The 88th Legislative Session Begins
Opening Day of the 88th Texas Legislative Session // Bingham Group CEO A.J. catching up with Peter Einhorn, Chief of Staff to State Senator Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin).
Yesterday (Tuesday) kicked off the 88th Texas Legislative Session. Legislators, lobbyists, journalists and more filled the hallways. The next 140 days will be focused on crafting and enacting legislation that solves the very issues Texans face everyday.
As of Tuesday, 1320 house bills and 373 senate bills were filed, which is only a fraction of the 10,000 bills we expect to be filed each session.
On top of the normal docket of issues the state tackles each session, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar recently announced that the state has $32 billion in surplus. Limited by constitutional spending limits, the legislature will have the opportunity to address some issues that they may have tabled in the past and even create a supplemental appropriations bill.
Additionally, the influx of federal funding from the Infrastructure Act, Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act will need to be allocated and dispersed if accepted by the state.
Also of note, the recently sworn in Austin City Council and staff have the highest proportion of Texas Lege ties ever in our recollection. These include former State Senator now Mayor Kirk Watson, and former Senate staffer now Council Member Ryan Alter (District 5), and House Staffer Council Member Zo Qadri (District 9)
All in all, expect this next 140 days to be packed and full of opportunity that may not have been there previously.