Running a business in Texas requires managing a variety of responsibilities like overseeing employees, performing social media marketing, ensuring a reliable supply chain, serving customers, and meeting state regulation requirements. However, business owners sometimes overlook how decisions made by the Texas Legislature can affect their operations.
Every legislative session brings discussions and deliberations on taxes, regulations, licensing, preemption of local ordinances, employment laws, economic development, and other issues that impact businesses across the Lone Star State. While some changes may have slight impact on your company, others could affect operating costs, incentives, expansion plans, or how you conduct business.
For example, during several recent legislative sessions, liberal activists misled legislators into filing bills that would prohibit the retail sale of pets -- which would effectively shut down the impacted businesses.
Understanding how Texas legislative sessions work and why they matter can help businesses prepare for potential changes before they become a problem.
The Texas Legislature is responsible for creating, amending, and repealing state laws. The Legislature consists of two chambers: the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate.
Unlike many other states, the Texas Legislature does not meet in regular session every year. Instead, regular legislative sessions take place every two years, beginning in January of odd-numbered years, and last for a maximum of 140 days.
Separately, the Governor can call special legislative sessions to address specific issues. These sessions can last up to 30 days each, and lawmakers generally consider subjects designated by the Governor.
During these sessions, lawmakers introduce bills, hold committee hearings, debate proposed legislation, and vote on measures that could eventually become state law.
For Texas businesses, these decisions can create new requirements, incentivize new competitors, remove existing restrictions, or change the environment in which companies operate.
One of the most direct ways a Texas legislative session can affect your business is by amending statutes that govern specific state regulations, which are published in the Texas Administrative Code.
Across a very wide spectrum of industries, lawmakers propose and consider legislation involving licensing, health and safety requirements, professional standards, environmental regulations, or other operational rules.
For example, a company operating in a regulated industry may need to adjust internal procedures if new legislation changes its compliance obligations. State statutes place a significant number of businesses and trade organizations within the regulatory frameworks of the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation and the Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner.
Even relatively small regulatory changes can create additional administrative work, increase operating costs, or require businesses to update existing processes.
This is why companies should pay attention to proposed legislation affecting their industries rather than waiting until new laws take effect.
Taxes and government fines & fees are critical areas where legislative decisions impact businesses.
Texas lawmakers may propose and consider changes involving property taxes, franchise taxes, sales taxes, tax exceptions and exemptions, industry-specific fees, or other financial obligations.
Depending on the legislation, these changes could increase operating expenses or may result in opportunities desired by affected businesses.
For companies operating within tight margins, understanding potential tax-related legislation can be particularly important.
Business owners should also consider indirect financial effects. A legislative change affecting suppliers, contractors, or other businesses within an industry will likely influence prices and operating costs.
Monitoring legislative proposals can help companies anticipate these developments and evaluate their financial exposure.
State statutes place essentially all businesses and trade organizations within the regulatory tax framework of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, which is headed by Comptroller Don Huffines.
Employees are essential to the vast majority of Texas businesses, and employment-related legislation can affect how companies manage their workforce.
During a Texas legislative session, lawmakers may consider proposals involving workplace safety, employee protections, wages, benefits, professional licensing, workforce development, and other employment-related matters.
Some proposals may introduce new responsibilities for employers, while others could modify or modernize existing requirements.
For businesses with large workforces or specialized employees, these developments may require adjustments to company policies, training procedures, or administrative practices.
Staying informed allows business leaders to evaluate potential changes and seek appropriate legal guidance when necessary.
State statutes place requirements on business and nonprofit entities as part of the regulatory frameworks of the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Health & Human Services Commission.
Not every bill affects all Texas businesses equally. Please know that the Texas Legislature will occasionally pick winners and losers.
Some legislative proposals focus on particular industries, including healthcare, energy, construction, transportation, insurance, technology, and professional services.
A bill that receives little attention outside an industry could still have significant consequences for companies operating within it.
For example, legislation involving professional licensing could affect service providers, while changes to insurance requirements might influence businesses that depend on specialized coverage.
This makes industry-specific legislative monitoring especially valuable.
Companies should consider engaging an experienced and qualified Texas lobbyist to better understand which legislative committees, regulatory agencies, and policy issues are most relevant to their operations.
Companies planning to expand in Texas should consider the legislative environment as part of their decision-making process. For example, financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley maintain a growing presence particularly in North Texas while the Texas Stock Exchange -- Y'all Street -- continues to expand. The Texas Legislature wants public policy to promote jobs, employees, and employers.
State policies can influence economic development programs, infrastructure investment, regulatory requirements, and incentives that may affect business expansion.
For example, a company considering a new facility or entering a regulated market may need to understand whether pending legislation could influence its long-term plans.
Although the vast majority of legislative proposals do not becomes law, knowing what lawmakers are considering can provide useful context when evaluating major business investments.
Texas legislative sessions do not only create potential challenges. They also provide opportunities for businesses to share their knowledge and perspectives with lawmakers.
Companies often have firsthand experience with how existing laws and regulations affect their industries.
That information can be valuable when lawmakers are considering changes.
Businesses should participate in public committee hearings, submit testimony, communicate with legislative offices, or work with industry associations to explain their concerns.
A professional and qualified Texas lobbyist is prepared to help businesses monitor relevant bills, understand the legislative process, communicate their positions to appropriate lawmakers, and work to achieve successful results.
A key tactic is to ensure policymakers have access to -- and actually receive -- accurate information from trusted sources about how proposed legislation would affect businesses, employees, customers, and the market.
One mistake businesses too often make is waiting until a bill is close to becoming law before evaluating its potential impact.
By that point, opportunities to participate in earlier legislative discussions had passed. Texas legislators disfavor stakeholders who magically appear late in the process and ring alarm bells.
If legislation or administrative action is so critical, relevant stakeholders should be consistently engaged.
Companies that begin preparing before a legislative session can identify important issues, evaluate potential risks, and determine whether professional government relations support is needed.
Preparation may involve reviewing previous legislative proposals, monitoring interim committee activity, tracking Sunset Advisory Commission deliberations, communicating with industry associations, and identifying priorities for the upcoming session.
This approach gives businesses more time to develop an informed response when relevant legislation is introduced and moving.
Following and engaging the Texas legislative process is challenging, especially for business owners focused on their daily operations.
Bills may be amended, referred to committees, scheduled for hearings, or revised behind closed doors as the proposals move through the legislative process.
A top Texas lobbyist is professionally prepared to help companies understand these developments, determine which issues deserve attention, and engage in tactics to get successful outcomes.
Lobbying services may include monitoring legislative progress, performing public policy analysis, creating government relations strategies, deploying winning tactics, and successfully communicating business concerns to policymakers.
Texas stakeholders should consider appropriate use of Artificial Intelligence as a tactical part of a government relations strategic plan.
For companies with significant legislative or regulatory exposure, services delivered by the best Texas lobbyist available will help leadership make more informed decisions and appropriately participate in the process.
Texas legislative sessions can influence business operations and expansion plans in ways that are not always immediately obvious. From taxes and regulations to mandates and industry-specific policies, decisions made at the Texas Capitol have lasting consequences.
Stakeholders that understand the legislative process are better positioned to recognize potential challenges, seize opportunities, and prepare for changes affecting their business interests.
Steve Koebele provides top-tier Texas lobbying and government relations services, helping businesses and organizations navigate the legislative environment and successfully communicate their interests to lawmakers.
Whether your company is concerned about proposed legislation, regulatory developments, or executive branch actions, understanding what happens during a Texas legislative session is an important part of staying informed and prepared.