Sen. Lois Kolkhorst

Maddy summaryHB 3923 requires Texas state agencies to review and adjust job requirements to reduce reliance on bachelor's degrees for employment. Specifically, it directs classification officers to identify positions where educational requirements could be lowered, reduce the number of roles mandating a bachelor's degree, and explore career advancement paths for employees without one. The bill mandates agencies to report their findings to the governor's budget office and Legislative Budget Board by specified deadlines. This directly affects state hiring practices and employees who lack bachelor's degrees but possess relevant skills or experience. The policy change takes effect September 1, 2025, aiming to broaden state employment opportunities.

Maddy summaryHB 4187 streamlines contracting for the Texas Historical Commission by allowing its executive director to bypass full competitive bidding when necessary. Specifically, it permits direct contracts with qualified vendors if initial bidding fails to produce competitive offers, increases costs, delays urgent work, or misses critical needs - after documented justification. The bill also clarifies that the Commission may use funds from the Historic Infrastructure Sustainability Trust Fund exclusively for maintaining, preserving, rehabilitating, and restoring state historic sites under its control. These changes aim to improve efficiency in managing historical properties without creating new funding.

Maddy summaryHB 3233 requires pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to store and process patient data for Texas residents only within the United States or its territories, prohibiting offshore data handling. This law directly affects PBMs contracted with Texas health plans or providers serving state residents. The key provision mandates that all patient data maintained by PBMs must remain physically or digitally within U.S. borders, with no exceptions for existing contracts. The law takes effect September 1, 2025, applying only to new or renewed contracts after that date.

Maddy summarySB 11 would allow Texas public school districts or charter schools (not affiliated with religious organizations) to adopt a policy requiring daily voluntary prayer and Bible/religious text reading periods on school campuses. To participate, students or employees must provide written consent from a parent/guardian or the employee themselves, acknowledging the choice to participate and waiving legal claims related to the policy. The bill prohibits mandatory participation, using public address systems for these activities, or substituting this time for instruction, and requires physical separation for those who opt out. School districts must also follow specific guidelines to accommodate non-participants, and the Texas Attorney General would provide legal guidance and defend districts in related lawsuits.

Maddy summarySB 24 requires Texas public schools to include specific instruction about communist regimes and ideologies in social studies curricula for students in grades 4 through 12. The bill mandates age-appropriate lessons covering historical events like the Holodomor, Cultural Revolution, and Cambodian genocide under the Khmer Rouge, as well as comparative analysis of communist ideologies versus U.S. democratic principles. It also requires teaching modern threats from communist regimes and methods used to spread such ideologies, including propaganda and censorship. This policy directly affects all public school students in the specified grades across Texas. The law became effective immediately upon the Governor's signature on June 20, 2025.

Maddy summarySB 1400 requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to study whether to include transfer students who previously attended a four-year university in performance tier funding calculations for public junior colleges. The study must examine student backgrounds, service needs, academic success metrics, and cost impacts to determine if revising transfer requirements would be feasible and beneficial. The board must submit findings and recommendations to the legislature by December 1, 2026. This bill does not change current funding rules but sets a process for evaluating potential adjustments to support transfer student outcomes.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends Texas Family Code provisions affecting children in the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) conservatorship. It clarifies that "family preservation services" (time-limited, family-focused support to prevent foster care placement) must be provided to eligible families, including those with pregnant or parenting foster youth. The bill shifts responsibility for paying these services to the family member obtaining them, rather than the state. It also requires DFPS or contractors to submit detailed court reports before placing a child in temporary emergency supervision, documenting all attempted placements and reasons for rejection. These changes took effect September 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 3000 creates a state grant program to provide financial assistance to qualified rural ambulance service providers in counties with populations of 68,750 or less. Counties may apply for grants of up to $500,000 (for counties under 10,000 people) or $350,000 (for counties between 10,000-68,750 people) to purchase ambulances, with funds restricted solely to ambulance procurement. Grants require counties to maintain ambulance service budgets in the following fiscal year and prioritize counties with greater distance to trauma facilities or limited funding capacity. The program, now law after being signed by the governor on June 20, 2025, aims to ensure adequate ground ambulance services in underserved rural areas.

Maddy summaryHB 1522 requires governmental bodies (like city councils or school boards) holding meetings to discuss or adopt a budget to include two specific items in their public notice: (1) a physical copy of the proposed budget (or a clear link to it online), and (2) a simple comparison showing how property taxes for a typical home would change if the budget passes. This applies to most local government budget meetings but excludes university governing boards covered by separate rules. The law, effective September 1, 2025, aims to make budget discussions more transparent for residents by providing clear tax impact information upfront. It modifies Texas' open meetings law to add these notice requirements for budget-related meetings.

Maddy summaryHB 2508 creates a property tax exemption for the residence homestead of a surviving spouse whose veteran spouse died from a qualifying condition or disease. The exemption applies to the full appraised value of the homestead and is available to spouses who have not remarried since the veteran's death. Qualifying conditions are defined under the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022. The exemption takes effect January 1 of the tax year the surviving spouse qualifies and applies regardless of when the veteran died, provided all eligibility criteria are met. This bill amends Texas Tax Code Sections 11.136, 11.42(c), and 11.43(c) to implement the change.