A Texas legislative session can create both opportunities for and threats to your company. The best way to prepare is to organize your priorities early, understand the session timeline, and build effective communication tools, and draft an action plan of tactics to achieve the strategic priorities.
Texas sessions move fast once they "officially" begin, so companies that wait until a bill is already moving often lose the chance to shape the outcome. Remember an appropriate adage: If you are not at the table, you are on the menu. A better approach is to prepare and engage far before the session starts, identify the issues that matter most to your business, and make sure the right people are engaged.
Preparation starts with understanding how the Texas legislative process works. Regular sessions officially begin on the second Tuesday in January on odd-numbered years. The cold truth is that, depending upon the subject matter and its complexity, the legislative session in effect actually begins during the Summer months of each even-numbered year. That is, embrace the central tenet of The Art of War by Sun Tzu: Every battle is won BEFORE it is fought. If on offense to get a bill adopted into law, you sure better have your draft completed and bill authors secured in each chamber by Labor Day, at the latest. Exceptions exist, but early preparation is the rule not the exception.
The first weeks are especially important because bill filing (early filing begins in November of even-numbered years), committee work, communications messaging, and early decisions shape forthcoming events. Multiple legislative timelines procedurally govern each bill. Still, the early weeks of each session matter because activity during this time period often sets the tone for the entire session. If your company has a public policy concern, you should be ready to act well before deadlines hit, not after a bill is already moving through the process.
A simple internal calendar helps track major milestones such as session start, bill-filing deadlines, committee hearings, and key voting periods. This gives your team shared reference points and helps avoid last-minute fire drills.
Well before the Texas legislative session officially begins, analyze and identify which public policy matters and issues are most important to your business. These might include data center development, property and business taxation, regulatory burdens, utility grid reliability, licensing, procurement, transportation, water infrastructure, or industry-specific matters.
Not every bill deserves or receives the same treatment, so consider ranking your priorities into three groups: must-engage, low impact (potential amendment vehicles), and monitor. That makes it easier to focus time and resources to maximize efficiency. Of course, you can entirely ignore bills that have been filed if they are irrelevant to your priorities and cannot (because of germaneness) be amended to relate to your topics of interest.
Consider developing performance measures or connecting each targeted public policy matter to a business outcome. For example, a proposed regulatory change might affect costs, customer market access, staffing, operations, or customer service.
Every company should know who is engaged and owns legislative rapid response before the session begins. That team might include leadership, legal, communications, operations, government affairs, and outside counsel or lobby support. Sometimes, especially for small businesses, the "team" might be a Committee of One.
Assign clear roles so there is no confusion when legislative events quickly unfold. One person should monitor bills & anticipate amendment vehicles, one should coordinate internal decisions, one should handle external communication, and one should manage direct outreach to lawmakers and staff.
It is also smart to prepare talking points in advance and tailor work product to align with desired language. If a bill comes up unexpectedly, your team should already know the company’s position and the main reasons behind it.
Monitoring is one of the most important parts of session preparation. Texas lawmakers file thousands of bills -- from bold to benign -- and these proposals will be referred to committees of jurisdiction. So companies need a system for spotting relevant legislation early.
Set up a process to review bills by keyword, committee, sponsor, and subject matter area. That can be done in-house or with outside help, but the keys are to maintain consistency and not fall behind the growing and evolving workload.
Once a relevant bill or amendment appears, decide quickly where it should be classified among your priorities: must-engage, low impact, monitor, or ignore as entirely irrelevant. Fast categorization helps your team choose action steps to support, oppose, amend, or remain quiet.
When your company does need to engage, the message should be concise, factual, genuine, and specific. Legislators and staff respond better when you can clearly explain what the bill does, the impact on the member's constituents, how it affects your business, and the outcome that would stem from your proposed curative language.
Avoid vague statements like “this is bad for Texans” and be prepared to support your position with citable sources or reliable evidence. Using plain language, explain the economic impact, cost impact, results in analogous situations, or consequences from similar language adopted in other states.
Consider and use one or more delivery vehicle: email, text message, office meeting, hallway meeting, testimony, phone call, communication from constituents, and more.
When planning to meet with lawmakers or staff, schedule those appointments as early as possible. A respectful, well-prepared conversation is much more effective than a rushed contact after a committee hearing is already underway. Be prepared for difficult questions. You want to maintain a reputation as a professional, not a time waster.
Bring a concise packet with your priorities, background information, and contact details. Make sure your participants can speak confidently about the subject matter and answer probing questions. A one-page information sheet -- in clean & bulleted format -- is a necessity.
Be mindful of the strategic relationship-building part of the process. Consistent, respectful, and reliable communication with legislators and staff helps your company establish and maintain status as a trusted stakeholder.
Companies also need to think about reporting and compliance before and as they engage in advocacy. In Texas, advocacy that hits compensation or expense triggers will require registration at the Texas Ethics Commission, so it is important to know what counts as lobbying and what your obligations are.
Maintaining compliance with governing statutes and administrative rules is especially important if employees, executives, or external advocates are communicating with government officials or employees regarding legislation or administrative action. A compliance review before engaging in such communication is mandatory.
If your company is unsure whether specific actions trigger the lobby registration requirement, seek guidance early and carefully document decisions. Complete legal compliance is central to achieving great advocacy results.
The best-prepared companies never merely monitor legislation. At a minimum, relevant lawmakers and decision makers should have a baseline awareness of your company. The first time government officials hear from you should not be at, say, the busiest months of a legislative session. Use both the interim months between legislative sessions and the days during sessions to develop positive branding.
An approach might include in-district meetings to share clear talking points and public policy concerns. When issues or problems later arise, the government officials have already received a primer on your concerns. You should also have a pre-prepared action plan for rapid response if a bill or proposal suddenly pops up.
An emergency response plan for public policy is a thing. The most effective stakeh0lders in Texas are prepared to identify issues and then engage with positive advocacy.
Consider elements in this checklist before advocating and well before the legislative session begins:
Identify key legislative priorities.
Build a calendar showing key dates and deadlines.
Assign roles and responsible decision-makers.
Buy a quality bill tracking software subscription.
Draft talking points and tactical materials.
Examine lobbying and reporting requirements.
Prepare a meeting and approach plan.
Create a fast internal approval process.
Treat this as a canon to respect: Must Be Present To Win. Texas legislative sessions reward companies that prepare early, have a crisp action plan, maintain a presence, and actively communicate in a clear & genuine fashion. Stakeholders who consistently win approach each legislative session as a tactical and strategic process instead of a reactive one. God Bless Texas!