When the Texas Legislature adjourned this year, the effects of its decisions rippled straight into Houston’s neighborhoods.
From new bridges in flood-prone areas to sweeping changes in education and taxation, these laws could impact nearly every household.
Local officials and community leaders have spent recent weeks explaining what the session means for the city’s residents. State Representatives Senfronia Thomoson and Harold Dutton, Jr., held a town hall meeting to break down the new laws that could reshape Houstonians’ lives.
Flood relief and infrastructure: “We finally got $10 million to start these bridges.”
In northeast Houston, residents have waited decades for relief from train delays and street flooding. This year’s Legislative Session set that process in motion.
The Texas Department of Transportation’s Rider Railroad Grade Crossing Bridge Projects, as outlined in Senate Bill 1 (General Appropriations Act), include two railroad grade crossing bridge projects in Houston, at Little York Road and Hirsch Road and at Tidwell Road and Hirsch Road, each funded with $5,000,000 by TXDOT.
The funding targets the two rail crossings, where residents have reported that trains frequently block access to schools and churches.
“We got money to bring home to the city, and now we’ve got to get the city and the federal government working together to start these bridges,” said Dutton.
At the county level, flood mitigation also got a boost. Dr. Tina Peterson, Executive Director of the Harris County Flood Control District, thanked the State Legislature and local leaders for the funding.
“This $2.5 billion funding will help us put together a plan for how to deliver flood mitigation,” Peterson said, referring to the 2018 Harris County Bond Program.
Parks and quality of life: New aquatic center coming in 2026
Houston’s parks and recreation system will see state-assisted upgrades, including a central aquatic facility designed to serve youth, seniors and people with disabilities year-round.
Architects presented renderings of the 20,000 sq. ft. Tidwell Park Aquatics Center, which comprises a heated 100,000-gallon leisure pool with swim lanes, a climbing wall and a water slide.
Residents emphasized safety and accessibility. City staff responded that the new design would meet updated safety codes and ADA standards.
The city has also been expanding its lifeguard workforce, adding 30 pools have been open since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Property taxes: “Exemptions mean more dollars in your pocket”
Harris County officials outlined how new laws will deliver tax relief for homeowners, small businesses and seniors.
The most common exemption is a homestead exemption, John Labus, Communications Advisor at the Harris County Appraisal District, explained. If someone owns and lives in their home, they will be eligible for this exemption.
Recent changes that could reduce property taxes if approved by voters in November’s General Election:
• General Homestead Exemption increase from $100k to $140K
• Over 65 or Disabled Homestead Exemption increases from $10k to $60K
• Expands exemption qualifications for the surviving spouse of a veteran whose death was due to a service-connected condition
• Temporary exemption for improvement to residence homestead destroyed by fire
• Business Personal Property Exemption up to $125,000
“There are 17 ballot initiatives for constitutional amendments and these are probably the three major ones that are going to affect property taxes,” Labus said.
For those facing delinquent taxes, representatives urged open communication before a crisis arises.
“The last thing we wanna do is file suit on somebody that’s over 65 and all they have to do is fill out a little form to get a deferral,” Labus said.
Heirs’ property owners, as well as families living in inherited homes, will also benefit. If someone’s parents passed away and they are still living in that home, they could qualify for an heirship homestead exemption, he added.
Education reforms: “We’re getting rid of STAAR.”
Schools across Houston will see wide-ranging reforms. Legislators approved a package changing discipline rules, testing and teacher pay.
Reporting timelines for teacher misconduct were tightened (Senate Bill 571), in which superintendents now have to notify the TEA within 48 hours if a teacher or adult has engaged in misconduct. That note goes on their certification, so they can’t quit and move to another district.
The Legislature also expanded parents’ rights to approve any health or mental health services offered in schools.
The most notable change is the demise of the STAAR test, scheduled to be replaced starting in the 2026-27 school year. Districts will give three shorter tests at the beginning, middle and end of the school year.
Dutton, who has championed literacy reforms, said the goal is to ensure every child can read by third grade.
“To change the education dynamics, we looked at the 30 elementary schools in my district and what we found was that in third grade, only 30% of the children were reading on a third-grade level,” Dutton said. “We went around the country looking at what other states were doing. One of the solutions we found was in the state of Mississippi, they passed a bill that said, ‘If you can’t read on a third-grade level, you can’t leave third grade.’”
Although his measure didn’t pass the Texas Senate, Dutton noted, “They put my word in the House Bill 2; they didn’t really have my name on it.”
Teachers also saw progress in pay. HB 2 establishes the Teacher Retention Allotment, providing $2,500 for teachers with 3-4 years of experience and $5,000 for those with more than five years of experience.
Recent laws also include the creation of an Education Savings Account for the 2026-2027 school year (SB 2), in which students in an accredited private school are eligible for a $10,000 voucher to pay for tuition. Legislators, through bills, also banned cell phones on school property during the day (HB 1481), made it compulsory to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms (SB 10) and extended how long schools can place students in in-school suspensions from three days to an indefinite period of time, to be reviewed every 10 days.
Criminal justice: Pretrial reform and bail equity
The Legislature also addressed bail and pretrial fairness, issues that disproportionately affect Harris County’s majority-Black population.
“This is a really important issue for folks who look like us, because I don’t have to tell y’all that black folks are overrepresented in the criminal justice system or over policed,” said Kirsten Budwine, a Policy Attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project.
The distinction, she explained, is between cash bonds, where payment is required to leave jail and personal bonds, which don’t require upfront money but impose strict conditions, like an ankle monitor or curfew.
New bail legislation includes SB 9, which tightens the regulations for releasing habitual and violent offenders on bail and SJR 5, which proposes a constitutional amendment requiring the denial of bail under certain circumstances to persons accused of certain offenses punishable as a felony.
