Texas lawmakers gaveled out of their 140-day legislative session on Monday after passing a raft of conservative policies, from private school vouchers to tighter bail laws, that furthered the state’s march to the right.
The Legislature wrapped up without the same drama that defined the end of the last two sessions, when Democratic walkouts, a last-minute impeachment and unfinished priorities prompted overtime rounds of lawmaking.
This time, Gov. Greg Abbott checked off every item on his main to-do list. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful hardline GOP Senate leader, accomplished the vast majority of his own priorities, working in concert with first-term House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, to send a laundry list of conservative bills to Abbott’s desk.
The GOP-controlled Legislature’s productive session left Democrats feeling dour with only scattered wins. They were able to block a handful of Republican priorities and they pushed several major bipartisan measures — from funding for public schools to water infrastructure — that made it across the finish line.
The main difference this time is that these things were accomplished without having to call a special session, where it’s easier to use time- and process-based obstacles to slow things down enough to make some other things fall off the calendar. There were, as we noted, some bad bills that died at the end of the session in that chaotic ramble, but there were plenty of bad bills that got ushered through. A number of them will draw litigation, and some of that will be successful; other lawsuits may just put it off for awhile. You know what I’m going to say next: The only way any of this changes is with a different cast of characters in charge. Indeed, that’s what the Republicans have managed to do over the past 20 or so years, with significant acceleration in recent elections. Maybe they will stretch that too far; maybe they already have. The time to work on that is now.
The article above covers a lot of the main items, but there’s a lot more, and the worst of it deserves more depth, so here’s a brief roundup on the main ways that the Lege made things worse:
Bill to give political appointees more oversight over Texas universities wins final passage
Texas will require public school classrooms to display Ten Commandments
Texas’ DEI ban on public schools heads to Gov. Greg Abbott for final sign-off
Texas will require state documents to reflect sex assigned at birth
Texas just defined man and woman. Here’s why that matters.
Bill requiring that Texas sheriffs work with federal immigration authorities heads to governor’s desk
Asian Texans for Justice Condemns Passage of SB 17 as Xenophobic Policy
That last one is about a new law that further restricts who can own property in Texas, mostly banning visa holders from countries including China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia from buying property other than a primary residence.
For more on what did pass, in all its ugliness, see:
Reform Austin
Bayou City Sludge
Lone Star Left
The Current
There’s plenty of material to work with in 2026. Get involved with a campaign or an organization and do your best.