Stop the press! I agree with Brian Harrison on something.
As you know, today was the first day of pre-filing, when legislators started filing bills. One, that Brian Harrison (R-HD10) and I actually agree on. HB824, the repeal of the Moving Image Incentive Program. Of course, we probably want it for different reasons, but a broken clock is right twice a day.
If you’re new here, Brian Harrison is among the furthest-right in the Texas House, a true fascist. And he never met an outrage or a camera that he didn’t like. Last Legislative Session, we called the far-right clique “The Brainworm Brigade” (we voted on it), and Harrison led it.
For years, Texas has been a state that has allowed children to starve and sick people to die, in lieu of handouts to the wealthy. In 2025, the Legislature passed a bill giving $300 million to Texas movie studios, an initiative led by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. And the kicker is that the studios can only make faith-based or family-value movies, and they aren’t allowed to say the word “fuck.”
I don’t know why Harrison filed this bill, probably some libertarian fantasy of $0 government, but here is why it actually should be repealed:
Why are we paying corporate welfare when babies in this state are hungry? We need to end all corporate welfare, and this program costs $300 million every two years through 2035, more than $1.5 billion total, all for for-profit, private companies.
Now that Democrats are in charge, they should pass the bill. It would be the first bill Harrison would ever pass in his career. Then they should redirect all that money to the free school breakfast/lunch program, which I hope will pass this session.
But that was just one bill.
Today, 1,262 bills were filed in the Texas Legislature.
Legislators will have the first 60 days of the Legislature (from opening day) to file bills. However, members who haven’t been sworn in yet (lots of them) can’t file bills until after they are sworn in, because they don’t yet have access to the system.
There are three exceptions to this.
Pooja Sethi (D-HD47)
Samantha Lopez-Resendez (D-HD50)
Odus Evbagharu (D-HD135)
Incoming freshmen Sethi, Lopez-Resendez, and Evbagharu are all staffers and worked in their predecessors’ offices (Vikki Goodwin, Donna Howard, and Jon Rosenthal). All filed bills today.
Sethi filed ten bills, which mostly covered gun safety and public education. She also introduced HB765, a blue envelope program that would help law enforcement officers identify drivers with autism or a disability.
Evbagharu filed two. One to end child marriage in Texas. The other is a labor bill for firefighters.
Lopez-Resendez filed 18 bills, including HB947, which would finally allow women in Texas to divorce while pregnant.
Off to a good start.
Republican Senator Joan Huffman filed SB293 to repeal data center tax breaks, and 23 Senators signed on to it. Which is interesting, because Republicans were the ones who gave data centers tax breaks in the first place. But is this a signal that they’re ready to play ball with Vikki Goodwin?
Senate Democrats.
Senators Carol Alvarado (D-SD06), Taylor Rehmet (D-SD09), Molly Cook (D-SD15), Roland Gutierrez (D-SD19), and Jose Menéndez (D-SD26) filed several pieces of legislation as a bloc today. Including, repealing the abortion ban, repealing vouchers, expanding Medicaid, and several others.
➡️ All of the bills filed today.
Rehmet introduced a handful of bills targeted at workers and renter reform. Some of those include banning non-competes for low-wage workers and banning algorithmic rent. These are the types of bills we expected to see from him, and he’s delivering.
Carol Alvarado filed a constitutional amendment, SJR11, that would let voters decide on casino and sports betting.
House Democrats.
Nine Democrats introduced different bills to expand Medicaid. Texas is one of the last states in America that lets its low-income people die without access to healthcare. Now that Democrats have the majority in the House, and given how many members filed this bill today, we should expect it to pass at least this chamber.
Both Armando Walle (D-HD140) and Suleman Lalani (D-HD76) filed bills to expand postpartum Medicaid. Charlene Ward Johnson (D-HD139) filed a bill to study Black maternal mortality in Texas.
Lalani also filed a bill for community health clinic grants and to keep medical debt off of credit reports.
Three bills to repeal the abortion ban were filed, and two constitutional amendments for the constitutional right to abortion. All by Legislative Democrats.
Between the House and the Senate, six bills to repeal vouchers have been filed. Donna Howard (D-HD48) and Rafael Anchia (D-HD103) filed bills to tie the basic allotment to inflation. John Bucy (D-HD136) filed HB360 for free full-day pre-K.
Seven bills have been filed to raise the minimum wage from between $15 and $17. Ron Reynolds filed HB808 for paid sick leave. And Bucy filed HB219 to raise state employee pay.
There have also been many bills on housing and affordability. That includes a statewide housing fund, longer eviction notices, rent controls for people over 75, and limits on corporations buying family homes.
On immigration, multiple bills were filed to ban the 287(g) program, ban border walls in state parks, and ban civil immigration detention.
On criminal justice, Bucy filed HB387 to abolish the death penalty. Joe Moody (D-HD78) filed HB225 for no arrests for fine-only offenses. We also saw bills today for compensation for the wrongly convicted, air conditioning in prisons, and a statewide public defender’s office.
Three bills were filed for online registration, two for no-excuse mail-in voting, and three for polling locations on college campuses. Several bills and constitutional amendments were filed for independent redistricting commissions. Democrats also want to add more acceptable IDs for voting, let 17-year-olds vote in primaries, and repeal Confederate Heroes Day.
Venton Jones (D-HD100) again filed HB653 to repeal the “homosexual conduct law.” Several other bills filed expand LGBTQ+ civil rights.
Democrats filed a slew of gun safety bills, including red flag orders and universal background checks. Several gun laws could change this session.
We have a few environmental bills that were filed today; none were on my short list, but it’s just the first day. Environmental laws in Texas need to change, and I hope Democrats don’t push that one to the back burner for “oil jobs.”
Last, but not least, three separate bills were filed today to legalize cannabis.
It’s only day one.
Legislators have 60 days from opening day to file bills, and most incoming freshmen can’t file anything until they’re sworn in. But opening-day bills tell us a lot.
Democrats are filing like a majority party. The four most prolific filers today were all Democrats: Lalani with 68 bills, Zaffirini with 66, Bucy with 58, and Menéndez with 54. Multiple bills on the same subject may seem chaotic, but they show the caucus is unified in its priorities.
Day one also focused on repealing the last decade. Repeal vouchers. Repeal the abortion ban. Repeal the 287(g) mandate. Repeal the DEI ban. Half of what was filed today was cleanup from the Abbott-Patrick era.
Some of it is bold. Gutierrez wants to send Texans emergency relief checks and pay county residents when a data center moves in next door. Rehmet wants to ban noncompetes for low-wage workers, and the software landlords use to set rents.
Republicans are now on the defensive. They filed today to limit the governor’s power and term limits for the Speaker. Funny how they only care about these things when Democrats are in charge.
And I’m still waiting on one bill. Universal school meals for all kids. But there’s still plenty of time and plenty of hungry kids who need it. We still have time.
We’ll be watching. See you tomorrow.
January 12, 2027: The 90th Legislative Session begins.
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Thank you for your enthusiasm and for letting us know what is happening in the chaotic world of Texas politics.
Even those of us who voted true blue have priorities when the new laws are presented. For instance the abortion issue! In order to actually save lives abortion bans need to stop and the concentration should be on maternal health! Texas’ numbers are appalling!
This is when you shine! Waiting for all voting bills to be filed! Just got back from Johnson County, so proud of them raising margins and flipping several precincts blue. That means Democratic elections judges. Also we talked a lot about testified at commissioners court! Demand change! It happened in Tarrant, it can happen in Johnson.