As 2025 Texas Legislative Session Looms, THLA Starts Preparing

Every other January, lawmakers from every corner of the State of Texas convene in Austin for the start of the regular legislative session. 

In Texas, regular legislative sessions occur between January and June of odd-numbered years, a compressed timeline in which members of the Texas House and Senate set the state budget and consider legislation on every topic imaginable. Every other January, THLA works to ensure Texas remains a friendly place for lodging businesses to operate and for meetings and events to occur.

89^th Legislative Session

On January 14^th, the first day of the 89^th Legislative Session, the House of Representatives will elect its Speaker of the House for the session. Two-term Speaker Dade Phelan is seeking reelection for another term as Speaker, but he is facing a challenge from other House Republicans such as Representative David Cook (Mansfield). 

Among the demands from some Texas Republicans is that the House discontinue the decades’ old tradition appointing members of minority party to chairmanship positions of some committees.  The challenge for a speaker candidate is that it is difficult to secure enough votes to with the speakership without at least some Democratic support, and doing away with Democratic committee chairmanships may make that support elusive.

In addition to the Speaker’s race, several contentious issues remain percolating at the Capitol. In the aftermath of the failed effort to impeach and remove Attorney General Paxton, there will be efforts to “reform” the process for impeaching elected officials. And a great deal of legislative time will be spent debating and considering private school “vouchers” or “school choice” issues. 

Many, mostly rural, House Republicans lost their May primary race to challengers considered more friendly to supporting school vouchers. School vouchers remain a top priority to Governor Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

THLA’s Agenda 

With so many battles taking place at the Capitol, we are all expecting a contentious session.  For THLA’s agenda, our priorities are as follows: 

• Full funding for the State tourism promotion program;
• Ensuring local hotel occupancy tax revenues remain dedicated to increasing hotel activity;
• Supporting the Major Events Reimbursement Program (MERP) and Events Trust Fund (ETF) programs and ensuring they remain healthy
• Ensuring tourism public improvement districts (TPIDs) remain viable and effective;
• Supporting our partners at the Texas Media Production Alliance to provide state incentives for increased media production in Texas;
• Opposing broad-based efforts to preempt local short-term rental ordinances;
• Opposing repeal of the 30-day hotel occupancy tax exemption; and
• Opposing legislation that includes unreasonable facility requirements for hotels and oppose bills that include unreasonable personnel requirements for hotels.

Stay tuned for more information to come as we get ready for the 2025 legislative session.