774 new state laws take effect in Texas today, here are some notable ones

The Texas Legislature passed 774 laws in 2023 that will take effect on Sept. 1. The laws cover a vast range of topics including transgender rights, street racing, healthcare and more. Below are 30 of the noteworthy laws put in place.

Some of the legislation is in litigation such as the “Death Star” bill (HB 2127). This law would let state legislation override local ordinances, ending protections like Dallas’s 2015 ordinance that requires rest breaks on construction sites. Houston, San Antonio and El Paso have all sued to block the legislation, but Dallas does not have plans to join the suit. Some North Texas cities that are supporting the suit are Arlington, Denton and Plano. Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble on Wednesday said HB 2127 violates the state Constitution. The judge granted a motion for summary judgment filed by the city of Houston and said the bill shouldn’t be enforced. According to our partners at The Dallas Morning News, Paige Willey, the Office of the Attorney General’s spokesperson, said the state is appealing the ruling. On Friday, the state attorney general's office said, "The declaratory judgment did not enjoin enforcement of the law by Texans who were not parties to Houston’s suit and who are harmed by local ordinances, which HB 2127 preempts." State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), who co-authored the law, posted on social media after the ruling that he believed the judgment “is not worth the paper it’s printed on" and that “The Texas Supreme Court will ultimately rule this law to be completely valid.”

LGBTQ Issues

• Drag shows, sexually explicit performances: Sexually oriented performances in front of minors will become a criminal offense under SB 12. The law bans real or simulated groping, real or simulated arousal and display of a sex toy if done in a “prurient” manner in front of a minor or on public property.  Drag artists filed a lawsuit to block the law on Aug. 2 because they feared drag performances would be targeted by this legislation's vague wording. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed the bill on Aug. 18.  Specific wording about drag shows was removed from the bill before it passed, but businesses that host performances that fall under these restrictions can be fined $10,000. Performers can also be charged with a misdemeanor.
  UPDATE: On Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston issued the temporary restraining order blocking the law from taking effect Friday. Critics argued that the definition is so broad, it could include the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. During a two-day court hearing earlier this week, drag performers and advocates said the new law threatened their livelihoods and would censor their freedom of expression. In his order, Hittner agreed with those who filed the lawsuit that the new law is likely unconstitutional because it violates their First Amendment rights.
• Transgender athletes: The Save Women’s Sports Act (SB 15) will require college athletes to play sports matching their “biological sex” stated on their birth certificate. This law applies to Texas public colleges and follows a similar law passed in 2021, HB 25.
• Gender-affirming care: Texas will ban gender-affirming care for minors, this includes medication and surgery. SB 14 bans transition-related care for transgender minors, but Texas families and medical providers tried to block the bill by filing a lawsuit. It was appealed to the Texas Supreme Court in late August. The law will also allow the state to revoke medical licenses of doctors who provide treatment like puberty blockers or hormone therapy to minors “to transition a child’s biological sex.”
  UPDATE: The Texas Supreme Court will allow the new state law banning gender-affirming care for minors to take effect on Friday, setting up Texas to be the most populous state with such restrictions on transgender children. Last week, a state district judge ruled the pending law violated the rights of transgender children and their families to seek appropriate medical care, and violated doctors’ ability to follow “well-established, evidence-based” medical guidelines under threat of losing their license. The judge issued a temporary injunction that was lifted by the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court, who took action without explaining their decision.

Education Issues

• Chaplains in schools: A new state law would allow school districts to replace counselors with unlicensed chaplains. Districts would need to vote to implement the volunteer chaplain program within the next six months. Last week, more than 100 clergy members issued an open letter to all Texas school board members urging them to reject the program under SB 763.
• School security guards: To ensure public school safety HB 3 requires armed personnel at every school campus. This is a response to the Uvalde massacre in 2022. However, Dallas ISD expressed its struggle to find the funding and workforce to meet the mandate.  
• Book bans: Another new law under litigation, HB 900, requires booksellers and vendors to assign ratings to books with sexual content before selling them to school districts. Schools would have to get parental consent before a child can access “sexually relevant material” in the library, but “sexually explicit” books cannot be sold to schools. Fort Worth ISD libraries reopened on Aug. 28 after it was determined that all its books complied with the new state law. Booksellers filed a lawsuit to block the law arguing that the “sexually relevant” rating is vague and would ban relevant literature.
• Anti-drug curriculum: After launching “One Pill Kills,” a multimedia campaign about the unlawful use of fentanyl, HB 3908, reinforces the program by requiring public Texas schools to give instructions to grades six through 12 on fentanyl and drug abuse prevention. Tucker’s Law, named after 19-year-old Tucker Roe who died after taking a fentanyl-laced pill, took effect immediately on Aug. 17 after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed the bill.
• Diversity, equity and inclusion ban: SB 17 dismantles DEI offices at public Texas universities. The law doesn’t take effect until January 2024, but many colleges have already put changes in place. Many public Texas colleges are looking at ways around the law, relabeling the offices.

Healthcare Issues

• Life support: In the past hospitals could remove life support 10 days after notifying the patient's family, HB 3126 increased the notice to 25 days. The law also allows to have a voice families when an ethics review committee evaluates a doctor’s decision to end life support.
• Lower-priced medications: The “Wholesale Prescription Drug Importation Program,” created by HB 25, would allow the state to contract with Canadian drug wholesalers and suppliers to bring safe and eligible prescription drugs to Texas for cheaper than U.S. wholesalers. Currently, the U.S. has a closed distribution system and does not allow any state discretion on which drugs to bring in. However, federal drug regulators are moving slowly, and the program will not be designed until next year or be approved by the FDA.
• Rural healthcare: A program, created by HB 617, helps emergency healthcare workers to talk with doctors while the ambulance is in transit to the emergency room. Secure video calls and wireless patient monitoring will be installed in ambulances in West Texas. The program is boosting a pilot program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
• Medicaid for new mothers: Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers is being extended from two months to one year under HB 12. During the pandemic, Medicaid Benefits were extended, but that ended in the spring. The bill was signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Aug. 18 and went into
• Tampon tax: The Texas Legislator has removed the “tampon tax” after growing support for a repeal. Feminine Hygiene and baby products, including tampons, menstrual cups, diapers, baby wipes, maternity clothes and breast-milk pumping products, will no longer be taxed under SB 379.
• Hospital bills: Texas hospitals and other health care providers will be required to provide patients with an itemized bill. SB 490 requires the bill to have plain language for every service before any attempts to collect debt.

Driving and Roads

• Street takeovers: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is cracking down on street racing. HB 1442 aims to reduce street takeover and adds reckless driving to an organized criminal activity statute. HB 2899, which is already in effect, allows the immediate removal and impounding of vehicles involved in street racing. Abbott signed the bill in Fort Worth on Aug. 2 at a press conference saying the reason for the bill was to secure streets and protect citizens.
• Sidewalk rules: After Rodney “R.J.” Reese was walking on a road during the February 2021 snowstorms, the Texas legislature proposed HB 1277. The law allows pedestrians to walk on the roadway facing oncoming traffic when the sidewalks are obstructed or unsafe.
• Speed limits changes: After a deadly 133-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 35 in Fort Worth in 2021, HB 1885 has been put in place. This law will allow TxDOT to temporarily change speed limits on parts of roads and highways due to construction or weather for driver’s safety.  
• Electric Vehicle tax: Because electric vehicles do not pay tax on gas, SB 505 will require owners of these vehicles to pay a $400 registration fee and a yearly $200 renewal registration fee. Drivers of hybrids and gas-fueled vehicles pay a 20-cent tax per gallon, so they will not pay the new fees.
• Toll road bills: Toll agencies will now be required by HB 2170 to mail an invoice to users when automatic payment is rejected with electronic tags. The bill will have clear messaging outside the envelope indicating it contains an unpaid bill.

Law enforcement and criminal justice

• Rural sheriffs: A grant system, established by SB 22, will boost rural law enforcement efforts by $330 million. The money will be distributed proportional to the county’s population size. Counties can use the money to raise salaries and purchase new equipment, as well as funds for prosecutors’ officers. The state comptroller will monitor the disbursement and use of the money, but the state hopes to rebuild the rural law enforcement.
• Fentanyl deaths: After the rise of the fentanyl crisis, HB 6 will allow prosecutors to pursue murder charges against someone who illegally manufactured or distributed fentanyl causing someone’s death. The overdose will be classified as a poisoning.
• Progressive prosecutors: In response to various district attorneys claiming they wouldn’t prosecute controversial offenses related to abortion, elections and gender-affirming care for minors, SB 20 makes it easier to remove prosecutors who will not pursue violations of laws.

Voting Laws

• Poll worker shortage: The Texas legislature will require all counties to extend early voting hours. HB 1217 will be hard for more rural counties to fulfill which will struggle to find poll workers over the extended hours.
• Houston elections: SB 1750 will abolish the Harris County election administrator’s office. The Texas Supreme Court denied the request from Democrats to delay the new election law.

Other notable laws

• Mobile Food Units: Mobile food units will now need to obtain permits from the county they are operating in. HB 2978 will affect vendors in Tarrant County who will need to get permitting and inspecting in the county.  
• Social media of minors: Social media has been a concern for Texas legislators for some time.  HB 18 will require social media platforms to get consent from a parent or guardian before letting minors create an account. The law is trying to protect minors from harmful, deceptive, or unfair trade practices that social media sites can.
• HOA payment discrimination: HB 1193 will prohibit Home Owners Associations from discriminating against tenants based on their method of payment. The law comes after an HOA tried to discriminate against a resident in Denton County who was paying with a Section 8 housing voucher.
• Hair discrimination: The CROWN Act, also known as HB 567, will make discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyle associated with race illegal. After two Black high school students were forced to cut their dreadlocks to avoid consequences.