By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News
AUSTIN – In passing among the political chatter I have heard this was not the best legislative session for Texas.
My takeaway highlight so far has been the (ridiculous) bill to criminalize political memes. In other words, violate our First Amendment rights.
We will see if it passes overall since former Texas Speaker Dade Phelan apparently had enough red and blue to get the majority to vote it out of the house and punt it to the senate.
When I mention that bill is more than fake news people laugh at me like I am joking. Then they realize I am not.
A lot of people simply shake their heads at these last (almost 140 days) that have made up the Texas 89th session.
The only bill Texas lawmakers had to pass, the state’s budget.
The Texas House took 13 hours on their end, but overall, Senate Bill 1 passed with a vote of 118 to 26.
Should I mention our lawmakers had pre-filed 400 amendments to the $337 billion budget bill.
Texas Governor Gregg Abbott has only signed one bill into the law so far. That is “Texas Doge.”
To be fair, there were more than 8,700 bills filled in the 89th session – a record high. So how do you know where to begin?
I liken it to a closet full of dresses and there are too many to know what to wear, so I will just sit down and drink a glass of wine instead.
You might be thinking what will happen to all these bills? Somebody cared about writing the bills, they must mean something.
A good majority will not see the light of day.
You could say these lawmakers have definitely come a long way, baby what with the 8,700 bills that were written. Back in the early 1900s there were fewer than 1000 bills presented in those sessions.
Fast forward to the 21st century and last session, the 88th saw 8,616 bills filed by state lawmakers with only 1,252 passed.
For the record, Abbott vetoed 76 bills last session.
As of May 14, there have been 219 bills passed by Texas lawmakers during this session.
With only a week to go, the session ends June 2, let us see what will happen.
Will there be special sessions called like the four called during the 88th session?
To be sure, no matter what happens beyond June 2’s last regular 89th legislative session end date, we have a state budget and our very own private DOGE.
The latter, SB14 described in Texas Policy Research is defined as “Relating to reforming the procedure by which state agencies adopt rules and impose regulatory requirements and the deference given to the interpretation of laws and rules by state agencies in certain judicial proceedings.”
There were 16 authors, 1 co-author, 5 sponsors and 37 co-sponsors of the Texas DOGE bill.
During his signing of the bill into law Abbott said “Altogether, what this law is going to do is to make government more efficient and less costly. Texas DOGE will lead to spending cuts, regulation cuts and a more user friendly government.”
Fiscal notes surrounding this bill as stated by the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) estimated “SB 14 will have a negative fiscal impact of $15.7 million on General Revenue funds over the 2026-2027 biennium, with ongoing annual costs of approximately $7.79 million through 2030.”
The fiscal notes also indicated “Other state agencies such as the Secretary of State (SOS), DIR, and the Office of Court Administration will be absorbed within existing resources.”
It also states SB14 is not likely to have fiscal implications for local governments.
Rita Cook is a world traveler and writer/editor who specializes in writing on travel, auto, crime and politics. A correspondent for Texas Metro News, she has published 11 books and has also produced low-budget films.
