A new bill authored by State Rep. Thompson seeks to reform how Texas state agencies adopt rules and impose regulations to increase efficiency and oversight, according to the Texas Legislature website.
The bill on Crimes and Criminal Procedure category, introduced as HB 10 during the 89(1) legislative session on Friday, Aug. 1, was formally listed with the short title: ’Relating to an affirmative defense to prosecution for certain victims of trafficking of persons or compelling prostitution’.
The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.
In essence, the bill, known as the Regulatory Reform and Efficiency Act, aims to reform the processes through which Texas state agencies adopt rules and impose regulations. It establishes the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office within the governor’s office to identify opportunities for efficiency in rule adoption, regulatory review, and contested cases, and to assist agencies in identifying unnecessary or ineffective rules. It requires the creation of a regulatory economic analysis manual and a regulatory reduction guide. The Texas Regulatory Efficiency Advisory Panel, composed of seven governor-appointed members, will advise on implementing these efficiencies. The bill mandates the creation of a public-accessible website for regulatory information and modifies the requirements for proposed rule notices. It stipulates that courts are not required to defer to state agency legal determinations but may consider them if reasonable and consistent with statutory language. The new procedures and reporting requirements will be enforced starting September 1, 2025, unless the bill receives a two-thirds vote for immediate effect.
Senfronia Thompson, the vice chair of the House Committee on Licensing & Administrative Procedures, proposed no other bills during the 89(1) legislative session. She is also a member of the House Committee on State Affairs.
Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.
You can read more about the bills and other measures here.
| Bill Number | Date Introduced | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
| HB 5566 | 03/14/2025 | Relating to grand jury proceedings |
| HB 5564 | 03/14/2025 | Relating to grand jury proceedings; providing a punishment for contempt of court |
| HB 5336 | 03/14/2025 | Relating to minimum staffing standards and policies for assisted living facilities that provide care to persons with Alzheimer’s disease or related disorders and to the disclosure of those standards and policies |
| HB 31 | 03/14/2025 | Relating to procedures related to juvenile justice proceedings, the treatment of children placed in or committed to a juvenile facility, and certain offenses or conduct committed by a child or by a person placed in or committed to certain juvenile facilities; changing the eligibility for community supervision |
| HB 5145 | 03/13/2025 | Relating to the sharing and protection of certain utility proprietary customer information |
| HB 4760 | 03/13/2025 | Relating to Medicaid reimbursement for the costs of cognitive assessment and care planning services provided to certain patients |
| HB 4757 | 03/13/2025 | Relating to eligibility for membership on and the regulation of horse racing by the Texas Racing Commission and a prohibition on the conduct of greyhound or other dog racing as live events in this state; creating a criminal offense; authorizing a fee |
| HB 35 | 03/13/2025 | Relating to a peer support network for first responders |
| HB 4397 | 03/11/2025 | Relating to the creation of an auctioneer’s license for heavy equipment dealers |
| HB 4172 | 03/10/2025 | Relating to regulating charitable bingo and authorizing the establishment of a nonprofit corporation to advertise and promote charitable bingo |
| HB 3928 | 03/06/2025 | Relating to providing notice of a vehicle towed to a vehicle storage facility by publication on a third-party Internet website |
| HB 3720 | 03/04/2025 | Relating to the construction of bridges in Harris County |
| HB 3536 | 02/28/2025 | Relating to the Collaborative Task Force on Public School Mental Health Services |
| HB 2883 | 02/14/2025 | Relating to corrective action plans for excessive emissions events involving certain concrete facilities |
| HB 2880 | 02/14/2025 | Relating to providing a designation for school district campuses that take certain action to address the mental and behavioral health and well-being of students |
| HB 2772 | 02/13/2025 | Relating to an affirmative defense to prosecution for victims of certain offenses |
| HB 2756 | 02/12/2025 | Relating to training on de-escalation, crisis intervention, and behavioral health for correctional officers and certain other employees of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice |
| HB 2677 | 02/11/2025 | Relating to Medicaid coverage and reimbursement for the treatment of obesity and certain diabetes prevention program services |
| HB 2318 | 01/31/2025 | Relating to the establishment of a statewide human trafficking data repository within the office of the attorney general and to reporting of human trafficking data to the office of the attorney general and by the attorney general |
| HB 2294 | 01/30/2025 | Relating to reimbursement rates for child-care providers participating in the Texas Rising Star Program |
| HB 1955 | 01/17/2025 | Relating to the establishment of an early childhood mental health home visiting grant program |
| HB 1954 | 01/17/2025 | Relating to guardianship matters |
| HB 1953 | 01/17/2025 | Relating to rights of crime victims, including the enforcement of certain rights of sexual assault victims; authorizing a civil penalty |
| HB 1823 | 01/13/2025 | Relating to the operation of a concrete crushing facility near a hospital |
| HB 1778 | 01/08/2025 | Relating to human trafficking, prostitution, and child pornography and to the prosecution of sexual or assaultive offenses or the prosecution of a failure to stop or report those offenses; amending and harmonizing certain statute of limitations provisions; creating a criminal offense; increasing a criminal penalty |
| HB 1291 | 11/13/2024 | Relating to the consideration of a subsequent writ of habeas corpus in certain felony cases |
| HB 914 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to repealing civil asset forfeiture provisions and establishing criminal asset forfeiture in this state |
| HB 909 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to law enforcement misconduct and law enforcement interactions with certain detained or arrested individuals and other members of the public, to public entity liability for those interactions, and to the confinement, conviction, or release of detained or arrested individuals |
| HB 902 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the powers and duties of peace officers |
| HB 896 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the prohibition on the use of a neck restraint by a peace officer during a search or arrest |
| HB 888 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the duty of a peace officer to request and render aid for an injured person |
| HB 881 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to a progressive disciplinary matrix for police officer misconduct in certain municipalities |
| HB 870 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to requiring the corroboration of certain testimony in a criminal case involving a controlled substance |
| HB 864 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the procedure for an application for a writ of habeas corpus based on certain new evidence |
| HB 858 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the date on which certain persons placed on deferred adjudication community supervision are eligible to file a petition for an order of nondisclosure of criminal history record information |
| HB 852 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to air quality permits for concrete batch plants located in certain areas |
| HB 844 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the authority of a municipality or county to request a hearing from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality related to the construction of a concrete plant |
| HB 835 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to unlawful employment practices with respect to compensation and wage history |
| HB 823 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the recovery of exemplary damages based on a compensable death under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act |
| HB 809 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the execution of a waiver of citation by digitized signature in a suit for the dissolution of a marriage |
| HB 793 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the confidentiality of certain personal information of an applicant for or a person protected by a protective order |
| HB 782 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the transfer of a protective order |
| HB 754 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to human trafficking prevention, including training for medical assistants, disclosure of human trafficking information by certain health care facilities, and protection for facility employees who report human trafficking |
| HB 742 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to human trafficking prevention, including training for first responders, disclosure of human trafficking information by certain health care facilities, and protection for facility employees who report human trafficking |
| HB 728 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to certain policies and procedures for the placement and use of video cameras in certain classrooms, including classrooms that provide special education services |
| HB 709 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the requirement and study of insurance coverage for serious emotional disturbance of a child |
| HB 688 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the applicability of the death penalty to a capital offense committed by a person with an intellectual disability |
| HB 673 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the eligibility of certain first responders for workers’ compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder |
| HB 656 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to law enforcement policies regarding the issuance of citations for misdemeanors punishable by fine only and to a limitation on the authority to arrest a person for certain fine-only misdemeanors |
| HB 624 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the placement on community supervision, including deferred adjudication community supervision, of a defendant who is the primary caretaker of a child |
