This is a preview of our Texas 2036 newsletter discussing our priorities for the 2027 Legislative Session. To receive this weekly look at our work, sign up here.
Texas voters delivered historic change Tuesday, reshaping the state’s political landscape. As Texas enters this new chapter, newly elected and returning lawmakers have an opportunity to address a defining question: Can Texas keep up with its growth and the rising cost of living and doing business?
With legislators set to begin filing bills on Nov. 9, Texas 2036’s new 2027 Policy Playbook gives the Legislature a place to start — grounded in data and voter research, with practical recommendations for building the next Texas century.
👉 This special edition offers a preview of what’s at stake and where we think lawmakers should start.
What Does Our Policy Playbook Offer?
Texas 2036 is offering state lawmakers practical recommendations to address the concerns affecting families and businesses while building on the state’s economic success.
Our 2027 Policy Playbook builds on years of research, policy development and conversations with Texans to offer our state leaders and lawmakers practical solutions that can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”
— David W. Leebron, President and CEO
Legislative Priorities
Helping Students Build Pathways to Good Careers
Texas has an opportunity to help more students master the basics, earn valuable credentials and pursue well-paying careers.
While 91% of Texas students graduated high school, only 37% earned a postsecondary credential within six years. In grade 4, the percentage of students reaching the “Basic” level in math and reading continues its downward trend, while grade 8 students have hit their lowest levels in both subjects since 2003.
Texas 2036 recommends: identifying learning challenges earlier, expanding proven reading and math interventions, giving parents clearer information about student progress and strengthening pathways to college and careers.
🎥 Watch: Texas 2036’s Mary Lynn Pruneda dives in on the biggest opportunities for education and workforce next Legislative session.
Learn more: Your Guide to 2026 STAAR Results; Solving for X in Texas; The State of Readiness
Safe, Responsible AI for Student Learning
The rapid growth of AI in schools brings both potential and real questions. In December 2025, 62% of students reported using AI for homework help, up from 48% just seven months earlier. Yet, Texas remains one of just eight states without statewide model guidance.
🎥 Watch: Texas 2036’s Renzo Soto breaks down the biggest opportunities for AI in the classroom next Legislative session.
Texas 2036 recommends: establishing standards to protect student privacy, support teachers and ensure these tools strengthen learning.
Closing the Postsecondary Completion Gap
Texas’ 2023 community college finance reform is already helping more students reach the finish line, with credential attainment up more than 22% since it passed. But too many Texans still leave college after making substantial progress without earning the degree or credential they set out to complete.
More than 54,000 Texans earned at least 60 college credits without a credential between 2012 and 2022, often stopped short by transfer barriers and funding structures that did not prioritize completion.
Texas 2036 recommends: recognizing credits already earned and building on funding reforms that reward colleges for student success.
Making Healthcare, Childcare Work for Families
The cost of staying healthy and keeping kids cared for is stretching Texas families thin, and both are workforce problems as much as they are family ones. Texas 2036’s agenda targets the root causes of each.
Improving Healthcare Affordability
Family health insurance premiums now average nearly $28,000 a year, and 61% of Texans say they’ve delayed or skipped care because of cost. Texas also carries the highest uninsured rate in the nation at 16.6%, with millions of eligible residents not yet enrolled in coverage for which they qualify.
Texas 2036 recommends: greater oversight of healthcare mergers, improving price transparency and reducing the underlying cost of care.
🎥 Watch: Texas 2036’s Charles Miller breaks down the biggest opportunities for healthcare next Legislative session.
Learn more: Who are the Uninsured?; Symptoms of an Unhealthy Market
The Price of Care Affects Texas Teachers, Too
From 2012 to 2026, the price of teacher health insurance increased at a faster rate than teacher pay. TRS-ActiveCare premiums have risen 80% while teacher salaries grew 41%.
The plan covers more than 420,000 enrollees, and for a newer teacher with family coverage, healthcare prices now consume about 40% of their salary on average.
Texas 2036 recommends: Texas use its leverage as administrator of the teachers’ health plan to negotiate lower hospital prices, a tactic favored by nearly 70% of Texas voters, per our most recent voter poll.
Reforming Childcare Governance
Texas has 2.4 million children under 6. State and federal early-childhood programs combined reach about one in six of them, and at least five state agencies share responsibility for childcare programs, with no single entity accountable for statewide results.
The costs fall on families and employers alike. Childcare-related disruptions cost Texas employers an estimated $7.9 billion annually, while 56.7% of parents say the cost of care has affected their decisions about having more children.
Texas 2036 recommends: consolidating early childhood oversight under one lead state agency with clear, measurable goals so Texas families and employers don’t have to absorb the cost.
An Infrastructure for a Growing Texas
Texas growth has always depended on reliable water, dependable energy and communities resilient enough to withstand extreme weather. As the state keeps growing, all three are under pressure.
Water
Texas faces more than $200 billion in water infrastructure needs over the next 50 years. Nearly 80% of voters support prioritizing water projects based on the results they deliver.
Texas 2036 recommends: building on investments already approved by lawmakers and voters, improving water planning and tracking progress to ensure funding delivers reliable water supplies.
Energy
Texas is an energy leader. In 2025, the state produced 42.2% of the nation’s crude oil and 28.5% of its natural gas. It also generated 28.2% of the nation’s wind electricity and 22% of its utility-scale solar electricity and accounted for 32.3% of its battery storage capacity, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data accessed in October 2026.
Texas’ grid is handling summer heat, but nights – especially in winter – rely on a thermal fleet that isn’t growing fast.
Texas’ base electricity load grew 55.8% between 2016 and 2026, and ERCOT projects peak demand could quadruple by 2032. Eighty-one percent of voters prioritize improving grid reliability — ahead of lowering electricity prices and reducing emissions.
Texas 2036 recommends: an “all of the above and below” strategy that encourages new power generation across all energy sources to meet demand, scales the grid for growth and ensures electricity affordability for Texans.
🎥 Watch: Texas 2036’s Jeremy Mazur looks at the big picture on infrastructure and natural resources next Legislative session.
Extreme Weather and Insurance
Extreme weather is part of the Texas experience, and it is hitting household budgets. Between 2009 and 2024, average homeowners’ insurance premiums rose 74% while median household income grew just 11%.
Seventy-nine percent of Texas voters say their property insurance has increased in the past five years.
Texas 2036 recommends: strengthening disaster preparedness, improving flood protection and using better risk data to help communities reduce future losses.
Making Government More Effective, Accountable
Texas has 32 million residents and a biennial state budget of approximately $338 billion. With that scale comes an obligation to spend wisely, coordinate well and deliver results.
The ongoing Sunset review of the Texas Workforce Commission offers a clear example of what is at stake. Texas spends $108 billion annually on education and workforce programs, and 85% of voters support making workforce data more transparent to show how those programs lead to good-paying jobs.
Government performance is not its own silo. From student achievement to water infrastructure to childcare, every priority in the 2027 Policy Playbook depends on clear goals, responsible management and measuring what works.
Texas 2036 recommends: modernizing state technology, improving data coordination across agencies and strengthening fiscal accountability so that lawmakers make informed decisions and identify programs that work.
🎥 Watch: Texas 2036’s Rahul Sreenivasan highlights the top takeaways on government performance next Legislative session.
Tell Us What’s On Your 2027 Roadmap
Now that we’ve told you what’s on our agenda for Texas, it’s your turn to tell us what’s on yours: What is the one issue you would most want lawmakers to tackle first?
Want to see more legislative priorities? Read the full 2027 Policy Playbook.
