First Bills Filed: Nearly 970 by Noon, Led by Medicaid Expansion, a Minimum-Wage Hike and an End to Data Center Tax Breaks
The 90th Legislature's filing window opened at 8 a.m. with six House bills; by noon the pile stood at almost 970, and the first movers were the new majority's campaign promises — starting with an Austin lawmaker's Medicaid expansion bill.
AUSTIN — By noon on Monday, almost 970 bills had been filed for the 90th Texas Legislature, according to the San Antonio Current's filing-day count — a first-morning flood that turned last week's election result into paper. The window had opened at 8 a.m. with just six bills in the House and none in the Senate, the Associated Press reported.
First out of the gate were the new Democratic majority's long-held priorities. State Rep. John Bucy of Austin filed a bill directing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to expand Medicaid — Texas is the most populous state that has not expanded the program — and State Sen. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo filed the companion bill in the Republican-held Senate. Other early filings would raise the minimum wage, end tax breaks for data centers, undo the state law requiring sheriffs to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and forbid border wall construction at state parks.
The filings sketch the session's fault line. Democrats control the House and, with Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa and Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin, the statewide offices; Republicans hold the Senate 19-12. Hinojosa campaigned on education reform and changes to the school voucher program, and Goodwin is eyeing THC regulation rather than a ban, plus clean water and affordable housing, according to the AP — a list that now has to survive a chamber run by the other party.
Filing continues through March 12, and the session itself convenes January 12, when the House elects a speaker to replace Dustin Burrows and the newly elected members are sworn in. Almost none of the 970 bills filed by noon will become law — in a normal session only a fraction do — but the first day's pile is the clearest map yet of what the new majority intends to try.
