HB 5606 creates a sick leave pool for Texas public school employees. It requires school districts and charter schools to establish a program where retiring employees can contribute their unused accrued sick leave to a shared pool. Current employees who exhaust their own sick leave may then use this pooled leave, subject to district policies. The bill also mandates that school district handbooks and leave request forms include information about the pool and list "assault leave" as an option. The law takes effect September 1, 2025, with existing policies adopted before that date exempt from the new requirement.
SB 1719 proposes to clarify the Texas Supreme Court's authority to create rules governing civil procedure. It specifies that the court's rules can replace outdated laws enacted before 1939, but only after the court adopts a new rule on that specific topic. The bill also requires the court to publicly list all superseded laws when adopting a new rule and explicitly prohibits the court from changing certain existing statutes, such as those banning personal service of legal documents during legislative sessions or rules about real property sales. This bill directly affects the Texas Supreme Court's rulemaking process and civil court procedures across Texas.
SB 2041 requires the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to consider five specific factors when selecting foster care placements for children in its conservatorship. These factors include choosing the least restrictive setting, the closest geographic location to the child's home, the placement's ability to meet the child's identified needs, the child's expressed preferences (when developmentally appropriate), and the placement's ability to support long-term stability. The bill directly affects children in foster care and DFPS decision-makers by mandating these criteria be used in placement decisions. It amends the Family Code to clarify these requirements, effective September 1, 2025. The law does not create new programs but specifies how existing placement decisions must be made.
SB 1860 amends Texas law to clarify which digital services must comply with existing protections for minors against harmful material online. It adds 10 specific exemptions, primarily excluding schools (including universities and private schools), educational service providers, news/content platforms that function mainly for news/sports/commerce, and digital services used for email or messaging. These exemptions mean the law's requirements won't apply to these entities, shifting compliance focus to other digital service providers. The changes take effect September 1, 2025.
SB 578 requires certain low-income housing developments that receive tax credits under Texas' 2026 or later allocation plans to install and maintain working exterior surveillance cameras at appropriate locations throughout the property. This applies only to non-rural developments and does not affect properties receiving credits under earlier plans. The law takes effect September 1, 2025, mandating camera installation as a condition for developments receiving qualifying tax credits. The bill directly affects developers and property managers of these specific housing projects.
Texas Senate Bill 596 requires the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to publish detailed annual and monthly reports about child welfare operations. The annual report, due February 1 each year, must include data on child abuse investigations, protective actions taken, staffing, placement stability, outcomes for children in DFPS conservatorship (including deaths, trafficking, and pregnancy), and permanency goals. The monthly report must detail parental safety agreements (including child demographics and income data) and authorization agreements for child safety. All reports must be published electronically on DFPS's website for public access, directly affecting children in DFPS conservatorship and providing transparency to the public and legislature.
SB 2568 exempts certain local flood control reservoirs from requiring a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). It applies specifically to dams or reservoirs built under federal Public Law 83-566 and operated by "Qualified Local Sponsors" (like soil and water conservation districts) for erosion, floodwater, and sediment control. These sponsors can construct or maintain reservoirs with up to 200 acre-feet of storage and divert water for maintenance without a TCEQ permit. The exemption covers existing projects under federal agreements and remains valid even if the federal partnership ends, as long as the reservoir continues to serve its intended purpose.
SB 427 would deny state loans or grants to cities, counties, and other local governments that fail to submit required annual financial reports. Specifically, if a local government misses filing or publishing its financial statement (as mandated by law), it becomes ineligible for state funding programs during that same fiscal year. Exceptions apply if the failure results from a declared disaster, provided the government notifies the state agency in writing detailing the circumstances. The bill requires all funding applications to include this eligibility notice and verify compliance with financial reporting rules.
SB 1705 would create new regulations for physical kiosks where people exchange virtual currency (like Bitcoin) for cash or other virtual currency within Texas. It directly affects businesses operating these kiosks by requiring them to comply with rules set by the Texas Department of Banking, including using blockchain analytics to verify transactions. Key provisions define terms like "virtual currency kiosk," "transaction hash," and "virtual currency wallet," and establish administrative fines for operators who violate the rules. The bill aims to provide oversight for this specific type of cryptocurrency transaction point while avoiding broader regulatory language.
SB 1484 prevents restaurants and food sellers from mislabeling non-catfish fish as catfish. It specifically prohibits calling basa, tra, or swai (fish similar to catfish but not true catfish) "catfish" and requires clear labeling of the actual species and country of origin for those products. The law applies to restaurants, food suppliers, wholesalers, distributors, and wholesale distributors. Violations could result in administrative penalties for misleading consumers about fish products.
SB 2058 requires the Texas Board of Nursing and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to post a prominent link on their websites to the most recent nursing education reports from the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies. The bill mandates this publication to make existing nursing education data more accessible to the public. It applies directly to these two state boards and takes effect December 31, 2025. The bill focuses solely on the method of data dissemination, not on altering nursing education standards or data collection processes.
SB 18 prohibits Texas municipal libraries from receiving state or public funds if they host events where a person presenting as the opposite gender (e.g., a man presenting as a woman or woman presenting as a man) reads to minors for entertainment, with the gender presentation being a primary component of the event. Libraries hosting such events would lose funding for the fiscal year following the event. The law applies only to events occurring on or after September 1, 2025, and affects municipal libraries receiving state or public funds. It directly targets funding for specific library programming involving gender presentation in children's events. The bill does not restrict library access or content generally, only funding tied to these defined events.
