TXLEGE: Your 2025 insider guide
This is a preview of our Texas 2036 newsletter with your insider guide to the new legislative session. To receive this weekly look at our work, sign up here.
Here’s your insider #TxLege guide!
The 89th Legislature is underway, and Texas 2036 is here to keep you informed. In this weekly newsletter, we’ll recap:
- the key issues shaping the session,
- insider tips to keep you ahead, and
- essential resources to help you stay prepared.
Whether you’re tuning in from your office, home, the Panhandle, or Marfa, we’ve got you covered!
The TXLege Basics: By the Numbers
- Session Length: Legislative sessions last 140 days. This year, the session begins on Jan. 14 and ends on June 2.
- Senate: Composed of 31 Senators, including three new members.
- Party affiliation: 20 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
- Senators serve four-year terms.
- Presiding Officer: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, (R), first elected to the Senate in 2006, he was elected lieutenant governor in 2014.
- House: Composed of 150 Representatives, including 32 new members.
- Party affiliation: 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats.
- Members serve two-year terms.
- Presiding Officer: Speaker Dustin Burrows, (R-Lubbock), first elected to the House in 2014, he was elected speaker in 2025.
Did you know? Lawmakers can only file bills during the session’s first 60 days. Also, only emergency items designated by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) — typically announced in his State of the State address in late January or early February — can be considered during this period.
- However… legislative supermajorities can vote to bring up legislation during the first 60 days or allow the introduction of a bill after the 60-day filing deadline.
- Bill Filing and Passage: In 2023, legislators filed 8,046 bills in the regular session, of which 1,246 became law.
- Committees: Much of the legislative work happens in committees. Last session, there were 15 Senate standing committees and one standing subcommittee. There were 34 House standing committees and five standing subcommittees.
Did you know? This session, Texas 2036 has 12 policy team members, supported by our leadership, data and communications teams. They will be a constant presence at the Capitol this session, providing the data and research to support a policy program to improve opportunities for all Texans!
How a Bill Becomes Law
New to the legislative process or need a quick refresher? Check out Texas 2036’s guide to learn how bills are passed — or stopped.
Our policy team leads:
John Hryhorchuk
Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy
John leads our policy team and focuses on ensuring state leaders have nonpartisan solutions for the challenges facing all Texans.
Jordan Wat
Director of Government Affairs
Jordan provides support to our internal policy team while also managing our external team and partners. She’s also the go-to expert on TXLege 101.
Why the State Budget Matters
Source: Texas Comptroller’s Office, biennial revenue estimate 2026-27
The Texas Legislature must pass a balanced budget each session to ensure the government is funded for the next two fiscal years.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced that budget writers would have $194.6 billion in available general revenue for the 2026-27 budget cycle. That includes a $23.8 billion balance carried over from the current budget.
The Legislative Budget Board, meanwhile, adopted a projected biennial growth rate of 8.93% which sets the constitutional tax spending limit and the stautory consolidated general revenue spending limit.
This adopted growth rate yields a $120.1 billion cap for appropriations subject to the tax spending limit and a $147.0 billion cap for appropriations subject to the consolidated general revenue limit.
Both of these dollar numbers will likely change with any adjustments to FY2024-25 spending levels, as would happen when lawmakers pass a supplemental appropriations bill during session.
Hegar said the balance in the Rainy Day Fund is on track to hit its cap for the first time in the fund’s history in the 2026 fiscal year and could reach $28.5 billion by the 2027 fiscal year.
Your go-to policy expert:
Rahul Sreenivasan
Director of Government Performance & Fiscal Policy
His focus areas include: state budget, government performance, workforce, IT modernization, AI, cybersecurity, state parks and future of transportation.
🎥 Rahul told KXAN-TV the state’s healthy fiscal positions mean lawmakers “have an opportunity to start taking big meaningful steps in terms of like how to fund our water infrastructure, water supply challenges that we are anticipating over the next few decades.”
The Big Questions This Session
We dive in on the questions and how our team plans to answer them.
1. What education and workforce issues are top-of-mind this session?
Legislators will continue to look at ways to better prepare today’s students to enter the workforce of the future.
That includes supporting teachers and prioritizing the availability of advanced math and high-quality curriculum as well as encouraging more students in high school to take dual credit courses and pursue industry-based certifications.
Lawmakers will also look at ways to continue to support community colleges in their shift to outcomes-based funding.
Your go-to policy experts on the subject:
Mary Lynn Pruneda
Director of Education & Workforce Policy
Her focus areas include: complex public ed topics including assessment, accountability and school finance. Mary Lynn’s focus this session will include increasing career programming for students in districts across the state.
Gabe Grantham
Policy Advisor
His focus areas include: Early education, teachers, high-quality instruction materials and virtual education. This session, Gabe will focus on improving math scores as well as supporting the teaching workforce.
Grace Atkins
Policy Advisor
Her focus areas include: Higher education and workforce. This session, Grace will focus on community college funding and credential attainment.
Mitrah Avini
Policy Advisor
Her focus areas include: Space, workforce and broadband. This session, Mitrah will focus on workforce development and space.
2. How can we prepare the infrastructure of tomorrow?
Water is becoming the No. 1 issue this session, according to legislators and even Gov. Abbott.
Research continues to show that future water demand will run ahead of supply without significant regular investments to address aging water infrastructure, investing in increasing supplies of readily available and clean water as well as prudently using existing resources.
Your go-to policy expert:
Jeremy Mazur
Director of Infrastructure and Natural Resources Policy
His focus areas include: energy, oil and gas, water and government performance. This session, Jeremy is focused on water funding.
3. What can the state do about the rising costs of health care and housing?
When it comes to health care, legislators can work to ensure that price transparency rules are enforced and that health care consumers can get useful information on price and quality.
Lawmakers can also eliminate barriers to building the 300,000-plus homes that are needed to meet demand in Texas.
Your go-to policy experts:
Charles Miller
Director of Health and Economic Mobility Policy
His focus areas include: Health, health insurance and government performance. This session, Charles is focused on affordable health care and price transparency.
Emily Dove
Policy Advisor
Her focus areas include: Health care and housing. This session, Emily is focused on housing affordability and supply.
4. What opportunities does the Sunset review of Criminal Justice present?
Every state agency undergoes a periodic Sunset review, which gives lawmakers an opportunity to evaluate the need for and the performance of the agency.
This session, legislators must pass Sunset legislation to reauthorize the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which has the important task of overseeing the state’s prisons and jails as well as post-incarceration community supervision.
Lawmakers have an opportunity this year to meaningfully reduce prison recidivism rates in Texas by improving prison education programs statewide.
Your go-to policy expert:
Luis Soberon
Senior Policy Advisor
His focus areas include: Law enforcement regulation, state courts, prison recidivism and reentry. This session, Luis is focused on higher ed in state prisons.
5. How is Texas 2036 keeping track of their progress this session?
Throughout session, Texas 2036 will regularly produce reports, testimony, data and research supporting our legislative agenda.
Our project lead:
Tara Tough
Policy Coordinator
Tara provides management support to all active policy projects as well as grant and fundraising coordination.
Where You’ve Seen Us
This year, Texas media outlets have provided a tremendous amount of coverage on the issues we care about, and Texas 2036 has jumped in to offer data and insights to a number of publications.
Here’s a quick roundup of where our experts were cited this week:
- AJ Rodriguez: Texas 2036’s Vision for Texas’ Future (Bills and Business: TXLege News)
- Texas Legislature returns Tuesday. Leadership battles, divisive issues await lawmakers (Dallas Morning News)
- Texas enters budget cycle with nearly $24B surplus (KXAN)
- Texas lawmakers will have $24B surplus to work with this session, comptroller says (Houston Chronicle)
- Texas has a $24 billion surplus. Here’s where lawmakers want to spend that (KEYE)
- Texas comptroller reports $24 billion budget surplus (Spectrum News)
- The Texas Legislature convenes Tuesday. What you need to know about the 140-day session. (Austin American-Statesman)
- The Texas Legislature is back. Here’s what we’re watching. (Texas Tribune)
- What to expect during the 89th Texas Legislature (KVUE)
- Texas lawmakers have their priorities for this session. But what do Texans want? (Austin American-Statesman)
- Texas has a big water problem. This state lawmaker hopes he has the solution. (Texas Tribune)
- This lawmaker wants to fix Texas’ water shortage with desalination and billion-dollar pipelines (Houston Chronicle)
Follow our policy team on X for the latest insights in what’s sure to be another eventful legislative session!
Let us know what you think!
Where would you like to see lawmakers invest the $23.8 billion budget surplus? Let us know here!