What you need to know
Nov. 12 marked the first day state legislators could file new bills for the upcoming session, and more than 1,400 bills were filed on the first day. Local legislators filed bills on topics including health care, elections, law enforcement and the justice system.
Local representatives filing the following number of bills since Nov. 12:
- Republican Rep. Gary Gates filed four bills
- Republican Rep. Mike Schofield filed 22 bills
- Democratic Rep. Hubert Vo filed seven bills
- Republican Sen. Paul Bettencourt filed seven bills
- Republican Sen. Joan Huffman filed six bills
The details
Huffman, who won her re-election bid in November, filed several bills related to the justice system. Two bills, Senate Bill 328 and Senate Bill 329, would create two new judicial districts in both Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, respectively.
Fort Bend County officials previously said new courts were needed to address the rising number of cases judges deliberate due to the county’s growing population.
Digging deeper
Meanwhile, Schofield, who was also re-elected in November, filed several bills relating to various topics, including law enforcement contracts, property tax caps and elections.
House Bill 336 would continue to allow sheriff’s offices and constable’s offices to contract their law enforcement or security services out to homeowners associations and other subdivisions in the county.
The amendment to the bill says county commissioners courts wouldn’t be able to prevent law enforcement offices from doing this. It also states county staff or commissioners wouldn’t be able to:
- Use funds generated through these contracted services on the county level
- Dictate how funds are used
- Reduce the county funds allocated to these departments due to the additional monies from contracted services
What else?
The seven bills Bettencourt filed all pertain to elections, with several creating and increasing penalties if processes aren’t met.
The bills would:
- Create processes to address election irregularities, providing a civil penalty
- Require election petitions and ballot propositions be phrased definitively and neutrally so that voters are not misled, and also create procedures if a community member believes the proposition or petition isn’t meeting that standard
- Increase criminal penalties if an election authority intentionally fails to provide an election precinct with the required number of ballots
The THHS would need to complete the report by Dec. 1, 2026, and submit it to the governor.
Meanwhile, Gates filed four bills of varying topics, ranging from the number of petition signatures needed to dissolve municipal management districts to limiting solid waste management fees.
What’s next
These bills have yet to be voted on or signed into law and are subject to change or be dismissed entirely prior to approval.
