CTD 2025 Legislative Priorities See below for a quick progress report on our highest priority issues at the Legislature. Want more frequent updates or to get involved? Visit Today at CTD for a daily update of how we're working on each of these areas. Our weekly Raise Your Voice! calls are also a great way to stay in the loop about disability issues at the Legislature (and some federal developments). Even if you're unavailable to join, all registrants receive a link to the Zoom recording and detailed notes with action items each week. Attendant Wages Last session, CTD led efforts to increase the base hourly wage of community attendants from $8.11 to $10.60. This was a big step for the Legislature, but there is still a lot more to be done to adequately support Texas' attendant workforce, which is crucial for keeping Texans with disabilities and older adults healthy and independent in the settings of their choice. We are continuing to work closely with the Attendant Wage Coalition and lawmakers who understand this issue to push for a greater increase. The House and Senate have both released their drafts of the 2026-27 state budget. The House's includes funds to increase the base wage of community attendants to $14.28 for all attendants serving consumers in all programs. The Senate's draft has an increase to $12.44. The conference committee for the budget (a group of Senators and House Representatives who will hammer out one budget from these drafts) has been formed. There, the House and Senate will negotiate the base wage increase. We will be advocating for the House's higher figure. School Vouchers CTD is strongly opposed to a voucher or education saving account (ESA) system. Such a system takes funding away from public education, where special education is already underfunded. In addition, federal rights and protections for students with disabilities don't apply in private settings, private schools don't have to enroll students with disabilities, and we are very wary of other barriers related to the cost and availability of private schools. After a lot of resistance over the past few years, a voucher bill, SB 2 (Creighton), did finally pass last week and will head to the Governor's desk. Special Education Texas has a long history of delaying or denying special education services to kids with disabilities, shortchanging eligible students, and underfunding public education in general. We've been glad to see meaningful efforts to address school funding this session, including: - an additional $7.6 billion for public school funding formulas in the House budget
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HB 2 (Buckley), a major school funding bill, which adds $7.7 billion in public education funding over the biennium through a variety of provisions: increasing the basic allotment, shifting to a new intensity of service model for special education, and raising the small- and mid-sized district adjustment. HB 2 has passed the House and is now in the Senate. -
HB 500 (Bonnen), the supplemental appropriations bill, was approved by the House and includes + $900 million to address School Health and Related Services (SHARS) funding loss. Early Childhood We're back for another go at an inclusive child care bill. HB 174 (González) would update child care licensing minimum standards to align with federal law and provide information to parents. This bill has been referred to House Human Services, but still needs a hearing. School Discipline HB 6 (Leach), the school discipline bill we've been watching, passed the House and has now been received by the Senate. Self-advocates, family members, and advocates worked collaboratively with legislators and were instrumental in preventing the repeal of 37.001(b-1), a section of the Texas Education Code (TEC) that requires that a student enrolled in special education cannot be disciplined for bullying or harassment until an Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee meeting has been held to review the conduct. This critical safeguard, which aligns with requirements under both Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), ensures that schools evaluate whether problematic behavior is a manifestation of a student's disability before implementing disciplinary actions. An early pickup bill, HB 2292 (Allen), has been referred to House Public Education, but still needs a hearing. Early pickups are a practice of "shadow discipline" or "informal discipline," and are essentially undocumented suspensions. Students, typically students with disabilities or students of color, are sent home early for actions that do not violate the code of conduct. This practice can adversely impact the student’s academic and social development, as well as reinforce negative behavior patterns. Because these suspensions are not documented, parents get truancy notices, and they are unable to defend their child. The practice also circumvents requirements under federal law that apply when there has been a removal that constitutes a change in placement for a student with a disability. Take action! HB 1405 (Reynolds) strengthens protections against bullying and harassment in our public schools. This bill needs a hearing. Call key legislators today (Wed. 23) and tomorrow to urge them to set a hearing for HB 1405. See our Facebook post for a messaging kit and one-pager from our partners at IDRA. Healthcare Costs HB 139 (Dean), the Employer Choice of Benefits Plan bill, has made it out of committee as a committee substitute and is headed to House Calendars. This bill would allow employers to exclude from their health plans common benefits that many employees expect (for example, hearing screenings, cancer screenings, supplies/ services for diabetes coverage, biomarker testing, mental health coverage, and more). The idea is that small businesses will do better by creating their own plan and saving money. However, while they may be reducing cost, they're also significantly reducing the value of their plan, which won't help keep their employees healthy and working. We are working to put safeguards for employees into the bill. There are a number of bills we support that have been referred to committees, but we're still working to get them a hearing: - SB 959 (Perry) would ban the practice of medication switching. This is when an insurance company forces a consumer to change their medication on the basis of cost. When a person has become stable on a medication, changing it an cause harmful side effects or relapse of symptoms, which could lead to dire and expensive consequences for their family, community, and healthcare system as a whole. Medication switching comes at a cost to the taxpayer and can be life threatening for the consumer.
- SB 1287 (Hughes) / HB 4673 (V. Jones) would ban copay maximizers. You may remember that last session, we supported a bill to ban copay accumulators (copay accumulators prevent prescription assistance funds from counting toward a consumer's annual deductible or other out-of-pocket requirements). Copay maximizers allow an insurance company to set a consumer's copay based on the amount of copay assistance available to them. For folks who take expensive medications, a copay maxmizer could allow an insurance company to set an unreachable deductible. It's really complicated, and would absolutely hurt people with disabilities and chronic conditions.
- HB 2994 (Guillen) creates a Medicaid eligibility determination study. This bill would require the Health & Human Services Commission (HHSC) to report on why someone lost their coverage, when they lost it, how quickly they can get reinstated.
Voting HB 2738 (Isaac) would change the forms of ID accepted to vote, potentially removing state IDs from that list. The language is vague, and we have concerns. This bill hasn't received a hearing yet, we're hoping it never does. SB 76 (Hall) would end countywide polling places. We oppose this bill because a person's assigned polling place may have barriers to keep them from reaching or entering the polling place or casting an independent, private ballot. It's still pending in committee, and we hope it stays there. HB 521 (Guillen), a curbside voting bill, could have had negative unintended consequences as originally written. The intent is to lessen abuse of curbside voting by people who don't need it as an accommodation, which definitely happens. CTD and partners worked with the bill author to clarify language and protect voters with disabilities, and while we had to make some compromises, it is better now. We'll continue working with legislators on this one. We're glad to report that HB 3162 (Leach), this session's accessible mail in ballot bill, has been referred to House Elections but hasn't received a hearing yet. Last session, this bill made it all the way through the Legislature, but was vetoed by the Governor. HB 2082 (Bucy) would also increase voter accessibility, but it has not yet received a hearing. Criminal Justice Federal judge rules prison heat conditions are unconstitutional, but doesn’t require air conditioning. CTD is a co-plaintiff in this lawsuit, because a significant number of incarcerated Texans have a disability or chronic condition that puts them at higher risk of adverse health events, or even death, when the temperature gets too high. Even though the judge didn't order immediate action, this is still a ruling in our favor. Other priorities - HB 1941 (Campos) would establish a peer support program under Medicaid. It was heard in House Human Services committee yesterday, Tue. April 22. We're supporting self-advocate Jordan Smelley, who is leading efforts on this bill. If you'd like to get in involved, get in touch and we'll connect you with Jordan!
- HB 3048 (Allen) would add disability history to public school curriculum for seventh graders in Texas. The bill has been referred to House Public Education committee, and we’re working on getting it a hearing. We're supporting self-advocate Alex Alvarez on this bill. If you'd like to get involved, get in touch!
- Senior Keys to Independence (SKIP) is a program that helps older Texans with vision loss each year acquire skills they need to stay independent in their homes and communities. A budget rider to increase SKIP funding is currently being considered in conference committee. CTD members Larry Johnson and Kenneth Semien Sr. are among the leaders of this advocacy effort; if you'd like to join them, let us know!
Don't forget to visit Today at CTD for a daily update of our advocacy activities on these and other issues. |
