AUSTIN — Tuesday marked the unofficial start of the 89th Texas legislative session as lawmakers begin filing some of the bills they hope will reach Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk next year.

The deluge — 1,511 bills filed by 5 p.m., including 1,207 in Parliament — offered a first glimpse of the issues lawmakers want to tackle when the Legislature adjourns for the first day on Jan. 14.

Hot topics included an effort to use public money for private schools, an issue that blew up the 2023 legislative session before falling short, prompting Abbott to launch a political attack on House Republicans who they blocked school choice priority. Abbott says he now has the votes to push a similar program to school vouchers in Texas.

Other Republican proposals aim to roll back property taxes, crack down on gender identity and create a state law enforcement agency dedicated to patrolling the border with Mexico.

Democratic bills hope to add exceptions to rigid abortion laws.

Education

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said school choice – allows state education money to be spent on private schools — will be its main session next and will be assigned Senate Bill 2, which had not been tabled as of Tuesday at 5 p.m. Senate Bill 1 is reserved for the state budget.

Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, filed House Bill 212, which he called the Texas Parental Empowerment Act of 2025. In a social media post, Cain said he was proud to be the first lawmaker to file a “bill of universal law for school choice”. .”

The bill would allow families with one child in private school to be reimbursed up to 80 percent of the state’s average maintenance and operations expenses per student.

Immigration

Texas has drawn national attention — and lawsuits from the Biden administration — for initiatives to crack down on illegal immigration at the state’s southern border.

Lawmakers unveiled additional immigration-related legislation on Tuesday.

Rep. Terri Leo Wilson, R-Wallisville, filed the first bill of the day – House Bill 160, which would bar undocumented immigrants from in-state tuition and require a university or college to notify law enforcement if officials become aware that a student is undocumented. .

Cain’s House Bill 354 would establish a border protection unit along the US-Mexico border. NCOs and NCOs would have the power to make arrests, though NCOs would have to be authorized by the state Public Safety Commission and the governor. Abbott would appoint a head of the unit.

Efforts to create a unit of state law along the border failed in the 2023 session.

Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, filed House Bill 219, which would require a person to submit proof of citizenship when registering to vote in Texas. The issue has become a rallying cry for the Tories ahead of the general election.

Rep. GOP Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth filed House Bill 1072 to create a fingerprint database of undocumented children who have been apprehended by the Texas Department of Public Safety or the Texas National Guard. Records will be deleted after the child acquires legal status or after 15 years.

LGBTQ issues

last session, Abbott signed into law a ban on gender-affirming care for minors and a bill banning transgender college athletes from participating in a sport that does not align with their gender assigned at birth.

On Tuesday, Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, introduced Senate Bill 84 to require government documents to refer to only two sexes — male and female, as defined by each gender’s biological reproductive system.

Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, filed a similar bill to define gender in state government code as “a person’s biological sex, whether male or female.”

Hall’s Senate Bill 86 would prohibit school districts and open-enrollment charter schools from offering or permitting instruction involving sexual orientation or gender identity, while also requiring employees, independent contractors and others to report to parents if the “perception” student on their biological sex is inconsistent. with the student’s “sex organ, chromosome, and endogenous hormone profiles.”

House Bill 344 by Rep. Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, would ban the teaching of gender identity or sexual orientation in public schools through the 12th grade.

Abortion

House Bill 395 by Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, would loosen Texas’ abortion laws, among the strictest in the nation, to allow abortion in cases of rape or incest. Texas law does not include exceptions.

Howard’s House Bill 257 would clarify when abortions are allowed to save a patient’s life, after reports that doctors have delayed or refused medically necessary abortions for fear of violating state law.

Current law says doctors can exercise “reasonable medical judgment” to save a patient’s life. Howard’s bill would allow doctors to use their “best medical judgment” to save a patient’s life or preserve mental and physical health, including fertility.

Property taxes

Lowering property taxes has been a priority for the state’s Republican leaders. Joined by Democrats, lawmakers approved an $18 billion property tax cut last year.

Some lawmakers are considering further cuts, but Abbott and several Tory lawmakers have expressed interest in eliminating property taxes. Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, introduced House Bill 165 to create a joint interim committee to study “alternative methods of taxation to replace” local tax revenue that would be lost without property taxes.

House Bill 217 by Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, would raise the threshold for voters to pass a property tax rate increase on a ballot proposal from a simple majority to 60 percent.

Other Republican bills would allocate money from the state budget surplus to reduce the property tax burden for school district maintenance.

Other legislation

• The legislation by Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, would ban social media accounts for those under 18.
• Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, has filed a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour from $7.25.
• Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, filed an initial burst of 38 bills Tuesday morning, including legislation to provide free full-day kindergarten to certain students.
• A group of Senate Democrats has introduced a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to establish “a person’s right to personal reproductive autonomy.”

Texas Speaker Dade Phelan said Tuesday that the first 150 numbers of House bills would be reserved for “critical legislation,” while Patrick reserved the first 40 numbers of Senate bills for his priorities.

Republicans control both chambers and they slightly increased their majorities in last week’s election, winning one Senate seat and two seats in the Texas House. Republicans will hold a 20-11 advantage in the Senate and an 88-62 majority in the upcoming House session.

The last day lawmakers can table most of the legislation is March 14. The 89th legislative session will end on June 2.