As the Texas legislative session ends, a look at major bills and changes that impact you

CBS News

6 days ago

Monday, June 2 is the last day of the regular Texas Legislative session. The end of the session brings changes that impact public schools, property tax relief, criminal justice, abortion and more.
Property tax relief
Texas Senators celebrated the additional $10 billion in relief from school property taxes this year that they and lawmakers in the House passed this session. That's on top of the record property tax cuts from two years ago.
The homestead exemption for most Texas homeowners will rise from $100,000 to $140,000. For people over 65, the homestead exemption will increase to $200,000, and local leaders say many seniors won't end up paying school property taxes at all. Exemptions for business property taxes will also increase from $2,500 to $125,000 next year.
"Every session we have been here, we have done historic, not just big things, historic things to create property tax relief for Texans," said Republican State Sen. Angela Paxton of McKinney.
Governor Greg Abbott will sign the bills, which he considered one of this top priorities. In November, residents will have the final say by voting to make it permanent in the Texas Constitution.
Public school funding
Another priority bill headed to the Governor's desk will inject a record $8.5 billion in new money for the state's public schools.
About half of that, $4.2 billion, will go to permanent pay raises for teachers with three or more years of experience. The legislature is also sending school districts an extra $500 million dollars to give pay raises to entry-level teachers and non-administrative staff.
State Rep. Brad Buckley of Salado said, "A guarantee for public school teachers that is unprecedented, not really, it is unprecedented. It is unprecedented in this state."
Lawmakers also approved legislation to crack down further on disruptive students and allow local school boards and parents to have more control over the books in public school libraries.
Bringing the bible to the classroom
Also passed in this session: voluntary prayer in schools and requiring school districts to display a poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
Texas Republican Rep. Candy Noble said, "Nothing is more deep-rooted in the fabric of our American tradition of education than the Ten Commandments; the way we treat others as a society comes from the principles found in the Ten Commandments."
"I just think if I were giving a speech, I would say it just seems like we're trampling over the freedom of religion by passing your bill," said Democrat State Rep. Vikki Goodwin of Austin.
The ACLU of Texas is one of the organizations promising to challenge the law in court.
Film industry incentives
The state is also providing $1.5 billion in incentives over the next decade to attract television and film production to better compete against other states.
Big Hollywood names, including Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, spoke during the session in favor of Texas Senate Bill 22.
Taylor Hardy, the Fort Worth Film Commissioner, stated that the bill would bring jobs to Tarrant County, boost business for local hotels and restaurants, and ultimately attract more visitors.
"Since the Fort Worth Film Commission was founded about 10 years ago, we've measured $700 million in economic impact and over 30,000 jobs supported. Those are over a period of time, but that's almost the equivalent of another American Airlines headquarters in terms of the amount of jobs it's created," Hardy told CBS News Texas.
Bail reform
Another priority of Governor Abbott's is headed to his desk: bail reform.
It requires judges to deny bail in more criminal cases and allows prosecutors a chance to appeal judges' decisions on bail.
"This is common sense," Abbott said previously when speaking about the bill. "You pass this bill, pass this constitutional amendment, lives will literally be saved. You fail to pass this; more people are going to be murdered. This has to get done."
Residents will also have to vote in November to change the Texas Constitution, which will force judges to deny bail for those accused of murder and other violent crimes.
Texas' near abortion ban
Lawmakers also passed legislation that will clarify medical exceptions to the state's near abortion ban.
The changes would not expand abortion access in Texas or list specific medical exceptions under the state's near-total ban, which took effect in 2022 and only allows for an abortion to save the life of the mother. It also would not include exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
The bill would specify that doctors cannot face criminal charges for performing an abortion in a medical emergency that causes major bodily impairment. It also defines a "life-threatening" condition as one capable of causing death.
THC products ban
And in what has turned out to be a very controversial bill, the state will ban all THC products statewide starting in September.
After the state allowed hemp sales to support farmers, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said new smoke shops exploited a loophole in that law. Stores and businesses that sell products have pushed back and hope the Governor will veto the measure. Patrick said businesses and stores are selling dangerous products.
"These are bad actors," said Patrick. "These are people who want to kill your kids. They don't give a damn."
In response, Thomas Winstanley, Executive Vice President of Edibles.com, sent a statement saying, "The Lieutenant Governor's statement is not only deeply irresponsible—it's dangerously misleading. To characterize an entire industry as "bad actors'" who "want to kill your kids" is a flagrant misrepresentation that borders on satire, if it weren't so inflammatory coming from an elected official."
The Governor has already signed into law another bill that requires Apple and Google to verify the ages of its app store users.
Lawmakers are also spending at least $1 billion a year for the foreseeable future to create new water sources and fix leaky water pipes to accommodate a growing population and industries.
Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning on CBS News Texas, on air and streaming on the CBS News app.
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