The upcoming regular session of the 89th Texas Legislature begins on January 14th, 2025. As the new year approaches, Texans should be aware of the significant legislative changes that will take effect on January 1, 2025. This list provides a concise overview of the most impactful laws that will influence various aspects of life in Texas, from consumer data privacy to judicial system reforms.
Consumer Data Privacy
HB 4: Relating to the regulation of the collection, use, processing, and treatment of consumers’ personal data by certain business entities; imposing a civil penalty.
House Bill 4, the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, amends the Business & Commerce Code to regulate the collection, use, processing, and treatment of consumers’ personal data by certain business entities. The bill sets out, among other provisions, provisions regarding a consumer’s personal data rights and a request to exercise such rights, a required privacy notice to consumers, and the disclosure of a sale of personal data to a third party by an applicable business entity. The bill creates a civil penalty for violations of the bill and gives the attorney general exclusive authority to enforce the bill’s provisions. The bill takes effect July 1, 2024, except that a bill provision establishing that a consumer exercising the right to opt out of the processing of the consumer’s personal data for targeted advertising may designate another person to serve as the consumer’s authorized agent and act on the consumer’s behalf takes effect on January 1, 2025.
San Antonio River Authority
HB 1535: Relating to the San Antonio River Authority, following recommendations of the Sunset Advisory Commission; altering the terms of office of the members of the board of directors of the authority.
While most parts of the Act took effect immediately upon passage, changes in Section 9 concerning the board members’ terms of office will be effective from January 1, 2025.
House Bill 1535 amends the law to revise and update the governing provisions of the San Antonio River Authority (SARA), following Sunset Advisory Commission recommendations. Among other provisions, including across-the-board sunset provisions, the bill does the following:
• changes the date of the biennial director election from the third Saturday in January to the uniform election date in November;
• decreases the length of a director’s term of office from six years to four years;
• removes a provision that authorizes SARA bylaws to provide for the designation by its board of directors of an executive committee upon whom the district’s manager may call for policy decisions and advice concerning matters which arise between board meetings and that may authorize the execution of any contract involving the expenditure of a maximum amount of $20,000;
• replaces the majority by which SARA’s board may exercise SARA’s powers, rights, privileges, and functions from a majority of the directors present at any applicable board meeting to a majority of the board’s membership;
• removes a provision that limits the electors entitled to vote in a SARA property tax election to only applicable property owners;
• repeals provisions that require SARA to prepare a master plan for the maximum development of its soil and water resources and that require the state auditor to annually audit SARA; and
• authorizes SARA to contract or otherwise coordinate with a nonprofit organization to accomplish SARA’s purposes. Except as otherwise provided by the bill, the bill takes effect May 24, 2023.
Vehicle Safety Inspections
HB 3297: Relating to the elimination of regular mandatory vehicle safety inspections for noncommercial vehicles and the imposition of replacement fees.
House Bill 3297 repeals Transportation Code provisions requiring vehicle safety inspections for noncommercial vehicles. The bill amends that code and the Health and Safety Code to establish the inspection program replacement fee to be paid when applying for an initial vehicle registration or renewal of a registration for certain vehicles and to require the Department of Public Safety to adopt a timetable for vehicles subject to inspection requirements to complete the requirements. Additionally, the bill eliminates certain misdemeanor offenses relating to circumventing inspection requirements or operating certain vehicles in a condition that endangers a person or property and requires all assembled motor vehicles that contain safety belt anchorages to be equipped with front safety belts.
Judicial System Reforms
HB 3474
This comprehensive bill enacts several judicial system reforms. Key provisions include changes to the service of process, document delivery, oath administration, and the management of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission. While the Act contains multiple effective dates, Section 1.009, concerning specific judicial procedures, will become effective on January 1, 2025.
House Bill 3474 is an omnibus bill relating to the operation and administration of and practices and procedures regarding proceedings in the judicial branch of state government. House Bill 3474 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Family Code, Estates Code, Government Code, Human Resources Code, and Property Code. Among other provisions, the bill does the following:
• creates 13 district courts, two statutory county courts, one multicounty statutory county court, five statutory probate courts, and one criminal law magistrate court;
• revises the jurisdiction of certain district courts, statutory county courts, statutory probate courts, and criminal law magistrate courts;
• establishes term start dates for certain district courts;
• grants the magistrates of certain counties jurisdiction in criminal actions and provides for the district clerk to serve as clerk of cases referred to a magistrate, except for cases filed in certain courts;
• revises provisions relating to associate and visiting judges;
• provides for the appointment, duties, and powers of an associate judge in Duval County;
• sets out standard procedures for court clerks transferring or receiving probate and guardianship cases between courts, including sending or marking specified documents in each transferred case and using the standardized forms created by the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System;
• entitles a justice of the supreme court, a judge of the court of criminal appeals, or a justice of a court of appeals to compensation for necessary expenses;
• provides for service credit for a statutory county court, including a multicounty statutory county court judge, or a statutory probate court judge for any years of service as a district attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney;
• provides for service credit for a district attorney or criminal district attorney for any years of service as a district attorney, criminal district attorney, county attorney, appellate court justice, district judge, or statutory county court or statutory probate court judge and provides for longevity pay for such an attorney;
• revises provisions relating to jurors and jury service, including by requiring a court clerk to maintain a list of the name and address of each person who is disqualified from jury service because the person was convicted of misdemeanor theft or a felony;
• revises provisions relating to a district clerk’s authority to summon grand jurors;
• sets out and revises provisions relating to court reporters and interpreters, including their appointment, duties, certification, reimbursement, and regulation;
• sets out provisions relating to court deposition, transcription, and interpretation services;
• revises provisions relating to criminal proceedings, including expunction and applications for writs of habeas corpus;
• revises provisions relating to the reimbursement of certain funeral expenses;
• provides for the filing of an appendix instead of a clerk’s record for an appeal of a civil suit;
• requires a statutory county court, district court, or appellate court to deliver through the statewide electronic filing system all applicable court orders entered for the case; and
• removes the requirement that the executive director of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission be a licensed attorney. Except as otherwise provided by the bill, the bill takes effect September 1, 2023.
Code of Criminal Procedure Revision
HB 4504: Relating to the nonsubstantive revision of certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, including conforming amendments.
House Bill 4504, a continuation of the legislature’s ongoing statutory revision program, provides for the nonsubstantive revision of the Code of Criminal Procedure, including conforming amendments to other enacted codes. The bill nonsubstantively revises laws governing general powers and duties of peace officers, law enforcement interactions with the public, venue, change of venue, justice and municipal courts, and expunction of criminal records.
Property Tax Relief
SB 2, 88th 2nd C.S.: Relating to providing property tax relief through the public school finance system, exemptions, limitations on appraisals and taxes, and property tax administration; authorizing the imposition of a fee.
This significant legislation aims to provide property tax relief by modifying the public school finance system and introducing various exemptions and appraisal limitations. Different sections of the Act have staggered effective dates, with Sections 3.05, 3.08, and 3.15(b) scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2025. These sections focus on implementing appraisal limitations and other tax-related adjustments to alleviate the tax burden on property owners.
Section 3.05: Starting Jan. 1, 2025, Section 48.2542 of the Education Code will be amended to ensure that school districts receive extra state funding to offset property tax revenue lost due to reduced tax increase limits for elderly or disabled homeowners.
Section 3.08: Starting Jan. 1, 2025, Section 48.2556(a) of the Education Code will be amended to require the Texas Education Agency to post each school district’s maximum compressed rate for the current and preceding tax year.
Section 3.15(b): This repeals tax discounts that have already expired.
Goes into effect on April 1, 2025
Nonsubstantive Revisions to Health and Human Services Laws
HB 4611: Relating to the nonsubstantive revision of the health and human services laws governing the Health and Human Services Commission, Medicaid, and other social services.
House Bill 4611, a continuation of the legislature’s ongoing statutory revision program, makes certain nonsubstantive additions to, revisions of, and corrections in certain health and human services laws governing the Health and Human Services Commission, Medicaid, and other social services and makes conforming changes to enacted codes.
Goes into effect on July 1, 2025
Elimination of Temporary Paper License Plates
HB 718: Relating to the issuance of certain tags, permits, and license plates authorizing the movement of vehicles and the transfer and renewal of certain license plates.
House Bill 718 amends the Tax Code and Transportation Code to eliminate the issuance of temporary paper license plates and permits by a dealer for vehicles sold in Texas. Among other provisions, the bill changes the type of temporary plates issued by a dealer to a metal license plate, requires a dealer to obtain the plates from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV), and establishes that the plates are valid for the operation of the vehicle while the registration application submitted by the dealer is pending. The bill revises the requirement for TxDMV to operate an applicable database to reflect the transition to metal license plates, which must allow law enforcement to obtain information about drivers to whom the license plates are issued.
Goes into effect on September 1, 2025
Voluntary Accreditation Program for Recovery Housing
HB 299: Relating to the creation of a voluntary accreditation for recovery housing; authorizing fees.
House Bill 299 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to adopt minimum standards for accreditation as a recovery house for substance use disorder recovery and to provide for the development and administration of a voluntary accreditation program by certain approved accrediting organizations. The bill sets out provisions regarding the types of facilities ineligible for accreditation, a designated responsible party for a recovery house, advertisement for the house, the enforcement authority of accrediting organizations, and an annual HHSC report, among other provisions. Effective September 1, 2025, the bill prohibits an unaccredited recovery house from receiving state money. Except as otherwise provided, the bill takes effect September 1, 2023.
Goes into effect on September 1, 2025
Adoption of the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act by the Texas Supreme Court
HB 3929: Relating to the adoption by the Supreme Court of Texas of the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act.
House Bill 3929 authorizes the Texas Supreme Court to adopt, before September 1, 2025, the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act as rules of civil procedure and provides for the repeal on that date of statutory provisions establishing that a witness required by a court of record in any other state or foreign jurisdiction to give testimony in Texas may be compelled to appear and testify in the same manner and by the same process used for taking testimony in a proceeding pending in Texas, unless the supreme court does not adopt the act as rules.
Goes into effect on September 1, 2025
Establishment of County Health Care Provider Participation Program in Jefferson County
HB 4835: Relating to the creation and operations of certain health care provider participation programs.
Current law provides for a municipal health care provider participation program for the City of Beaumont. House Bill 4835 repeals those provisions and amends the Health and Safety Code to provide for a county health care provider participation program in Jefferson County. The bill establishes that such a program authorizes the county to collect a mandatory payment from each institutional health care provider located in the county for deposit in a local provider participation fund. Among other provisions, the bill sets out the powers and duties of a commissioners court with respect to the county health care provider participation program, sets out general financial provisions regarding the program and mandatory payment, and provides for the amount, assessment, and collection of the payment. The bill’s provisions regarding the program in Jefferson County take effect September 1, 2025, while the bill’s other provisions take effect September 1, 2023.
Goes into effect on September 1, 2025
Consumer Protections Against Emergency Medical Services Billing
SB 2476: Relating to consumer protections against certain medical and health care billing by emergency medical services providers.
Senate Bill 2476 amends the Insurance Code to, among other provisions, provide the method for determining the amount that a health maintenance organization, the administrator of a health benefit plan offered by a nonprofit agricultural organization, an insurer offering a preferred provider benefit plan, and the administrator of a managed care plan provided under the Texas Employees Group Benefits Act, Texas Public School Retired Employees Group Benefits Act, or Texas School Employees Uniform Group Health Coverage Act, as applicable, must pay for a covered health or medical care service performed for, or a covered supply or transport related to that service provided to, an enrollee, participant, or insured by a non-network or out-of-network emergency medical services (EMS) provider. A political subdivision may submit to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) a rate set, controlled, or regulated by the political subdivision for purposes of such providers and out-of-network EMS provider payments, and TDI must establish a publicly-accessible database for the rates. The bill sets certain of its provisions to expire on September 1, 2025. Except as otherwise provided by the bill, the bill takes effect September 1, 2023.
These new laws are set to bring changes to Texas, impacting everything from daily life to the structure of governance. Stay informed about these developments is crucial for all Texans. What are some issues that matter to you in our community? Write me or comment below this article.
(sources) Texas Legislature Online
