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With the release of the full slate of interim charges by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), the Texas Senate has now outlined a comprehensive policy roadmap heading into the 90th Legislative Session. These directives build upon the earlier round of charges issued at the start of the interim and expand the scope of issues lawmakers are expected to study and refine before the next legislative session begins in 2027.
While interim charges do not carry the force of law, they function as the foundation for future legislation, committee hearings, and political priorities. As with the Texas House charges issued by Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), the Senate’s directives provide a clear signal of where policy momentum is building.
Taken together, these charges reflect a Legislature preparing for continued population growth, rising costs, infrastructure strain, and ongoing debates over the role of government in Texas.
Energy Policy and Grid Reliability Remain Central Issues
Energy policy continues to dominate the Senate’s interim focus, particularly through directives to the Business and Commerce Committee. Lawmakers are tasked with evaluating the reliability of the Texas electric grid, monitoring reforms enacted after the severe Winter storms of February 2021, and assessing whether the ERCOT market structure remains competitive.
The charges also highlight growing tension between infrastructure expansion and private property rights. The review of 765-kilovolt transmission lines places landowner protections squarely in the policy conversation, signaling potential legislative efforts to rebalance infrastructure needs with individual property rights.
This aligns closely with the Texas Liberty Compact’s emphasis on protecting private property rights and limiting government overreach. At the same time, the Senate is clearly preparing for continued demand growth driven by data centers and emerging technologies, which are placing new pressure on both the grid and water systems.
Data Centers, Water Demand, and Infrastructure Strain
One of the most notable themes across multiple committees is the rapid expansion of data centers and other energy-intensive industries. The Senate is directing committees to study both the electrical load and water consumption associated with these developments.
These issues appear in both the Business and Commerce Committee and the Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee, signaling a coordinated concern about whether Texas infrastructure can keep pace with economic growth.
From a policy standpoint, this creates a tension between economic development incentives and long-term sustainability. The Texas Liberty Compact’s opposition to corporate welfare is particularly relevant here, as lawmakers are also reviewing the fiscal impact of tax incentives for data centers and considering whether safeguards are needed to ensure taxpayers receive a return on investment.
Property Taxes and Local Government Spending Stay in Focus
Property tax relief remains one of the most politically significant issues heading into the next session. The Local Government Committee has been tasked with exploring additional homestead exemption increases and evaluating the cumulative impact of recent reforms.
However, this approach highlights an emerging policy divide within Texas leadership. While the Senate continues to prioritize homestead exemption increases, other proposals, including those supported by the Governor and gaining traction in the Texas House, have focused more heavily on rate compression as a means of delivering broad-based and sustainable tax relief.
From the perspective of Texas Policy Research, homestead exemptions function more as a temporary and uneven form of relief rather than a structural solution. While politically appealing, they do not reduce the underlying tax burden and instead shift it, often leading to continued growth in local government spending and future tax increases. For that reason, this approach is not viewed as an effective long-term strategy for property tax reform.
This divergence suggests that property tax policy will once again be one of the central negotiating points of the 90th Legislature, with competing visions centered on targeted relief through exemptions versus systemic relief through compression and spending restraint.
Education Policy Continues to Evolve After School Choice Expansion
Education remains a central pillar of the Senate’s interim agenda, with a strong focus on implementation and expansion of recent reforms.
The Senate is directing committees to monitor the rollout of school choice under Senate Bill 2 (SB 2), evaluate teacher pay increases, and examine declining enrollment trends in public schools. There is also a renewed focus on instructional time and academic outcomes, including concerns about four-day school weeks and their potential impact on student performance.
From a policy perspective, this reflects an ongoing effort to balance expanded parental choice with accountability in the public education system. The Texas Liberty Compact’s support for truly universal school choice is clearly reflected in the Senate’s continued emphasis on expanding and refining these programs.
Health Care Costs and Insurance Affordability
Rising costs in both health care and insurance markets are a major focus of the Senate’s interim work. Committees are directed to examine the drivers of increasing premiums, the role of pharmacy benefit managers, and the broader structure of health care pricing.
Similarly, the Business and Commerce Committee is tasked with reviewing property and casualty insurance markets, including affordability and insurer participation.
These directives suggest that cost containment will be a major legislative priority in 2027. They also open the door for market-based reforms, which would align with the Liberty Compact’s focus on free enterprise and reducing regulatory barriers.
Public Safety, Border Security, and Criminal Justice
The Senate’s interim charges reflect continued emphasis on public safety, particularly in areas such as juvenile crime, prison contraband, and border security.
The Select Committee on Homeland and Border Security is directed to examine drone threats, port of entry security, and fuel-related criminal activity tied to transnational operations.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Justice Committee is focusing on issues ranging from juvenile violence to policies surrounding offenders found not guilty by reason of insanity.
These priorities indicate that public safety will remain a central political issue, particularly as it intersects with border policy and emerging technologies.
Government Accountability, Transparency, and Institutional Oversight Expand
A significant portion of the Senate’s interim work is dedicated to government accountability and oversight.
The Finance Committee is tasked with examining fraud, waste, and abuse across state agencies, as well as improving transparency in higher education spending.
The State Affairs Committee is reviewing election security, banking access, judicial integrity, and regulatory enforcement across multiple sectors.
These efforts align strongly with the Texas Liberty Compact’s focus on transparent government and legislative supremacy. The emphasis on auditing, oversight, and accountability suggests that lawmakers are preparing to address concerns about bureaucratic expansion and inefficiency.
Technology, AI, and Financial Innovation
Another notable theme is the increasing role of technology in state policy.
The Senate is examining artificial intelligence’s impact on the workforce, the regulatory framework surrounding financial technology and cryptocurrency, and the deployment of autonomous vehicles.
These issues reflect a broader recognition that technological change is reshaping both the economy and governance. The challenge for lawmakers will be balancing innovation with consumer protection without creating unnecessary regulatory burdens.
Cultural and Institutional Issues Continue to Shape Legislative Debate
Several interim charges focus on issues that have become central to political and cultural debates in Texas.
These include religious liberty, parental rights in education, election integrity, and policies related to the judiciary and financial institutions.
While these issues are often framed in ideological terms, they also reflect deeper questions about the role of government, individual liberty, and institutional authority. The Texas Liberty Compact’s emphasis on protecting free speech and individual liberty is clearly reflected in many of these directives.
Key Takeaways
The Senate’s interim charges reveal a Legislature that is preparing for both continuity and escalation in key policy areas.
Property taxes, education, and energy remain core priorities, but new pressures from population growth, technological change, and infrastructure demand are expanding the scope of legislative focus. There is also a clear effort to scrutinize the effectiveness of prior legislation, particularly major reforms passed during the 89th Legislative Session. This suggests that the next session will be shaped as much by implementation challenges as by new policy proposals.
Finally, the alignment between several interim charges and the Texas Liberty Compact indicates that many of these debates will center on fundamental questions about the size, scope, and role of government in Texas.
What It Means for 2027
The release of these interim charges marks the beginning of the policy development phase for the 90th Legislature.
Committee hearings over the coming months will refine these issues, gather stakeholder input, and begin shaping the legislation that will be filed in 2027.
For policymakers, advocates, and taxpayers, this is the window where priorities are set and outcomes are influenced. By the time the Legislature convenes, many of the major debates will already be defined by the work taking place during the interim.
If the direction outlined in these charges holds, the next legislative session will be defined by efforts to manage growth, control costs, expand choice, and reassert accountability across Texas government.
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