Texas lawmakers last week filed more than 1,500 bills ahead of the next legislative session, which begins Jan. 14. The Houston Chroni- cle reported the proposed measures cover a range of topics ranging from border security to abortion access, education and other issues.
Republicans have expanded their control of both chambers after flip - ping several seats during this year's elections. State Comptroller Glenn Hegar has projected the state will have a $20 billion surplus at the start of the 2025 session.
Among the bills already filed: Proposed reduction or elimi - nation of property taxes. State Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, has filed a bill to eliminate property taxes altogether and create a committee to examine "alternative methods of taxation." Property taxes raise $81.5 billion annually, meaning their elimination would likely require a marked increase in sales tax. Other proposed bills would use the state's surplus revenue to partially offset property taxes.
• Austin Democrat Donna How- ard filed two bills that would expand when a health care provider can legally perform an abortion. The state's near-total ban on abortion has resulted in women coming forward with stories of delayed or denied medical care, and more than 100 Texas OB/GYNs signed a letter say -
ing they have been restricted from providing high-quality care to their patients.
• School vouchers are certain to be considered, since they are a prior - ity of both Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt.
Gov. Dan Patrick. Several Republi- can opponents of vouchers were tar - geted in the primaries and defeated, making passage of a measure more likely this session, after it failed in 2023.
• Several House Republicans have filed measures to stop providing instate tuition to some undocumented students living in Texas, effectively eliminating the Texas Dream Act passed in 2001.
Lawmakers from both parties filed bills that seek to ensure faster responses from utility companies af - ter power outages caused by storms and hurricanes. The measures come after Hurricane Beryl hit southeast Texas last summer, leaving millions without power for days.
TEA releases final financial accountability ratings The Texas Education Agency has released its final 2023-2024 finan - cial accountability ratings, which show 83% of Texas public schools earned an "A" rating, reflecting "a continued commitment to effective financial management practices so that they can best serve students," a news release stated.
The ratings are based on annu -
al financial reports submitted by school districts to TEA, with dis - tricts getting a letter grade for finan - cial accountability and management. A dozen public school districts and 10 charter schools were rated sub -
standard and given an "F." Those districts were Culberson Coun - ty-Allamoore, Fannindel, Karnes City, Shepherd, Denver City, Tioga, Matagorda, Overton, Hitchcock, Sunray, Dew, and Wylie.
Charter schools receiving failing grades for financial accountability were Bexar County Academy, Pre -
lude Preparatory Charter School, Academy of Dallas, Gateway Char - ter Academy, Education Center Internation- al Acade - my, Texas Preparatory School West -
lake Acade - my Charter School, Rocketship Public Schools, Texas Empowerment
Academy, and Austin Discovery School.
Readers can look up how school districts in their area fared by going here: https://tinyurl.com/3x8ddmab.
Abbott orders college tuition freeze for next two years
Gov. Abbott sent a letter last week to the state's public colleges and uni - versities saying he would not support any undergraduate tuition and fee increases over the next two years, extending a tuition freeze already in place. The Austin American-States- man reported Abbott had discussed the issue with all of the state's uni - versity system boards of regents, who supported the decision.
"Texans face significant rising costs due to inflation," Abbott wrote in the letter. "When inflation and other economic pressures burden household budgets, our public uni - versities must take every step pos - sible to ease the financial burden on our students and their families." Abbott signed a law in 2023 that stopped tuition and fee increases for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 aca - demic years. His proposal would ex - tend that through 2027.
"I will ensure college affordabili - ty remains a top priority for the state as we head into the next legislative session,” Abbott wrote.
Water agreement might
bring relief to South Texas
A change to an 80-year-old treaty between the U.S. and Mexico could bring relief to South Texas farmers grappling with a drought and scarce water, according to The Texas Tri - bune. Under the amended treaty, Mexico now has more options to meet its required water deliveries, which have fallen short in recent years.
Under the 1944 treaty, Mexico must deliver 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the U.S. from six tributaries every five years, a deadline it is at high risk of not meeting. The coun - try still has a balance of more than 1.3 million acre-feet of water that is due by October 2025.
The amendment will allow Mex - ico to meet its delivery obligations using other tributaries not covered by the original treaty, and by trans -
ferring water stored at the Falcon and Amistad international reser voirs.
"What's more important is we need water transferred at Amistad and Falcon," said Sonny Hinojosa, a water advocate for Hidalgo Coun - ty Irrigation District No. 2, which distributes water to ranchers and farmers in the region. "If water gets transferred, they'll know they'll have a little bit of water for next year." The amendment expires in five years unless extended.
Driest, hottest October in many decades
The drought is back for much of Texas after the driest October since 1952, and the hottest since at least 1895, according to the Texas Water Development Board's hydrologist, Dr. Mark Wentzel. By the end of last month, nearly three-fourths of the state was in drought up 40 percent - age points since the end of Septem ber. Only the northwest corner of the Panhandle and the southern tip of Texas received anywhere near nor mal precipitation.
Wentzel said the outlook over the next few months is still bleak, rainwise. The latest seasonal drought outlook from the National Weather Service predicts all of Texas, except that corner of the Panhandle, to be in drought by the end of January 2025.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected]
