Last Week in the Legislature
The Sprint is On
By Kenneth Besserman
Director of Government Affairs and Special Counsel
April 4, 2025 | Issue 10
AUSTIN - The final two months of the 89th Legislative Session are upon us. The last two months of a legislative session is when a significant amount of legislative work occurs – from late night committee hearings to long days and nights on the Senate and House floors to weekend work sessions. The Texas Senate has been hard at work on the Senate floor since early February passing much of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s priority legislation, including water infrastructure and funding, bail reform, increasing the homestead exemption, banning THC, school choice, and increasing teacher pay. The Senate has also passed its version of the state budget, and the House is expected to debate and pass the state budget next week.
In the House, committee hearings are in full swing, with hundreds of bills being heard each week. On Thursday, the House Education Committee passed its version of school choice, which is markedly different from the Senate version, likely sending the proposal to a conference committee to work out the differences. The House version of school choice places a $1 billion cap on the amount that can be spent on school choice and also prioritizes which students will have first access to school choice funds. The Senate version is more open-ended with fewer restrictions. The final two months will see the conference committee attempt to develop compromise legislation.
This week saw the House begin debating bills on the House floor, sending House legislation over to the Senate. The House has been a bit slower this session in opening floor debate, but the final two months should see quite a bit of time spent on the House floor often going late into the night.
TXCPA priority legislation – adding an alternative pathway to CPA licensure and improving CPA practice mobility – also made progress this week. SB 522 – mobility legislation – passed out of the Senate Business & Commerce Committee last week on a unanimous vote and has been recommended for the Local and Uncontested Calendar. The first Senate Local Calendar will occur next week, ensuring that SB 522 gets to the House next week. The companion mobility legislation, HB 1764, has been set for a hearing in the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee on Tuesday, April 8. Please reach out to your Representative and those members on the Licensing Committee and ask for their support and let them know how important this legislation is to the profession.
Pathways legislation, SB 262 and HB 1757, has passed the Senate and the House bill has passed the Licensing Committee. HB 1757 is now in the House Calendars Committee and will be making its way to the House floor very soon. Both pathways and mobility legislation are in good shape in the legislative process.
As of April 4, three states have passed, and signed into law, pathways and mobility legislation, while three other states are waiting for a signature by the Governor. Many other states are in the midst of their legislation sessions and their legislative efforts are moving effortlessly through their sessions. We are confident and hopeful that Texas will have bills to the Governor by the end of the legislative session.
Finally, the Senate Nominations Committee has approved and recommended to the full Senate five individuals be confirmed for appointment to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy. The Senate is expected to vote on these recommendations in the coming days or weeks. Congratulations to those who have been appointed or reappointed to the State Board and TXCPA looks forward to working with the new appointees in the coming years.