on the following bills, which have all...
May 20: House Public Education Committee to Hear More Senate Bills
Note: Two bills were added to the agenda on Monday, May 19. See below. The House Public Education Committee will begin meeting at 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 20, to hear testimony on more bills passed by the Senate: SB 204 Paxton - The bill mandates the creation of a parental...