Legislative Blog

J.B. Williams, J.D.

Texas

The Lone Star State

Texas

Each bill in Texas tells you what specific law it modifies. It then places the original text of that law in the bill. Then it is lined through and added to, much like track changes in a word document. This makes it straight forward to review for any member of Congress or any constituent. Unlike Federal laws that will state in such and such Act, section Y, part (b) after the words ... insert. I understand that federal laws are voluminous, but placing them clearly in the bill with line items would allow true transparency.

While we do this, there are still laws in Texas that should be removed. These are mostly laws that are no longer enforced. And there are items in Texas that the voters must cast votes because it is controlled the state Constitution. Some say this makes it extremely difficult to modify, and to that I say good. It's the difference between your Home Owner's Assocation requiring the members to vote on changes or allowing the sitting board to make those changes. I think everyone knows when it is the board that with changes to the board come changes to the rules. It doesn't have to but it happens for a few things, then more and eventually it's a battle to be on the board to make things the way you want them to be. You should not let a select few make major changes for everyone. They should have more a management role, and not that of a parent.

Most Recently Updated Texas Subtopic

The following section summarizes the most recently updated subtopic of Texas. The subtopic was last updated on 2025-08-27. To see all of the published information for the subtopic, click the subtopic heading.

88th Legislature Laws

The blogs here will discuss the laws passed by Congress and signed into law, as well as those, passed by Congress and approved by the voters to become law. There are a multitude of laws and each time I post blogs I will notate here the current effective date if it is different from prior blogs. I am currently posting bills that took effect immediately - those bills total 336. I am currently posting regarding larger bills, so each blog covers a single bill.

The Most Recent Blogs

J.B. Williams, J.D. has published 150 blogs for this subtopic. The 3 most recent blogs are summarized here. The remaining blogs can be found on the subtopic page.

2025-08-27 11 more bills that modify the Government Code
HB4082 HB4421 HB4539 HB4550 HB4553 HB4615 HB4628 HB4714 HB4879 HB5010 HB5260

2025-08-20 9 bills that modify the Government Code
HB3286 - Set out regulations for preferred meds for Medicaid
HB3440 - Government meeting agendas must be posted to Internet
HB3485 - Additional work requests may be rejected under special circumstances
HB3698 - Making a registry of protective orders for publicly available information
HB3730 - List for using of centralized phone systems needs to be updated annually
HB3858 - Law enforcement wellness programs for those responding to violence
HB3989 - Excluding private design professionals
HB4051 - No longer requires more than 250,000 population
HB4073 - Certificates are renewable unless expired more than 5 years

2025-08-06 8 more bills that modify the Government Code
HB2201 - State jail felony inmates and substance abuse
HB2230 - Change to end date of code now being 2042, rather than 2034
HB2248 - Tragic death of Vanessa Guillen memorialized
HB2518 - Rules concerning changes to public property made by non-government entity
HB2559 - A retired justice of the peace and a comptroller (or former) of public accounts are added
HB2691 - Rules regarding a persons indebtedness to the state and how it should be handled
HB2708 - Video visitation is not a substitute for in-person visitation
HB2719 - The historic commission cannot add real property without ensuring there are funds available to support the property

Other Subtopics For Texas

Blog Date	Blogs	Subtopic Name	Subtopic Info
2024-03-26	2	Family Law legislation	Topics within this blog will focus on divorce and custody legislation or court rulings that affect them. This will not be an exhaustive review of any and all legislation but a review of items I see and find interesting or particularly important. Some of the matters may cross over into other areas of law but affect family matters in some manner.
2024-03-19	16	Education	This subtopic will be used to discuss bills dealing with the Texas education system. They may include legislation that has been signed into law or bills that are currently being considered in the Texas legislature. Many currently being brought are more focused on parental rights with regard to their children.
2023-10-23	1	Voting 2023 Propositions Bonds	There are 14 Propositions to modify the Texas Constitution and 5 bond matters in Collin County.
2023-10-20	1	Collin County Propositions	I am certain one or more of these will appeal to some people. However, keep in mind more bonds equals more debt equals higher property taxes from the County. Choose wisely when voting.
2023-10-20	1	Parks and Wildlife	The creation of yet another fund outside the General Revenue fund which will cause less transparency for how tax dollars are spent. And could lead to raises in fees in other areas that assist in its support.
2023-10-20	1	Mandatory retirement age	Serving until age 79
2023-10-19	1	Galveston County Treasurer	This requires the addition of a majority of Galveston County voters to vote yes.
2023-10-18	1	Parks and rec facilities	It adds El Paso County to the list of 11 others having the right to issue bonds.
2023-10-18	3	Property Tax and Sales Tax	Blogs under this heading will focus on property taxes or sales taxes within Texas. They may hit upon other taxes that are implemented for specific areas. I'd love if our state could eliminate property taxes and go to a pure sales tax system. That way the more products/services you consume the more you pay. So higher earners would pay more in taxes. And food should remain a non-taxable item.
2023-10-17	1	Broadband Infrastructure Fund	Another fund outside the general revenue fund where the taxpayer has less incite and will have substantially more difficult in following their money.
2023-10-17	2	Power Systems	Everyone thinks of Texas as just oil and gas. They do a lot of "green energy" actually. But then again "green energy" products rely heavily upon oil and gas to be manufactured. So maybe Texas is mostly oil and gas just not all of it direct.
2023-10-16	1	Constitutional Water fund	This would create a water fund over the multiple water funds that are currently administered by the legislature. Then this new administration would have freedom to determine how to allocate the money that is in the fund. There doesn't even seem to be a report back feature built in, unless there is an overall one for all spending.
2023-10-13	1	Constitutional No wealth tax	Proposition 3 - YES; No Wealth tax up for Constitutional Amendment
2023-10-11	1	Right to Farming and et al	Farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, or wildlife management
2022-07-24	0	Heartbeat for Civil Matters	This Act created a civil right of action in abortion matters prior to Roe v Wade being overturned. It does not create any criminal acts or laws. And no government entity may enforce this act.
2022-05-06	1	Deadly Force 2020	This bill attempted to limit your ability to stand your ground by forcing you to retreat.
2022-05-04	1	Elections and Voters 2021	Voting bills are overall expanding voter rights, as well as reducing voter fraud. If reviews of voting are accurate, there are about 4.8 million fraudulent votes being made across the United States. And several individuals have admitted to what they were caught doing has been done by them and others for many years. This is well over 1% of the registered voters in the United States. Voting is a privilege and should be treated as such. Not all countries are able to vote.
2022-04-23	1	Motor Vehicle Insurance	This bill makes some minor changes in the liability issues around motor vehicles. I believe it is in response to Uber and Lyft, since standard motor vehicle insurance coverage has probably move toward less liability for guests. My guess is that the entire insurance industry was figuring out how to balance coverage for a personal auto being used as a taxi service in terms of premiums versus cost to the insurer.

J.B. Williams, J.D.

4,312 federal laws were passed from 1995 through December 2016.
Along with 88,819 federal rules and regulations.