KOLKHORST, WHARTON GETTING STARTED IN 89TH LEGISLATIVE SESSION

  

Lawmakers are back in Austin for the start of the 89^th Texas legislative session.

Beginning today (Tuesday), legislators are expected to tackle thousands of bills concentrating on education, property taxes, the border, elections, infrastructure and many other issues.  As of this morning, over 2,600 bills were already pre-filed.

Washington County’s representation at the Capitol will include freshman State Representative Trey Wharton (R-Huntsville), one of 32 newcomers to the House. 

Entering his first session, Wharton says he has been spending time on one of the biggest topics to address: education.  With the debate centered on the creation of education savings accounts, Wharton says there is a crucial balance to strike between giving public schools additional support and giving parents and families the ability to choose the best situation for their student.

State Senator Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), who has held her Senate seat since first being elected in 2014, expects property tax relief will go hand-in-hand with education as one of the main points of the session.  She has filed Senate Bill 321, which would institute a 5 percent cap on increases for homestead property appraisals, and Senate Bill 322, which would put a 10 percent cap on appraisal increases for non-homestead properties.

Kolkhorst also believes several bills will be filed to fit in with Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recommendations for reducing government spending.  At the same time, she says this session will have a major emphasis on the state’s water supply. 

Along with dealing with water infrastructure, Wharton says transportation will be a priority.  He expects that with the Trump Administration, the state will have to use less of its own money to move forward with border security plans.  He says another topic of importance will be reducing economic strain on citizens and businesses.

Kolkhorst says there will be a big focus on providing additional resources to law enforcement.  She also seeks to reduce healthcare costs and move forward with initiatives for extra transparency with vaccinations and product labels, though she acknowledges help will be needed from the federal government.

The legislative session will run through June 2^nd.  Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar on Monday released his biennial revenue estimate, showing that Texas should have $194.6 billion in revenue to handle general-purpose spending during the 2026-27 biennium.