Texas New Laws 2026: Major Legislative Changes Explained

Property Tax Relief: $140,000 Homestead Exemption and Continued Rate Compression

The single largest change taking effect for the 2026 tax year is the increase of the residence homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, approved by voters as a constitutional amendment on the November 2025 ballot. The additional exemption for homeowners 65 and older or with a qualifying disability was also expanded.

Alongside the exemption increase, the 2025 legislative package continued the school district maintenance-and-operations rate compression that began with SB 2 in 2019 and the 2023 relief package. Combined, the compression and exemption produce a meaningful reduction on the school-district portion of most residential bills. See Texas Property Tax Laws Explained for the full framework.

The temporary 20% appraisal cap for non-homestead residential properties valued at $5 million or less remains in effect through the 2026 tax year. Whether the Legislature extends or makes it permanent will be a headline debate in the next session.

Education Savings Accounts: Statewide Implementation

The Texas Education Savings Account program authorized by SB 2 in 2025 begins operating at scale in the 2026-27 school year. Eligible families receive approximately $10,000 per participating child (with a higher amount for students with disabilities and a lower amount for homeschool families) that can be spent on private-school tuition, tutoring, curriculum, therapy services, and other qualifying educational expenses.

The initial rollout prioritizes low-income families, students with disabilities, and children currently enrolled in public schools rated as low performing, then expands to other Texas families as capacity permits. Applications open through a state-selected program manager. See Education Savings Accounts: A Parent's Guide for the qualification walkthrough and timeline.

Border Security Funding and Operation Lone Star Continuation

The 2026-27 biennial budget continues Operation Lone Star funding at record levels, with allocations for Texas Department of Public Safety border deployments, the Texas National Guard, and the state's construction of border barrier infrastructure. Statutory provisions extend the trespass authorities granted to state and local law enforcement in border counties.

The Texas Attorney General retains enhanced authority to bring civil actions against entities that assist unauthorized crossings and to coordinate with county prosecutors on transnational criminal cases. Federal preemption litigation on state border authority remains active, and the Legislature may return to the issue in the next session depending on how the courts rule.

For deeper context, see Operation Lone Star and the pillar Texas Border Policy Explained.

Criminal Justice and Public Safety Updates

Several criminal-justice bills took effect for 2026, including sentence enhancements for organized retail theft, fentanyl-related distribution offenses, and human smuggling in border counties. A dedicated statutory framework for prosecuting fentanyl deaths as murder in certain circumstances expanded during the 2025 session.

The Legislature also continued the phased expansion of the state's mental-health beds through the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, and refined the involuntary commitment process for individuals repeatedly charged with certain violent offenses.

Bail reform provisions from earlier sessions remain in effect, with additional restrictions on cash-bond releases for defendants with prior violent-offense histories.

Elections Administration: Continued SB 1 Implementation

The 2025 session refined the SB 1 (2021) framework rather than reopening its core provisions. Adjustments included tighter deadlines for ballot-cure notifications, standardized statewide poll watcher training curricula, and additional record-retention requirements on county elections administrators.

The Secretary of State retains expanded authority to audit county election administration, and the Attorney General's election integrity unit continues its investigative work under existing statutory grants. See Texas Election Laws Explained for the full framework.

Firearms Law Refinements

House Bill 1927's constitutional-carry framework remains the backbone of Texas firearms law. The 2025 session added narrow clarifications on carry authority in state parks, at governmental meetings, and by peace officers in their private capacity, plus continued expansion of the School Marshal and Guardian programs that allow trained employees to be armed on campus.

No state-level restrictions on firearm ownership, magazine capacity, or so-called assault weapons were enacted. For the operational reality of Texas gun law in 2026, see Texas Gun Laws Explained.

Business, Regulatory, and Tort Reform

The 2025 session included several statutes aimed at the business-relocation pipeline. The Texas Business Court, a specialized commercial court created in 2023, expanded operational capacity in 2026 with additional divisions in Houston, Dallas, and Austin — handling complex commercial cases with a specialized bench.

Franchise-tax thresholds were adjusted for inflation, marginally expanding the number of small businesses exempted from filing. Occupational licensing reforms narrowed several boards' authority to impose fees or continuing-education requirements that were determined to lack a substantive public-safety justification.

Tort reform legislation refined damage caps in specific medical liability contexts and clarified attorney-fee recovery rules in construction disputes.

Water, Energy, and Infrastructure

The Texas Water Fund, created by voters in 2023 and expanded by the Legislature in 2025, continues to distribute grants and low-interest loans for municipal water infrastructure and new water supply. Rural water systems and border-region infrastructure received priority allocations in the 2026 disbursement cycle.

The Texas Energy Fund, aimed at incentivizing dispatchable (non-intermittent) generation on the ERCOT grid, entered its second application round. Approved projects receive low-interest loans conditioned on completion and interconnection by set deadlines. See The Texas Grid Explained for how the fund fits the broader ERCOT reliability question.

Water rights and groundwater conservation district authorities remained unchanged in substance for 2026; see Texas Water Rights Explained.

Health Care and Family Policy

Continued statutory protections for pre-born children remain in effect, with the Texas Attorney General maintaining primary enforcement authority. Expanded maternal-health investments — including a longer postpartum Medicaid coverage window — took effect for the 2026 fiscal year.

The Legislature strengthened parental rights notification requirements for public schools on health-related interventions and continued reforms to the Texas foster-care system, including additional oversight of contracted care providers.

Effective Dates and How to Track Ongoing Changes

Most Texas laws take effect September 1 following the regular session, with some designated for earlier effect (immediate effect with two-thirds vote) or later (January 1 or specific fiscal year). Constitutional amendments take effect upon voter approval and canvass of the November election.

The Legislative Reference Library, Texas Legislature Online, and Texas Register are the three primary places to track statutes and rulemaking. Our Legislative Updates hub aggregates the bills we're tracking for readers.

What Ordinary Texans Should Do About New Laws

For most residents, staying current on new Texas law involves a small set of habits: watch the November constitutional-amendment ballot each odd-numbered year, review the changes to your annual property tax notice each spring, and check the Texas Laws Explained page for major statutes that touch your household directly.

For families with school-age children, the ESA rollout is the practical change most likely to affect a household decision this cycle. For property owners, the exemption increase and rate compression will show up on the fall bill without any action required beyond confirming your homestead exemption is on file.

Constitutional Amendments on Recent and Upcoming Ballots

The November 2025 ballot delivered the most consequential set of Texas constitutional amendments in a decade, headlined by the homestead exemption increase to $140,000. Additional propositions addressed the Texas Water Fund expansion, the Texas Energy Fund's dispatchable-generation loan program, judicial retirement changes, and various housekeeping items in the Property Code.

Constitutional amendments in Texas require a two-thirds vote of each chamber of the Legislature to be referred to voters, then a simple majority of Texans voting on the specific proposition to be adopted. Because Texas has amended its 1876 constitution more than 500 times, the November ballot in every odd-numbered year is where a substantial amount of Texas law is actually written.

The 2027 ballot is likely to include amendments touching bail reform, further property tax reductions, and specific water infrastructure authorizations, though the actual set will not be finalized until the 2027 regular session concludes.

What Did Not Change in 2025

As important as what took effect is what did not. The 2025 session did not enact a state personal income tax, an assault-weapons ban, universal mail-in voting, same-day voter registration, adult-use marijuana legalization, or a state-level minimum-wage increase. None of these was seriously considered in either chamber. Understanding what a session did not do is often as useful as understanding what it did.

The 2025 session also declined to make the temporary 20% non-homestead residential appraisal cap permanent. That cap expires at the end of the 2026 tax year unless extended by the 2027 Legislature, which is one of the highest-stakes property tax questions on the near horizon for owners of rental single-family and small multi-family properties.

How to Read a Texas Bill

A Texas bill's caption is a one-sentence description of what the bill does; the caption is legally binding on what the bill can contain under the single-subject rule. The body of the bill sets out new statutory text (in underlined type) and struck-through language (existing text being deleted). The final sections state the effective date and any severability, applicability, or transition provisions.

For any bill under active consideration, the most useful pages on Texas Legislature Online are the Bill Analysis (a plain-English committee summary), the Fiscal Note (the projected cost to the state), and the Actions history (a chronological record of every committee referral, hearing, vote, and floor action). These three documents together will tell any reader most of what they need to know about the actual policy content of a bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the biggest new Texas law for 2026?

The constitutional amendment raising the residence homestead exemption to $140,000, combined with continued school-district rate compression — the largest ongoing property tax relief package in state history.

When did the education savings account program actually start?

The ESA program authorized by SB 2 in 2025 begins operating at scale in the 2026-27 school year, prioritizing low-income families, students with disabilities, and children in low-performing public schools.

Did Texas pass any new gun laws in 2025?

No major changes. Constitutional carry under HB 1927 remains the operative framework, with narrow clarifications on carry in state parks and expansions of the School Marshal program.

How do I find out when a specific bill takes effect?

Check the bill's caption on Texas Legislature Online — the effective date is stated in the final section of every enrolled bill. Default is September 1 after the regular session.

What is the Texas Business Court and does it affect small businesses?

The Business Court handles complex commercial disputes above a jurisdictional threshold — it primarily affects mid-size and larger enterprises, not typical small-business litigation.

Are there major new laws taking effect in 2027?

The Legislature will meet in regular session in early 2027; new statutes from that session typically take effect September 1, 2027, or January 1, 2028.

Official Sources

• Texas Legislature Online ↗
• Legislative Reference Library ↗
• Texas Register ↗
• Texas Comptroller — Property Tax ↗
• Texas Education Agency — ESA Program ↗