On Jan. 14, 2025, the 89th Legislature’s regular session will be gaveled in and will run to June 2. After another bruising November election for the Democrats, Republicans control both the Texas House and Senate.
But before the 140-day lawmaking session gets underway the issue of who will swing the big gavel remains undetermined. Speaker Dade Phelan currently faces a challenge from Mansfield Republican David Cook. Phelan says he has the votes, including heavy support from Democrats.
Leading state Republicans have tried to keep Phelan from being re-elected as Speaker and end the independence of the Texas House.
Nevertheless, the session appears to be another further shift to the right as multiple moderate Republican state representatives lost in their primaries and were replaced by candidates who pledged their loyalty to Governor Greg Abbott.
This means that school vouchers will likely pass, resulting in state money paying for private school tuition. There also appears to be an appetite for news laws that will allow more Christian religious instruction in public schools, as well as more authority to ban books considered “sexually explicit” from school libraries.
House Bill 196 from Rep. Cody Thane Vasut would require schools to teach “that human life begins at conception and has inherent dignity and immeasurable worth from the moment of conception.”
According to state Comptroller Glenn Hegar there is a projected $20 billion surplus in the state budget. Education advocates are hoping some of those dollars will boost public school funding. However, there continues to be a drive to lower property tax bills for homeowners. Abbott has pledged he wants to eliminate property taxes entirely in Texas.
Following the lead of President-elect Donald Trump, it’s expected that Republicans will crack down even tougher on immigration and border security.
House Bill 354, sponsored by Rep. Briscoe Cain proposes a state Border Patrol agency called the “Texas Border Protection Unit.” It would be charged with arresting people crossing the Texas-Mexico border illegally and maintain border security infrastructure like the Texas border wall segments, buoys and miles of razor wire along the Rio Grande.
Ending abortion is always on the mind of the Republican-controlled legislature, and this session would be no different even after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Republican Rep. Steve Toth filed HB 1004, which would give the Texas Attorney General the ability to prosecute abortion and election-related offenses.
Guest:
Scott Braddock is the editor of The Quorum Report and Host of the Texas Take Podcast.
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*This interview will be recorded on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
