Texas lawmakers set 2023 legislative agenda
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Get your suits pressed and your shoes polished — it's legislative time.
Driving the news: Lawmakers from all points of Texas descend on Austin to make laws that shape our daily lives.
What we're watching: Property tax cuts and school safety are major pieces of the agenda.
- Expect socially conservative legislation, such as protection for libraries willing to ban books with LGBTQ+ themes.
- How much more money is allocated to border security, as Gov. Greg Abbott ties immigration to drug trafficking — while some Democrats question the spending.
- More than 1,500 bills have already been filed this session — though most of them will not come close to becoming law.
Between the lines: The massive budget surplus unveiled by state Comptroller Glenn Hegar yesterday — $32.7 billion — will shape virtually all policymaking at the Capitol.
- Hegar estimates lawmakers will have $188.2 billion to spend in the coming two years — a 26.3% increase over 2021.
- Gambling interests have tried to convince Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other resistant lawmakers that betting would be a boon to the state's bottom line. Now, with the surplus, that argument may have less traction.
The big picture: Expect push-and-pull between Abbott, who wants to defray property cuts; Patrick, who aims to make further electricity grid upgrades; and House Speaker Dade Phelan, who has signaled the surplus should be used for road and other upgrade improvements.
Patrick has also thrown cold water on any abortion ban carve-outs.
- In September, a few key Texas Republicans signaled openness to giving victims of rape or incest access to abortion.
- But Republicans handily won statewide offices in November — and maintained overwhelming majorities in the Legislature, suggesting support from voters for their anti-abortion stance.
What they're saying: Regarding abortion carveouts, Patrick told Spectrum News' "Capital Tonight" in December, "I am not saying no, but we'd have to see a real groundswell of Republicans in the House and Senate to say yes."
- In legislative speak, that's very probably no.
In the wake of Uvalde, don't expect gun restrictions, but do expect hundreds of millions of dollars to be dedicated to mental health services and new security measures in schools.
The bottom line: No piece of legislation is quite dead till the final gavel.
Editor's note: A reference in this story to the legislative process in Texas has been corrected; a bill can become law without the governor's signature.