By Lauren Fairbanks and J Pete Laney
TAD Governmental Affairs
While a lot of attention remains on the upcoming May 26 runoff elections, interim work at the Texas Capitol keeps moving forward. Interim charges recently were released by House Speaker Dustin Burrows, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued round two of the Senate’s interim charges in March. Committee hearings on those charges have started, with more to be scheduled in the coming months.
Interim charges give an indication of what items could be a priority in the upcoming 90th Legislative Session slated to begin Jan. 12.
See the full list of House interim charges here. Find additional charges released for the Senate click here, with the first batch released in January here.
View a list of notices for committee hearings currently scheduled here. Some notices have been posted as a placeholder, and it is not yet indicated which charges will be discussed.
In addition to the interim charges announced, Burrows also created three new select committees: Governmental Oversight, Health Care Affordability and General Aviation.
Some key charges in the House and Senate we will be following through committee and hearings are included below.
Texas House of Representatives
Agriculture and Livestock Committee
- Invasive Species: Study the detection and management of invasive species and insects impacting Texas agriculture, including New World screwworm, rice delphacids, cotton jassids, cattle fever ticks and feral hogs. Examine current prevention, response and eradication efforts.
- Texas Department of Agriculture: Study the statutory powers and responsibilities of the Texas Department of Agriculture to determine whether existing authority is adequate to promote and protect Texas agriculture.
- Resiliency of Texas Agriculture: Consider the legacy, economic impact and domestic security benefits of Texas agriculture production. Examine opportunities to ensure the future competitiveness of Texas agriculture, given challenges such as global market distortions, rising input costs, labor constraints, water scarcity and regulatory compliance burdens. Make recommendations to expand access to capital and reduce governmental barriers to enhance the growth and resilience of Texas agriculture.
- Market Development and Expansion of Texas-Grown Products: Examine the state’s role in promoting Texas-grown products, including Texas-produced seafood and viticulture. Assess state programs and policies that support local industries, including research, marketing and grant programs. Study existing public and private programs that raise consumer awareness of and expand the markets for Texas products, such as the Texas Department of Agriculture’s “GO TEXAN” Partner Program, the Texas Shrimp Marketing Assistance Program and the Texas Beef Checkoff. Make recommendations to enhance the global recognition and sales of Texas-produced products.
Natural Resources Committee
- Groundwater Management: Study groundwater regulation and make recommendations to ensure groundwater management is adequately focused on protecting the long-term viability of the state’s aquifers. Specifically address:
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- If desired future conditions provide sufficient protection of groundwater resources, and whether impediments to achieving desired future conditions exist;
- The adequacy of groundwater conservation districts’ authority to address impacts from large-scale groundwater production projects, including export projects;
- The need for increased investment in groundwater data and modeling tools to support advanced planning, decision-making and management; and
- How groundwater production in unregulated portions of the state impacts the aquifer management efforts of existing groundwater conservation districts.
- Innovative Water Supply Strategies: Study the feasibility of the various project types eligible under the New Water Supply for Texas Fund. Identify project impediments and strategies to increase their implementation and contribution to the state’s overall water supply.
- Regional Water Planning: Study the state and regional water planning process, data used to project long-term water needs and available water supplies, criteria used to adopt water supply projects and management strategies, and progress made to address water supply deficits described within the most recent state water plan. Make recommendations to improve the state and regional water planning process.
- Data Center Water Use and Conservation: Examine the total water usage of data center operations in Texas, including direct and indirect uses. Evaluate regulatory, permitting and infrastructure considerations for water-efficient data center development, particularly in water-stressed regions. Consider policy options to optimize water resources and enhance water stewardship in the data center sector.
Public Health Committee
- Monitoring: Monitor the implementation and associated rulemaking of all legislation passed by the Committee and enacted by the 89th Legislature to ensure that legislative purposes are properly implemented, including the following:
- SB 25, relating to health and nutrition standards to promote healthy living, including requirements for food labeling, primary and secondary education, higher education and continuing education for certain health care professionals.
Environmental Regulation Committee
- Improving the Regulatory Process: Study environmental regulations governing air, land and water quality, waste disposal and industrial development. Examine opportunities to streamline permitting processes, reduce unnecessary or duplicative regulatory requirements, and improve coordination among responsible agencies. Evaluate how current regulatory requirements affect economic development, infrastructure investment and business operations across the state while ensuring environmental safeguards remain effective. Develop recommendations to improve regulatory processes, interagency coordination and provide greater predictability for regulated entities.
Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee
- New World Screwworm Action Plan: Evaluate the preparedness of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to respond to the threat of New World screwworm to Texas’ wildlife populations. Examine staffing levels, funding, interagency coordination and response protocols to ensure the state is adequately prepared for response and mitigation of outbreaks.
- Livestock Shows, County Fairs and Rodeos: Examine the economic, cultural and educational contributions of local livestock shows, county fairs and rodeos across Texas. Consider the role these events play in preserving the state’s agricultural heritage, supporting youth development programs, and promoting tourism and economic activity in rural and urban communities. Evaluate policy recommendations to promote these longstanding community institutions and enhance resilience in youth livestock exhibition programs and events
Trade, Workforce and Economic Development Committee
- Supply Chain Resilience and Economic Security: Identify strategies to strengthen and secure Texas’ supply chains across critical industries, including manufacturing, energy, technology, food and agriculture, health care and logistics. Examine vulnerabilities related to workforce availability, infrastructure capacity, domestic production, supplier concentration and global disruptions. Identify workforce-aligned economic development policies that improve supply chain resilience, reduce dependency risks, support Texas-based production and ensure continuity of goods and services essential to the state’s economy.
Texas Senate:
Natural Resources Committee
- Protecting Texas from Wildfires: Study the state’s wildfire prevention and mitigation strategies. Evaluate the effectiveness of fuel management practices, including prescribed burns and mechanical thinning, to reduce fuel loading on public and private lands. Assess the vulnerability of utility infrastructure in high-risk areas and the adequacy of early warning systems. Make recommendations to enhance state and local coordination and improve the long-term resiliency of Texas communities against catastrophic wildfires.
Health And Human Services Committee
- Monitoring: Monitor the implementation of legislation addressed by the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services passed by the 89th Legislature, as well as relevant agencies and programs under the committee’s jurisdiction. Specifically, make recommendations for any legislation needed to improve, enhance or complete implementation of the following:
- Senate Bill 25 (89th Legislature), relating to health and nutrition standards to promote healthy living, including requirements for food labeling, primary and secondary education, higher education and continuing education for certain health care professionals; authorizing a civil penalty.
Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
- Assessing the Water Demands of Energy-Intensive Technologies: Examine the current water consumption rates for high-consumption cooling technologies, including data centers. Make recommendations to improve transparency for local water providers and ensure industrial growth does not compromise the affordability of water for Texas residents and agricultural producers.
- Safeguarding the Texas Livestock Industry: Examine the state’s preparedness and response strategies regarding the New World Screwworm (NWS). Evaluate the effectiveness of current surveillance, monitoring and control efforts by the Texas Animal Health Commission and partner agencies to prevent reintroduction of NWS into Texas. Make recommendations to strengthen biosecurity protocols, improve coordination with federal and international partners, and ensure the long-term protection of the Texas livestock industry and wildlife populations.
Select Committee on Homeland and Border Security
- Keeping Texas’ Skies Safe: Examine the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, commonly known as drones, as it relates to public safety and study current partnerships with the United States government and Mexico that aid Texas agencies in defending against and disabling hostile drones. Make recommendations to determine which state agencies would best assist the federal government in drone mitigation; identify necessary prohibitions that protect critical infrastructure and public events; and strengthen penalties that close any gaps when protecting Texas’ skies.
Senate Committee Members Announced
With the exit of five members of the Senate, including four chairs, Patrick named chairs to lead standing and new interim select committees. The chairs serving on the interim select committees will remain in their positions through the 90th legislative session, as the select committees will be made permanent standing committees when the 90th Legislature commences in January. In addition, Patrick has assigned senators to fill vacancies on several standing committees. Six standing committees have new chairmen, and two previous standing committees were shifted to select committees: the Homeland and Border Security Select Committee and the Veteran Affairs Select Committee. The Jurisprudence Committee was eliminated. The biggest takeaway from this is the number of new committee chairmen – 10, including the select committees and the Sunset Commission – along with the number of first-time chairmen, six. View the new appointments here.
You can see it will be a very busy interim ahead of the next legislative session. The TAD team will continue to work with legislators and leadership to educate them on the Texas dairy industry and the challenges we face.
