The Final Month

Last Week in the Legislature

By Kenneth Besserman
Director of Government Affairs and Special Counsel

May 1, 2025 (updated May 2) | Issue 13 

AUSTIN - May begins the final month of the 89^th Session of the Texas Legislature. What started out with the election of a new Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate quickly passing many of the Lt. Governor’s legislative priorities then moved to the slow grinding slog of the first months of session. It is not unusual for legislative sessions to start slowly and for the House to slowly roll out committee chairmanships and committee memberships. This session was a bit slower than in past sessions due to a new Speaker and his team getting acclimated to managing 150 separate egos and legislative agendas.

While the House was organizing and slowly moving forward, TXCPA was hard at work pushing and advocating its legislative agenda through the Senate. Senate Bill 262, creating an additional pathway to CPA licensure, passed the Senate in mid-March and moved to the House, where it waited for some time before House committees began hearing bills in earnest. By mid-April, TXCPA had successfully pushed House Bill 1757, companion to SB 262, to the House floor for debate.

SB 262/HB 1757 passed unanimously all the way through the committee process and floor debates. Senate Bill 262 has now passed both chambers and is sitting on the Governor’s desk awaiting signature. As of May 1, only six bills have made it all the way through the legislative process and are on the Governor’s desk. It is a big accomplishment to be one of the first bills to await a gubernatorial signature. We expect the bill to be signed soon.

CPA mobility legislation, SB 522/HB 1764, was approved by the Texas House on Friday, May 2 and is now ready for the Governor to sign. The bill will modernize, improve and individualize CPA practice mobility in this time of CPA licensure changes around the country. SB 522 passed the Senate in April. When the Governor signs both pathways and mobility, Texas will become one of the first states to adopt pathways and mobility legislation, becoming one of the state leaders in addressing the CPA pipeline.

Beyond CPA issues, the Legislature is tackling many other important issues. School voucher/choice has passed the Legislature and is also awaiting a gubernatorial signature. The legislation will create educational savings accounts – up to $10,000 per student per year – to use for private schools. The program will cost up to $1 billion in its first year and could rise to $4-5 billion in a couple of years. The version that passed requires funds to be given out on a priority basis depending on family income and educational needs. Vouchers have been the big issue of the session outside of water infrastructure funding.

Other issues still in front of the Legislature that need to pass and will require some compromise include THC/hemp regulation or prohibition – the House puts more regulations on the sale of hemp products while the Senate prohibits most sales of hemp related products; school finance funding and teacher pay raises; bail reform; state budget; water infrastructure funding – Senate version prioritizes new water projects while the House version does not prioritize between new projects and repair/maintenance and leaves the discretion to the Water Board; redefining abortion procedures that would be permitted and not in violation of the ban on abortions; and numerous election related bills and AI bills. There is still a lot of time left in the session to address all these matters and many others.

TXCPA has worked hard this session to get our priorities through the legislative process quickly and avoid the end of session shenanigans, delays, games, and legislative deadlines. Thank you to all our members, advocates and key persons who made the trip to Advocacy Day and made calls and sent emails to legislators as part of our legislative action alert program. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed. As we walk around the Capitol and talk to legislators and staff, we are often reminded of the impression that you have made on the process.

Onward towards Governor Abbott signing SB 262 and SB 522.

Only 30 days left in the Session!!