According to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), HB 10 will have a projected negative impact of $9.7 million to the General Revenue Fund for the 2026–27 biennium. The majority of these costs stem from the establishment and operation of the newly created Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office within the Office of the Governor, which will require a significant staffing increase and new technological infrastructure.

To effectively perform its statutory duties—including regulatory analysis, interagency coordination, and development of public-facing digital tools—the Office would need to hire 18 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff members. These include attorneys, data scientists, program specialists, IT personnel, and administrative staff. Personnel-related expenses, combined with one-time costs such as drafting the Regulatory Economic Analysis Manual, amount to over $7.6 million for the first two years.

Additionally, the Department of Information Resources (DIR) projects technology-related costs of $1.09 million in FY 2026 for the initial development of an interactive regulatory website, with ongoing annual maintenance costs estimated at $654,000 from FY 2027 onward. These technology expenses are necessary to support the bill’s goal of making regulatory information more accessible to the public and regulated entities.

The bill does not directly appropriate funds, but it provides a legal framework for future appropriations. Notably, it includes a provision allowing the involved agencies to implement the bill’s mandates only if sufficient funding is allocated. There are no significant fiscal impacts anticipated for local governments. In summary, while the bill introduces potentially valuable efficiency and transparency mechanisms, it comes with a meaningful upfront and ongoing cost to the state budget.

HB 10, the Regulatory Reform and Efficiency Act, is a strong step toward increasing transparency, efficiency, and accountability in the Texas regulatory process. Drawing on recent concerns about regulatory overreach and inspired in part by the 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the bill addresses both economic and legal aspects of state agency rulemaking. It establishes the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office within the Governor’s Office to identify outdated or ineffective rules, streamline regulatory adoption processes, and make government more navigable for entrepreneurs and the public.

From a liberty-focused perspective, the bill affirms several foundational principles. It reinforces individual liberty and personal responsibility by improving public access to regulatory information and reducing unnecessary compliance burdens. The establishment of plain-language rulewriting and public input mechanisms fosters an informed citizenry and greater participation in governance. The bill also strongly supports free enterprise by targeting redundant rules and high compliance costs that disproportionately affect small businesses. These reforms are consistent with longstanding concerns from both the Republican and Libertarian platforms regarding regulatory excess and bureaucratic inertia.

HB 10 further promotes limited government by codifying a legal framework that limits judicial deference to state agency interpretations of law. This restores the constitutional balance between the judiciary and executive agencies, ensuring that laws passed by the Legislature are not reinterpreted or expanded through bureaucratic rulemaking. Although the fiscal note projects approximately $9.7 million in new spending over the next biennium to operationalize the bill—including hiring 18 full-time employees and building a public regulatory portal—this investment is targeted and time-sensitive, with potential long-term cost-saving benefits if the reform reduces litigation, inefficiencies, and unnecessary red tape.

Overall, HB 10 exemplifies thoughtful, structural reform that respects the role of government while correcting its excesses. It balances the need for effective regulation with the imperative to limit the reach of unelected agencies. The bill's practical scope, legal reforms, and clear focus on economic impact are the reasons why Texas Policy Research recommends that lawmakers vote YES on HB 10.

• Individual Liberty: By requiring rules to be written in plain language and ensuring public access to regulatory information via a new searchable database, the bill increases transparency and reduces barriers for citizens trying to understand and comply with the law. It empowers individuals by making the law more accessible and understandable, which is central to protecting personal freedoms. Furthermore, the reduction in judicial deference to agency interpretations of law helps restore the balance between the individual and the administrative state. Citizens and businesses will have more standing to challenge potentially overreaching or misapplied rules in court.
• Personal Responsibility: The bill encourages Texans—particularly those subject to professional and occupational regulations—to be more actively involved in reviewing and responding to the rules that govern their lives and work. With clearer information and fewer bureaucratic hurdles, individuals are better equipped to take responsibility for compliance and legal advocacy.
• Free Enterprise: One of the bill’s central aims is to reduce regulatory burdens that inhibit business growth. It targets redundant rules, unnecessary fees, and excessive paperwork—especially those affecting small and medium-sized businesses. By fostering a leaner regulatory environment, the bill advances the cause of free enterprise and responds directly to concerns raised by business advocates, including the Governor's Small Business Freedom Council. The inclusion of business experts on the advisory panel and the focus on economic impact in rulemaking also strengthen market-oriented governance.
• Private Property Rights: Although the bill does not directly address eminent domain or land use, it supports property rights by reducing the compliance and procedural burdens often tied to occupational licensing, zoning, and environmental regulations. These indirect effects can be especially valuable for small property owners, entrepreneurs, and rural residents who face disproportionate impacts from complex rule systems.
• Limited Government: This is where the bill has perhaps its most transformative impact. HB 10 places substantive checks on the rulemaking authority of executive agencies by requiring economic analyses and impact assessments for rules, limiting judicial deference to agency interpretation, and encouraging repeal of unnecessary regulations. These measures curb bureaucratic overreach and restore legislative and judicial oversight—key tenets of a limited government framework.

• SB 14 (Similar To)