89th Legislative Session Recap

Texas Truth:

89th Legislative Session Recap

Health + Food Justice

A Culture of Care

Every Texan envisions a state where a culture of care drives positive health outcomes for all.

In the 89th Legislative Session, we welcomed new Health and Food Justice (HFJ) team members who laid the groundwork for and placed the Every Texan stamp on a new era in health and food policy work at the Capitol. With years of experience in the ecosystem, our analysts utilized earned trust and cultivated new relationships to stand apart as powerfully equipped advocates at the Capitol. Their work acknowledged the lived experience of those seeking access to healthcare and nutritious food, and the complex landscape of policy that determines whether or not Texans can build healthy futures.

Health + Food Justice

Every Texan, our partners, and lawmakers overcame harmful healthcare policy proposals over the 140-day session.

With threats to federal health coverage looming, Every Texan’s work to stabilize healthcare financing, improve delivery systems, and increase coverage and utilization rates across the state is more important than ever.

We also worked to remove barriers to food access for children, college students, people with diet-related diseases, and people living in food deserts. SNAP and other food assistance programs that are supported by that funding face a similar threat from the federal government. Texas leaders warned of increased challenges ahead when the governor vetoed funding for Summer EBT following the 89th Legislative Session, citing federal uncertainty for the program’s funding as his reasoning.

The greater the threat, the greater our grit. Every Texan’s commitment to health and food justice is unwavering and we look forward to continuing our work in both regular and special sessions to come. coverage and utilization rates across the state is more important than ever.

Every Texan

Priorities

Health + Food Justice

Close the Health Insurance Coverage Gap

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We continued our advocacy for increased insurance coverage for Texans this session, proposing targeted legislation (SB 232 - Johnson) to provide health insurance to a quarter of uninsured Texans through support for rural and urban hospitals, doctors, and patients. We also continued our advocacy for Medicaid expansion. Every Texan fought HB 139 (Dean), which would allow employers in Texas to offer junk health insurance plans to employees. The bill’s “employer choice of benefits plans” would not have met state standards—or, in many cases, federal standards—for qualified, comprehensive health insurance. We stopped this bill from increasing the already high statewide uninsurance rate. When a budget amendment (Bucy) designed to close the health insurance coverage gap came to the floor, it spurred an inspiring debate on Budget Day about ongoing insurance coverage gaps in Texas. Though voted down, we continue to guide the narrative around access to healthcare coverage.

Health + Food Justice

Reduce Costly Red Tape Barriers to Benefits

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Every Texan successfully advocated against legislation that would have created stricter eligibility checks and barriers for Medicaid enrollees (SB 961- Kolkhorst).

Our support for HB 3940 (Cain) helped ensure that hospital staff provide clear information to new parents about newborns' automatic Medicaid eligibility.

Health + Food Justice

Reduce Costly Red Tape Barriers to Benefits

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Additionally, our advocacy helped secure more than $300 million in the 2026–2027 budget to improve the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS), which processes applications for Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, and Healthy Texas Women.

in the 2026–2027 budget to improve TIERS

$ 0 M

Health + Food Justice

Improve Access to School Meals

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Texas legislators agree that children who are enrolled in SNAP or Medicaid or qualify for free or reduced meals through the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program should have access to USDA-funded Summer EBT cards. Unfortunately, after the 89th Legislative Session, the governor vetoed the line item funding Summer EBT, eliminating summer food assistance for millions of Texas children.

Health + Food Justice

Restore Funding, Support Local Enrollment Assistance, and Protect Patient Data

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We supported legislation (HB 321 - Bucy et al.) that would have notified SNAP-eligible households with children about Medicaid eligibility, while another bill would have expanded language access for health and human services programs. The bill passed the House but was never heard in a Senate committee.

HB 4838 (Morales Shaw) would have required Texas HHSC to hire a Language Access Coordinator to assess non-English speakers’ access to its programs (Medicaid, SNAP, and Medicare Savings programs) and identify gaps in enrollment, education, and utilization. If passed, the coordinator would have reported back to HHSC with recommendations for increasing non-English speakers’ access to HHSC programs.

Advocating at the intersection of healthcare access and immigrant dignity, Every Texan also successfully prevented the codification of Executive Order GA-46 (HB 2587- Olcutt) which would require hospitals to inquire about immigration status.

Health + Food Justice

Remove Harmful Barriers to Food Assistance

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Every Texan opposed SB 379 (Middleton et al.) which places restrictions on the items people enrolled in SNAP can purchase with their Lone Star Cards. Lawmakers reduced the harms created by the original bill by modifying it to include specific restrictions on soda and candy only.

SB 1183 (Creighton) would have required Texas HHSC to attach photos of SNAP enrollees to their Lone Star cards, costing the agency more than $8 million per year. We testified in opposition to the failed legislation—the sole voice against it in its Senate committee hearing.

HB 26 (Ordaz) passed to implement a new Food is Medicine initiative in Texas. The initiative will create a pilot project for children and pregnant individuals enrolled in Medicaid to receive nutrition education and medically tailored meals that improve an individual’s health outcomes and/or chronic disease management.

Education

For All Texans

Education

Texas kids and the public schools they attend are worth more than a down payment.

For years, Every Texan has delivered reliable, data-driven recommendations for public education policy. Our advocacy in the 89th Legislative Session faced insurmountable political pressure, though our sound policy was driven by the knowledge that every kid in Texas can receive a free, quality education where they live and play if investments are made that center our public school system.

For years, Every Texan has delivered reliable, data-driven recommendations for public education policy.

Our advocacy in the 89th Legislative Session faced insurmountable political pressure, though our sound policy was driven by the knowledge that every kid in Texas can receive a free, quality education where they live and play if investments are made that center our public school system.

This session, the fight to prevent public school dollars from funding private schools was lost when the Legislature approved the creation of an arbitrary, unaccountable third system of education: the private school voucher program. Policy experts, advocates, and families across Texas relied on our data in that fight. We disseminated impact numbers, district by district, for rural and urban school districts alike. Our work against vouchers forged new coalition opportunities with rural, conservative Texans who find common cause in our defense of public education. Increasingly, conservative and rural voucher opponents see Every Texan as a trusted and sound voice in defense of public education.

As we look forward to ongoing analysis of the impact of vouchers on Texas communities, we welcome the $8 billion investment the Legislature made in public schools—a down payment on the future of public education in the state of Texas. Notably, our years-long effort to shift school funding to depend on enrollment rather than attendance was successful with HB2 and because of the crucial support it received from both sides of the aisle. While enrollment based funding will not be implemented across the board, HB2 created initial building blocks for the broad implementation of enrollment based funding in future sessions.

The $8 billion investment provided by HB2 will reshape public school funding for years to come, and Every Texan encourages Texas policymakers to recommit to policy choices based on uncompromised, sound research and data. To properly invest in our state’s future, policy makers must first understand the true cost of providing each child in Texas with a free, quality education. In a state that proudly claims abundance, it’s time to provide more than a down payment on the futures of our 5.5 million children. We envision a future where our policy makers rely on data to fully fund our public education system, ensuring that neighborhood schools can be an entry point to bright futures for every child.

Every Texan

Priorities

Education

School Finance

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The 89th Session provided a strong initial $8 billion investment for underfunded and struggling public schools with the passage of HB2.

Every Texan’s experts provided invited testimony in the House Public Education committee, advocating for the inclusion of a bilingual funding increase and enrollment based funding. The Senate removed the House-approved bilingual funding, but the basic allotment is finally based on enrollment after years of advocacy. Our role is to educate both the House and Senate on complex parts of the bill, including golden pennies, which informed committee and floor debate in both chambers.

Every Texan celebrates!

HB 2 further complicates an already complex system.

Education

Vouchers

Every Texan was a leading voice in opposition to SB 2, providing updated analysis of the potential cost of vouchers to school districts across the state.

Through our research and data analysis, we laid out the impacts of students leaving public schools for the new private school program. Every Texan was the primary resource for voucher analysis, equipping advocates and policymakers with sound research to oppose SB 2.

This work amplified our values across Texas.

Newly forged coalitions welcomed rural, conservative Texans to join our common cause in defense of public education. Conservative rural voucher opponents increasingly turned to us as a trusted voice, recognized for our consistent opposition to vouchers in local, state, and national media.

Education

Targeted Student Supports & Freedom to Learn

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We started this session strategically prepared to stop a significant volume of proposed bills and amendments that sought to repeal the Texas Dream Act.

Every Texan opposed the conversion of institutions of higher education into immigration enforcement agencies, as proposed in SB 1798 (Middleton). The bill required institutions of higher learning to determine an applicant's legal status and prohibit undocumented Texas students from accessing state financial support, including in-state tuition. Their compliance would be certified through explicit legislative oversight and routine audits. The bill was heavily opposed in the Senate committee and failed passage to the House.

Education

Targeted Student Supports & Freedom to Learn

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Our data and analysis of “Affidavit Students” helped to defeat HB 232 (Vasut), filling in key learning gaps for Committee members unaware of basic immigration law. No vote was taken for this bill, and it died in committee. Every Texan’s legislative experience bridged gaps and opened pathways between the data and advocacy at the Capitol.

Education

Credentials of Value & Pathways

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Our continued work with partners in the PACE Coalition resulted in priority legislation to maintain state investment in Community Colleges. HB 2110 (Creighton/VanDeaver) was prioritized to maintain and expand investment in dual credit programs, community colleges, and technical colleges. The bill passed, and funding is secured in the state budget.

Education

Credentials of Value & Pathways

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Every Texan’s support of high-quality teacher training and certification continues to focus on investments in the Grow Your Own program. SB 2253 (Creighton), passed into law with HB 2, provided significant investment in the Grow Your Own grant program. The bill creates a pathway for paraprofessionals employed in Texas schools to earn their diplomas and become the highly qualified educators Texas urgently needs.

Fair Taxes

Invest in Texas

Fair Taxation

Targeting tax exemptions to help those who need it most is not only good sense, but the right thing to do.

Tax cuts remained a dominant narrative this session. Every Texan’s work on the state budget and for fair taxes is distinct. We persevere in our analysis and perspective, pushing back against the pro-tax-cut environment that favors wealthy homeowners and businesses. We continue to push the conversation toward other targeted relief options like renters' rebates, circuit breakers, or increased homestead exemptions.

Every Texan examined, reported on, and expressed opposition to the state’s ongoing fiscal commitment to big, misdirected tax cuts for the wealthy and their long-term budgetary impacts.

With many big cuts passing again in the 89th Session, Every Texan could be found in each House Ways and Means Committee hearing, reminding policy makers that across-the-board property tax cuts disproportionately benefit wealthy property owners and harm the state's ability to fund essential public services.

As leaders in budget and tax analysis, a key goal of our tax work in the 89th Session was to equip coalitions with valuable analysis and policy language. By supporting smaller-scale tax law changes to benefit low-income Texans, as well as other budget matters impacting tax incentives, housing, and sustainability, we forged strong relationships that will shift the tax discussion for years to come. We laid the groundwork for continued research and conversations with members and the media.

Despite our failure to move bills that would have helped first-time homebuyers, incentivized grocery stores in food deserts, and instituted a flat-dollar local option homestead exemption, our commitment to that targeted work remained unwavering. In a tax-regressive state sitting on a wealth of resources, we are here to champion fiscal fairness so that every Texan sees investments in their communities and future.

Every Texan

Priorities

Fair Taxation

Make the Property Tax System More Fair

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Texas entered this biennium with another large carryover balance, and we expected more big tax cuts to come this session (SB 4, SB 23, HB 9). As in past years, Every Texan maintains that an increase in the flat-dollar homestead exemption is the most equitable way to cut taxes, should the Legislature decide to do so. We delivered a revised incidence report, citing the newly published 2025 Comptroller’s Tax Exemptions and Incidence Report. Options offered in other bills included additional tax compression (HB 8) and appraisal caps (numerous bills).

In the end, a $3.9 billion set of bills was passed that raised the homestead exemption to $140,000 (SB 4), the 65+/disabled homestead exemption to $60,000 (SB 23), and modestly increased the business personal property exemption to $125,000–half of what was initially proposed (HB 9). No additional tax compression was passed, beyond the continued compression mandated by HB 3 in 2019.

Every Texan provided key messaging for policymakers (Bettencourt and Martinez-Fischer,Vice Chair of the Ways and Means Committee) around the equity of the flat-dollar homestead exemption.

Every Texan proudly offered our voice in support of key legislation. We provided invited testimony (Martinez-Fischer) in favor of HB 4236, which will create a task force to examine the Comptroller’s Property Value Study. HB 249 (Bernal) will allow Bexar County residents to pay their property taxes in installments. HB 2508 will improve the homestead exemption for surviving spouses of veterans.

Where necessary, our analysis informed our successful opposition to legislation. HB 1508, which would have eliminated the franchise tax, failed. Every Texan published an analysis on SB 2232, which would amend the JETI program to exempt dispatchable energy projects from the program’s “compelling factor” test. This bill was important to stop, as it could have opened the door to other, more harmful amendments.

Throughout the 89th Session, Every Texan advanced proposals for more targeted cuts to property taxes for low-income Texans through testimony, media relations, and inside legislative offices.

We led the conversation with a commitment to our core values, because equitable tax cuts ensure every Texan gets the relief they need.

Fair Taxation

Reduce Costly Red Tape Barriers to Benefits

With our partners, we held an advocacy day in early March, bringing over 50 guaranteed income recipients from across Texas to the Capitol to hold a “people’s hearing,” visit offices, and oppose the bills.

participants from across Texas advocate for guaranteed income

advocates testified against HB 530 in committee

office visits to follow up with legislators

Fair Taxation

Reduce Costly Red Tape Barriers to Benefits

Prior to session, we began a new partnership with the Economic Security Project and UpTogether to defend against expected attacks on local guaranteed income programs. In all, four bills filed this session would have prohibited local guaranteed income programs. With our partners, we held an advocacy day in early March, bringing over 50 guaranteed income recipients from across Texas to the Capitol to hold a “people’s hearing,” visit offices, and oppose the bills. In the end, SB 2010 (Bettencourt) was the last bill to die in Calendars. Every Texan celebrates the success of our new partnership and this collective policy work. In the interim and into the next session, we will continue to work together to defend cash transfer programs.

Fair Taxation

Redirect Wasteful Border Security Funding

Both House and Senate budgets, as filed, included another $6.5 billion for Operation Lone Star, with about $3 billion designated for the governor’s office. The final budget almost completely eliminated the governor’s portion. Every Texan has led the way in opposing this excessive, ineffective, and unnecessary spending on border security. We supported member-proposed amendments to the budget that aimed to reallocate funds from Operation Lone Star to support other initiatives. Those amendments are a signal that policymakers across the state agree: there is a limit on the sacrifices Texans will make in order to fund ineffective state policies for federal issues.

Fair Taxation

Improve Access to School Meals

Texas legislators agree that children who are enrolled in SNAP or Medicaid or qualify for free or reduced meals through the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program should have access to USDA-funded Summer EBT cards. Unfortunately, after the 89th Legislative Session, the governor vetoed the line item funding Summer EBT, eliminating summer food assistance for millions of Texas children.

Fair Taxation

Tracking the State Purse for Efficiency and Effectiveness

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Led by our values and expertise in state budget analysis and tracking, Every Texan opposed inefficient budgetary spending on corporate giveaways while championing efforts to improve access to housing, promote climate sustainability, and expand access to public information. HB 4219 (Capriglione), effective Sept. 1, 2025, supports our reliance on data by requiring more timely responses from local governments under the Texas Public Information Act. Similarly, our partnerships with Texas Housers and the Sierra Club worked to ensure Texas renters can continue to afford homes and pay for electricity amid skyrocketing prices.

Our eye for efficient, effective policy can, on occasion, place us in unexpected contrast with a wide range of advocates and analysts. This year, we stood against SB 22 (Huffman), which would provide incentives to large-budget film projects in Texas. The widely supported bipartisan bill would have taken critical resources away from education and healthcare, all while providing tax breaks to out-of-state film and production companies.

Worker Power

and Strong Families

Texas workers should share in the prosperity they create.

In the 89th Session, Every Texan worked in coalition with the state’s labor movement to ensure that the “Texas Miracle” is a possibility for all of us, not just the wealthy few. We attended every Appropriations and Senate Finance Committee hearing to advocate on behalf of working Texans. Over the course of the 140-day session, our team ultimately led the creation of a labor caucus to defend the state workforce at the Capitol.

Worker Power

Every Texan’s labor policy work operates across the political spectrum, calling conservative legislators into important conversations and building effective partnerships with them.

Our position in the workforce space focused on the mitigation of severe harm to hardworking Texas families. Even when bills stalled, we worked to ensure that state employees and the Texans who rely on them remained at the center of policy discussions. We fought alongside workers for policies that raise wages and address the increasing cost of living so that Texans can take care of themselves and their families.

As we build trust and strong foundational partnerships with labor unions in Texas, we recognize that unions play a vital role in balancing the economy. Income inequality is higher in areas with fewer unionized workers, and for too long, Texas has prioritized transferring worker wealth to corporations. To support our partners at the Texas State Employees Union (TSEU), Every Texan utilized the results of our state employee satisfaction survey to bring the voice of all state employees into the Capitol. TSEU was able to organize and build their membership, catapulting Every Texan’s assertion that listening to state employees is a key component to building effective policy.

We recognize our research must expose how the Legislature’s divestment in the state workforce undermines Texans’ and businesses’ ability to prosper. We are committed to truth-telling and building worker power so that every family can reach their full potential.

Every Texan

Priorities

Worker Power

Economic Security, Wages, Safety on the Job:

Every Texan worked closely with labor partners to successfully defeat HB 199 (DeAyala), which would reduce laid-off Texans’ unemployment insurance maximum benefits from 26 to 14 weeks through a policy provision called “indexing.” We provided analysis and case studies from other states on how indexing puts rural counties at a disadvantage and decreases the likelihood of unemployed Texans re-entering the job market. SB 1950 (Creighton) failed, preventing impractical and unnecessary job search mandates on laid-off workers from challenging claimants’ ability to collect unemployment insurance benefits.

Texas remains the only state that does not guarantee workers’ compensation for injured employees, and, once again, no bills addressing this critical gap received a hearing.

In a session marked by economic uncertainty, Every Texan stood firmly in defense of laid-off Texans who should not fall further into economic insecurity.

Worker Power

Ensure Paid Parental Leave and Access to Childcare for All Workers

Every Texan’s policy and data analysis of paid parental leave for the 89th Session was emphasized by the Houston Chronicle in a 4-part series covering the gap parents experience at the birth or adoption of a child. In the 88th Session, Every Texan’s data and analysis on the benefits of paid parental leave won this provision for state employees.

Every Texan recommended that all Texas counties adopt a similar provision for their employees. Subsequently, HB 334 (Ordaz) was passed, laying a foundation for this policy change through a paid leave pool for county employees. HB 4903 (Harris Davila) also passed and will establish a Quad-Agency Child Care Initiative and associated commission. This policy is a strong first step towards improved agency coordination on Texas’ growing childcare crisis.

Worker Power

Expand Collective Bargaining to Public Sector Workers, Including Educators

Today, 70% of Americans approve of labor unions—the highest percentage since 1965. Every Texan worked closely with trade unions to prevent the passage of harmful legislation that would have limited municipalities’ ability to enter into project labor agreements (PLAs). Every Texan’s research defeated HB 875 (Spiller) by showing how PLAs benefit communities.

Worker Power

Expand Collective Bargaining to Public Sector Workers, Including Educators

SB 2330 (Parker) proposed to limit certain state and local government workers’ right to set up payroll deductions for their union dues. Americans increasingly favor unions, and Texans are no exception. This bill failed, meaning state and local government employees will maintain autonomy over their paychecks.

Worker Power

Increase Wages for State Workers

Every Texan partnered with the TSEU to advocate for an across-the-board pay raise for all state employees and a cost-of-living adjustment for state retirees through the Employee Retirement System (ERS). Though the provisions were not included in the 2026-2027 budget, Every Texan and TSEU’s report and survey proved to be a useful tool to increase lawmakers' and legislative staff’s subject matter expertise. The Legislature did approve pay raises for some of the lowest-paid positions at select agencies, specifically for parole and probation officers at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and personal attendants at the Texas HHSC.

Voting Rights

and Preemption

Voting Rights

Policymakers must defend and fortify democracy to ensure every Texan’s voice is heard.

Texas has a long history of voter suppression and discrimination. Our state continues to struggle with voter turnout and consistently ranks in the bottom 10 for voter turnout across the nation. Every Texan joined the statewide movement for voting rights in 2021 and remained a committed advocate throughout the 89th Legislative Session.

Drawing from our research, legislative experience, trusted relationships, and past advocacy, Every Texan was prepared for a particularly hostile attack on voting rights this session.

The sheer volume of voting and preemption legislation in Texas is designed to overwhelm policy experts and stifle public engagement. Every Texan’s leadership helped focus opposition to policies that aim to suppress voting in historically disenfranchised communities and undermine local democracy through abusive preemption policy.

While co-leading the Texas Election Reform Coalition (TERC), Every Texan helped defeat close to all of the significantly detrimental proposals aimed at disenfranchising voters. These included efforts to require documentary proof of citizenship, restrict local voter registration initiatives, limit school district transportation to the polls, expand third-party voter challenges, and wrongfully remove eligible voters based on address mismatches or infrequent voting.

Voter registration and the eligibility of existing voters came under attack in the 89th Session, and we provided legislators with the clear policy analysis and evidence they needed to push back and draw a firm line in defense of democracy. For the first time in 10 years, Every Texan secured a committee hearing on online voter registration—a long-standing priority of the organization. While change is relentlessly incremental in Texas, we stand firm with Texans and remain rooted in our defense of the fundamental building blocks of our democracy.

Every Texan

Priorities

Voting Rights

Implement Online Voter Registration

After a decade of strategic work at the Capitol, HB 311 (Bucy) was given a courtesy hearing in the House Elections Committee. Though the bill did not advance, witnesses were able to testify in favor of it and, with the only opposition focusing on concerns of an electronic signature, the hearing is real progress for Texas’ voter registration systems. Every Texan will continue our work through the biennium to address those concerns. Considering all possibilities, Every Texan provided support and language for an amendment to include online voter registration in SB 16 in case it progressed to the floor.

Voting Rights

Support County Voting Efforts

Every Texan served as the conduit between pre-emption and voting rights for TERC and the Coalition Against State Interference (CASI). SB 2858 (Creighton) posed serious threats to voting rights and would have pre-empted the entire election code. Every Texan organized opposition to this bill in the House Calendars Committee, preventing it from reaching the floor before the deadline. Amid extensive defensive work, SB 510 (Bettencourt et al.) passed, allowing the Secretary of State to restrict funding if a county does not follow the proper protocols on challenging a voter’s registration.

Voting Rights

Fortify Democracy

The 89th Session brought a wave of more than 13 proposals designed to attack voting rights and undermine democracy, but we were ready. Drawing on deep legislative experience and knowledge, we were well-positioned to intervene, build pressure, and measure responses to act decisively. SB 16 (Hughes) proposed long-lasting harm for voter registration. The bill would allow the state to force existing voters to prove their citizenship, threatening the voting rights of elderly, rural, and marginalized Texans. In working to amend and mitigate the bill’s harm, Every Texan demonstrated just how irreparable the policy was, and ultimately helped prevent it from becoming law.

Engaging Every Texan

Every Texan successfully engaged 17,817 Texans through action pages, call programs, advocacy days, lead-generating ads, and teletownhalls at both state and federal levels.

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