Media interest in higher education frequently shifted throughout the Texas Legislature’s 84th regular session, from reforms concerning campus carry to those on funding veterans’ education and reintroducing tuition limits. Yet in the end, almost none of the many reforms proposed for improving higher-education quality, affordability, or transparency lived to reach the governor’s desk. By far the most significant piece of higher-education legislation passed was HB 100, which would authorize $3.1 billion in tuition revenue bonds for campus construction projects.
Local Government
When Government Lobbies Itself: Why Texas Should Ban Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying
Texas local governments use taxpayer dollars to hire lobbyists to influence state legislation—creating conflicts of interest, distorting democratic accountability, and undermining the interests of Texas taxpayers. Key points: Taxpayer-funded lobbying expenditures more than doubled from the 85th to the 89th Legislature, now reaching as high as $111.5 million. Taxpayer-funded lobbyists consistently opposed legislation involving property...
April 6, 2026