Sen. Mayes Middleton

Maddy summarySB 413 requires independent school districts in Texas to document each board member's attendance, absence, and vote on every item during meetings. It mandates that school boards post meeting minutes and adopted resolutions on their websites within seven days of the meeting. The bill also requires all board meetings to be recorded and made publicly accessible per state transparency laws. These changes directly affect school board trustees and district administrators by increasing meeting transparency for parents and community members. The law takes effect September 1, 2025.

Maddy summarySB 568 amends Texas Education Code sections 8.051 and 29.001 to strengthen special education support in public schools. It requires regional education service centers to provide specific core services, including teacher training on state-mandated subjects and financial literacy, assistance for districts with special education compliance issues, and support for students needing specialized services. The bill also mandates the state education agency to develop a comprehensive system ensuring statewide compliance with federal and state special education laws, focusing on student outcomes and coordinated services. These changes directly affect Texas school districts, regional centers, and students with disabilities by standardizing support and accountability. The bill does not create new funding but reorganizes how existing Foundation School Program funds are administered for special education.

Maddy summarySB 2972 protects free expression at Texas public universities by requiring common outdoor campus areas to be treated as traditional public forums. It ensures students and employees can engage in protests, speeches, and other expressive activities there, as long as the activity is lawful and doesn’t significantly disrupt campus operations. The law permits universities to impose only reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on these activities, while explicitly excluding commercial speech, threats, defamation, and other unprotected categories. This policy change directly affects all public university students, faculty, and staff in Texas, effective September 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 1106 amends Texas' Family Code definitions of child abuse and neglect. It explicitly states that a parent or guardian's refusal to affirm a child's gender identity (including using preferred names/pronouns) or sexual orientation does not constitute abuse. The bill also clarifies that neglect includes specific failures like withholding medical care or leaving a child in immediate danger, but the key change is excluding these gender/sexual orientation refusals from abuse definitions. This directly affects parents, guardians, and child welfare systems in Texas by altering what legally qualifies as abuse under state law.

Maddy summaryHB 2715 amends Texas Local Government Code provisions governing the removal of certain political subdivision officers, specifically changing procedures for prosecuting attorneys. The bill requires removal petitions for prosecuting attorneys to be filed with the presiding judge of the administrative judicial region (not a district judge), and mandates that a judge from a different county handle the case to avoid conflicts of interest. It repeals outdated sections about judge assignments and specifies these changes apply only to removal petitions filed on or after the bill's effective date (June 20, 2025). This bill directly affects county prosecutors and local officials seeking their removal, altering court procedures for such cases.

Maddy summarySB 17 restricts certain foreign governments and entities from purchasing or acquiring title to specific types of real property in Texas if such ownership poses a risk to public health, safety, or welfare. It prohibits purchases of agricultural land, commercial, industrial, residential property, mines, minerals, or timber by organizations or governments from "designated countries" (identified by U.S. intelligence as national security risks). Exceptions include U.S. citizens/permanent residents, entities owned by them, homestead properties, and leaseholds under 100 years. The law creates a new Property Code Subchapter H (Sections 5.251-5.254) to implement these restrictions.

Maddy summaryHB 100 prohibits Texas public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools from using state funds to purchase or adopt instructional materials that contain obscene or harmful content or appear on the State Board of Education's rejected materials list. The bill requires the State Board to issue a 45-day notice before adding materials to the rejected list, allowing time for revisions. It also bans the use of any instructional materials - whether traditional or open education resources - listed as rejected, while permitting local funds for non-rejected materials. This law applies starting the 2025-2026 school year and became effective immediately after the governor signed it on June 20, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 3388 requires insurers offering group property and casualty insurance policies to clearly disclose whether a policy has a shared aggregate limit during the application process. It mandates that insurers deliver a copy of the policy and certificate of insurance to each policyholder within 30 days of issuance or renewal. The bill defines "permitted groups" as 10 or more members with preexisting relationships (e.g., trade associations or affiliations) and allows incidental casualty/liability coverage under these policies. Surplus lines insurers must file group policies collectively rather than individually for each member, streamlining reporting requirements. These changes apply to all group policies issued under Section 2171.002 of the Texas Insurance Code.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires vision insurance companies to create online applications for optometrists and therapeutic optometrists to join their plans. It mandates that insurers provide contracts within 10 business days of receiving a complete application and make credentialing decisions within 30 days. The bill ensures all applicants face identical application requirements and processing timelines, prohibiting insurers from considering extra information beyond the submitted application. It also requires insurers to include approved providers in their plans within 20 business days of contract acceptance. The law applies to all vision care plans serving Texas residents.

Maddy summaryTexas SB 8 requires sheriffs in counties with 100,000+ residents to request agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that allow local officers to enforce federal immigration law. Smaller counties may voluntarily enter similar agreements. The bill creates a state grant program to cover costs for counties implementing these agreements, including personnel and resources needed for compliance. It directly affects Texas county sheriffs and law enforcement agencies participating in federal immigration enforcement programs.