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Texas Policy Research submitted the following written testimony to all members of the Texas House Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency ahead of its interim hearing.
- Committee: House Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency
- Hearing Date: August 19, 2026
- Context: 89th Legislature, Interim
- Subject: Implementation of Senate Bill 14 (SB 14)
- Position: Support
- Texas Liberty Compact:
- Submitted By: Jeramy Kitchen
- Entity: Texas Policy Research Action (TPRA)
The text below reproduces the testimony as submitted to the committee.
The submitted document linked above is the authoritative version.
Chairman Capriglione and Members of the Committee,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments regarding the implementation of Senate Bill 14, the Regulatory Reform and Efficiency Act. SB 14 established the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office (TREO), created new tools to improve transparency in rulemaking, required greater consideration of regulatory costs, and restored an important measure of judicial independence by limiting agency deference in questions of law.
The Legislature correctly recognized that government can grow not only through legislation, but also through administrative rulemaking. Regulations often impose substantial costs on Texans without receiving the same level of public scrutiny or accountability as statutes enacted by elected lawmakers. SB 14 represents a meaningful step toward restoring transparency, accountability, and legislative oversight within the administrative state. Implementation to date has been encouraging. TREO has launched both the Regulation Evaluation Portal and an AI-powered regulatory search platform that make state regulations more accessible while providing Texans an avenue to identify unnecessary or outdated rules. These tools should improve public participation and provide policymakers with valuable information as agencies continue reviewing existing regulations.
However, successful implementation should ultimately be measured by outcomes rather than activity. TREO's first round of agency reviews identified more than 435 regulations across 11 state agencies as candidates for amendment or repeal, projecting a reduction of roughly 69,000 words from the Texas Administrative Code and an estimated $123 million in savings for Texas taxpayers. That is a substantial start, and it demonstrates the office is doing the work the Legislature assigned it. It is also, at this stage, a set of recommendations rather than a set of completed reforms. A searchable website and a public portal are valuable only insofar as they produce measurable reductions in regulatory burden. The Legislature should therefore expect regular reporting on how many of the identified regulations agencies have actually amended or repealed, the compliance costs avoided, licensing burdens reduced, processing times improved, and the economic impact of those reforms. The Committee should also ensure that agencies fully embrace the reforms enacted by SB 14. Regulatory analyses should accurately quantify costs imposed on regulated individuals and businesses, notices should be written in plain language, and agencies should actively solicit meaningful public feedback during the rulemaking process rather than treating these requirements as procedural formalities.
Texas Policy Research also encourages the Committee to view SB 14 as one component of a broader regulatory reform agenda. Our Texas Liberty Compact calls for restoring legislative supremacy by ensuring major policy decisions remain with elected lawmakers, protecting economic liberty and due process by limiting administrative overreach, and streamlining and modernizing the Texas Code through the systematic review and repeal of obsolete or duplicative statutes and regulations. SB 14 advances each of these objectives, but additional work remains. As the Committee develops recommendations for the 90th Legislature, we respectfully encourage consideration of policies that require periodic review of existing regulations, strengthen legislative oversight of major agency rules, establish objective performance metrics for regulatory reduction efforts, and ensure TREO remains focused on eliminating unnecessary regulation rather than creating additional administrative processes.
Texas has long been recognized as a national leader in economic freedom. Continued oversight of SB 14 provides an opportunity to ensure Texas remains committed to a regulatory system that protects the public while respecting individual liberty, economic opportunity, and the constitutional role of the Legislature.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sources
- Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office, Regulation Evaluation Portal
- Senate Bill 14 (SB 14), 89th Legislative Session (2025)
- Governor Abbott Launches Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office, Opens Regulation Evaluation Portal, Office of the Governor, October 2025
- NFIB-Backed Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office Launches New Website to Cut Red Tape, National Federation of Independent Business, May 2026
Related TPR Work
- TPR Bill Analysis, Senate Bill 14 (SB 14), 89th Legislative Session (2025)
- Texas Regulatory Review Finds Outdated Rules at TEA, August 2026
- Texas Launches TREO Portal for Public Feedback on State Regulations, October 2025
- Texas TREO Portal Puts Regulation in Focus, May 2026
- TPR Written Testimony, Data Privacy and Security, House Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency, August 19, 2026
- TPR Written Testimony, Preventing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse, House Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency, August 19, 2026
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