Legislative Services

New AI Training Deadline Approaches

House Bill 3512 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake), enacted by the 89th Texas Legislature, requires state and local government officials and employees who use artificial intelligence systems in their work to complete approved AI training at least once every 12 months. Training must be completed by Aug. 31 and counties must verify and report training completion to the Department of Information Resources by Aug. 31 each year.

TAC's County Information Resources Agency offers the required training free of charge. Sign up here.

House and Senate Committees at Work

The General Investigating Committee on the July 2025 Flooding Events, a joint committee composed of House and Senate members, held a final hearing and issued a report with its findings. Links for both:

• Final Hearing of the General Investigating Committee on the July 2025 Flooding Events.
• Findings of the General Investigating Committee on the July 2025 Flooding Events.

Speaker Dustin Burrows issued interim charges directing House committees to study a wide range of perennial and emerging issues in Texas. Committees continue their work on the task. A number of hearings have taken place since our last update (click links to view archival footage). Recent hearings include:

Select Committee on Governmental Oversight, June 4: Examined local ordinances modified or repealed since the enactment of HB 2127 by Rep. (and Speaker of the House of Representatives) Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), potential conflicts with state preemption law and related enforcement efforts, resulting litigation and alternative enforcement mechanisms, and considered recommendations to reduce regulatory inconsistency and reinforce the state's role as the primary regulator.

Agriculture & Livestock, June 18: Examined the reemergence of the New World Screwworm and its potential impacts on livestock production.

Natural Resources, June 23: Examined water infrastructure financing and oversight, including implementation of HJR 7 by Rep. Cody Harris (R-Palestine) and SB 7 by Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), and evaluated water-use and conservation issues associated with data center development in Texas. Victoria County Judge Ben Zeller and Tom Green County Commissioner Shawn Nanny offered their perspectives to the committee. See their back-to-back testimony starting at the 8:11:35 mark.

Additional hearings are available in the House's archive.

Senate hearings to examine Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's interim charges (both the initial round and the subsequent) are also underway. A selection:

State Affairs, June 23: Examined election security, poll watcher access, county election administration, ballot-marking and counting practices, and polling-place designation procedures, and evaluated opportunities to strengthen the security, integrity and efficiency of Texas elections.

Business & Commerce, June 24: Examined the Broadband Development Office’s management of state and federal broadband funds, ongoing funding decisions and strategic planning for broadband deployment, and evaluated opportunities to improve program efficiency using existing resources.

Additional hearings are available in the Senate's archive.

Notices of upcoming meetings will be posted on dedicated House and Senate websites.

Governor Responds to Data Center Expansion

On June 10, Gov. Greg Abbott weighed in on widespread concerns about the power and water draw needed to support the dozens of planned data centers across the state. In a letter to Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairman Thomas Gleeson and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) President and Chief Executive Officer Pablo Vegas, Abbott issued the following directives:

• The PUC to take action to ensure that data centers' interconnections will result in reduced residential electrical bills.
• The PUC to take action to require data centers to pay for all of their electric infrastructure costs to ensure that no residential ratepayer is burdened by those costs.
• The PUC and ERCOT to review their existing authorities and to identify necessary actions that can be taken under those authorities to safeguard Texans, their property and resources.

The agencies are further directed to conduct further study and summarize their findings and recommendations in a joint memorandum due July 17.

Looking ahead to the 90th Legislature, which convenes Jan. 12, Abbott pledged to work with the legislature to:

• Codify the PUC's actions to require data centers to pay for their own electric infrastructure costs, resulting in lower residential ratepayer costs.
• Ensure data centers add to Texas’ electric capacity, not just its electric demand.
• Require that all new data centers be built with water-efficient technologies such as closed-loop cooling systems.
• Require large data centers to annually report electricity and water usage data to the PUC. 
• Repeal sales tax exemptions and other outdated or unnecessary incentives for data centers.
• Require data centers to reduce impacts on local communities by implementing best practices such as setbacks, noise-reduction technology, and other measures that take into account the concerns of neighbors.

For more, see Abbott's press release and letter.

Water News

(From the Texas Water Development Board)

House Bill 500 established the Water Supply and Infrastructure Grants (WSIG) as a one-time opportunity for a limited number of Texas communities to receive 100 percent grant funding to implement water supply and water infrastructure projects. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is now accepting applications for these grants, which are due by Thursday, July 30.

The TWDB hosted a webinar to explain the WSIG implementation, including applicant eligibility, project requirements and prioritization, and the funding timeline that can be viewed on the TWDB website. General questions may be emailed to WSI_grants@twdb.texas.gov.

The Texas Water Development Board monitors water conditions throughout the state and publishes monthly reports for select reservoirs, streamflow sites, and groundwater wells. The report provides a technical summary of statewide and regional conditions for 119 monitored reservoirs, hydrologic unit code runoff, soil moisture, rainfall, and 18 key groundwater monitoring wells.

The latest report (April 2026) is now available on the TWDB website.

Broadband Expansion Update

(From the Broadband Development Office.)

The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) is pleased to announce that the state has reached a significant milestone in implementing the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has finalized agreements with 17 BEAD subgrantees totaling $1 billion in funding to bring broadband coverage to over 208,000 unserved and underserved locations in Texas.

To learn more about other funding opportunities that will further address the needs of Texans and close the digital divide, visit BroadbandForTexas.com.

Month in Review is a collaborative column from TAC Legislative Services.