Every month during the 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, Dr. Todd Votteler has provided an update on water-related legislation. The key water committees were Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs in the Senate, chaired by Senator Charles Perry (R) of Lubbock, and Natural Resources in the House of Representatives, chaired by Representative Tracy King (D) of Uvalde.  You can view the agendas for their accumulated meetings here, and here, which should provide some of the details of what happened during the regular session. You can find information on the number of bills filed this session here. Additional information on the 88th Legislative Session is available through the Talk+Water podcast, including the wrap-up of water and the 88^th (regular) session, which will be posted next week.

Well, we have exited the 88^th regular session. As previously noted, the Legislature is only required to pass one bill each session, the state budget, and that has been done. However, even though the final mad scramble to get bills to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk has passed, it still can be difficult to know what the final outcome of the scrum is until the Governor signs or vetoes specific bills, which must be done by June 18th. As I said before, the 88^th session has been the most significant legislative session for Texas water since 2013. The evidence for this is Senate Bill 28 and Senate Joint Resolution 75, creating the $1 billion Texas water fund that will provide additional money to develop future water supplies and repair and upgrade water infrastructure. The statewide confirmation election date of November 7, 2023, will be the next big focus for Texas water (unless the drought reclaims the headlines this summer). Concern over the state of our water infrastructure sparked the effort to create the Texas water fund. Hear a discussion about the often overlooked rural Texas water infrastructure issues with Texas Tribune Reporters Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra Martinez here.

With hope all but gone for the bills that fell short during the 88^th regular session, desperation turns to that omnium-gatherum of misplaced hope, the SPECIAL SESSION. In fact, Governor Abbott has already summoned the Legislature back to Austin to deal with unresolved issues that he wants to address! This means a second life may come in 88^th Texas Legislature for some bills, First Called Session (also referred to as a Special Session) if the Governor adds other topics that can be considered during the Special Session. This is often done to address other priorities not dealt with during the regular session and to gain support from reluctant lawmakers for the Governor’s priorities. For a more comprehensive analysis of the 88^th Texas Legislature and water see Summaries of Water-related Legislative Action, a the biennial feature in the Texas Water Journal coming to you in August.