More than 3,100 bills have been filed by lawmakers with six weeks remaining until the March 14th bill filing deadline.
Three committees in the Texas Senate met last week for the first time this session including the Administration, Education K-16, and Finance committees. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton were among the elected officials who provided testimony before the Finance Committee as they began their review of the 2026-2027 state budget.
Education K-16 took up SB 2 Tuesday which establishes an education savings account program for Texas K-12 students. The passage of SB 2 is a priority for Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. The bill advanced from committee along party lines following several hours of discussion and testimony. It is expected to be taken up on the Senate Floor this week.
Senate Business & Commerce will meet Tuesday for its organization hearing. The committee will also receive invited testimony from several state agencies including the Public Utility Commission and Texas Department of Insurance.
House members are awaiting committee assignments from Speaker Dustin Burrows. There is speculation committees may be appointed this week.
Governor Abbott delivered his biennial State of the State address Sunday night. The governor outlined his legislative priorities and designated some of them as emergency items including water, teacher pay and education savings accounts. By declaring these issues as emergency items, the legislature will be able to expedite their passage. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Patrick released the first round of his priority bills with intentions to ultimately have at least 40 priority bills for session.
The House will return to Austin Tuesday at 2pm while the Senate has recessed until Monday at 10am when they will refer bills to committee. They will return for a full session the following day at 11am.
