Gavel to Gavel 89th Legislative Session - May 24, 2025

After Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced on Wednesday that House and Senate leaders had struck a deal on HB 2, the historic school funding package carried by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), the legislation passed the Senate on Friday night by a unanimous vote. The $8.5 billion funding package provides districts with a $55 per-student increase to their base funding while creating a new allotment for school infrastructure needs and other internal costs. HB 2 includes teacher pay raises as well as funding for increasing other staff salaries including school counselors, nurses, librarians, teacher assistants, and other support staff.  The bill will go back to the House where Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado), author of HB 2, is expected to concur with Senate changes before heading to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk.
 
On Wednesday, the Texas House passed SB 21, establishing the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, by a 101-42 vote. A priority of the Lt. Governor and a stated goal of Gov. Abbott, the bill itself does not invest in the reserve but allows legislators to appropriate amounts deemed fit at a later date. Notably, the version of SB 21 as passed by the House DOGE Committee includes a provision permitting private gifts and voluntary donations of bitcoin to the reserve, a section written into the originally filed bill that was struck in the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce. The bill is now headed back to the Senate, where Lt. Gov. Patrick will likely be pleased to see the bill in its original state.
 
One of the most hotly debated bills of the session, SB 3, was up for debate on the House floor this week and underwent another dramatic transformation. One of Lt. Gov. Patrick's highest priorities, the originally filed version of SB 3 would have placed a total prohibition on THC but was watered down by the House committee substitute that, while enacting substance caps, banning THC vapes, and regulating marketing, also struck the ban and carved out beverages. The work of state representatives, industry leaders, and hundreds of stakeholders who offered testimony in committee to 'regulate, not eliminate' THC businesses was undone on Wednesday as Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) successfully passed a floor substitute that reverted SB 3 to a complete ban on THC once more.   SB 3 is now back in its original chamber for final approval before it heads to the Governor’s desk.
 
The House also took up both SB 10, permitting display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, and SB 11, establishing a framework for prayer periods in schools, on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Subsequent to a Point of Order called by Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) during floor debate, SB 10 was sent back to the House Committee on Public Education to fix a minor error in the bill's displayed witness list, while SB 11 advanced to final reading by a 91-51 vote.  SB 10 is scheduled to be back on the House Calendar for Saturday, May 24th.  
 
In a bipartisan effort, the House passed SB 31, known as the 'Life of the Mother Act', by a 134-4 vote. Crucially, the bill clarifies the definition of “life-threatening” with respect to cases in which doctors are allowed to intervene with medically necessary abortion procedures. Unanimously passed by the Senate in April, SB 31 is now headed to the governor without amendments by either chamber.  Meanwhile, the House also passed SB 33, banning taxpayer-funded travel for out-of-state abortion services, another of the Lt. Governor's list of abortion-related priorities. One amendment was offered by the bill's sponsor, Rep. Candy Noble (R-Murphy), to limit the opportunity for relief for an abortion service solely to the attorney general, whereas the original bill allowed for actions taken by any resident of the state. 
 
Next week, the legislature faces several looming deadlines for action on bills as the session winds to a close on June 2nd.  While the Senate faces fewer explicit deadlines, its ability to pass legislation is hindered to some degree by limits on the House.  These include Saturday, May 24th the last day for House committees to report Senate bills and joint resolutions to the full House, and Tuesday, May 27th, the final day the House can consider Senate legislation on 2nd reading. You can view the home stretch of deadlines here.
 
The House is meeting throughout this weekend, and the Senate will gavel in on Sunday at 2:00 for a Local Calendar, and then adjourn until 5:00 p.m. to take up additional business.