Dozens of new Texas laws will take effect in December and January, bringing wide-ranging changes to the state’s education system, law enforcement and taxes.
Over 800 laws from this year’s regular legislative session took effect on Sept. 1, but more measures from that period as well as the second special session will soon activate. Some also had to wait for voters’ approval, such as more tax exemption for businesses’ inventory. Notably, the legislation behind the Texas GOP’s middecade push to redraw the congressional map and get five more seats for President Donald Trump was supposed to take effect on Dec. 4. The measure took two special sessions this summer to pass, after most of the Texas House Democrats skipped town in protest and froze legislative businesses. Now, all eyes are on the legal fight over the new lines, which escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court after a federal court ruled against Texas earlier this month. The high court has temporarily restored the new map, while the justices consider their final decision.
A recent lawsuit also halted the constitutional amendment that allows Senate Bill 5 to go into effect Dec. 1.
