TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – After 140 days, the 89th Legislative Session is over. The session saw the passage of several bills, including school vouchers, a bill banning the sale of land to individuals from countries designated as hostile, and a proposed law banning THC products.
“Overall, from a Republican standpoint, we had a good session,” said Smith County Republican Party Chair David Stein. “In the energy industry we had wins. Border enforcement we had wins, biggest one we got in border enforcement was electing President Trump. We got wins in securing election. We got wins in Texas not for sale, federal overreach.”
“They pushed back as hard as they could,” said Nacogdoches County Democratic Party Chair John Watt, referring to Democratic elected officials throughout the session. “They kept the Republicans from passing a lot of their agenda, but a lot of it they still were able to get through.”
Watt says Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) should veto a bill that would ban THC products, saying it would eliminate thousands of jobs. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX) supports the ban.
“It also doesn’t take into account the compassionate needs for people, the people who are on hospice care that need that to fight their pain,” Watt said.
Stein also wants to see the THC ban vetoed.
“I think there are areas with medicinal purposes, which is why initially we had the whole subject come up with marijuana before,” Stein mentioned. “There are medical uses for the product, and so I think it may have gone too far with that, but we’ll see what the governor does with that.”
In future sessions, Stein said he would like to see the House Speaker “chosen at the Republican caucus.” State Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield) was chosen by a majority of Republicans prior to the session, but State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) secured the gavel. Stein feels Burrows was a “good, effective speaker.”
“I think he has earned the fact that he’s going to be speaker again.” Stein said.
“I would like to have seen them be able to take actual action on bills and passing bills a month early instead of waiting until March 1,” added Stein. “Let’s get things done before March 1 and more than just the governor’s emergency items.”
“I’d like to see more support for public education, more support for local county hospitals,” Watt said, referring to what he would like to see in future legislative sessions. “Also, I think that one thing that most people in Texas don’t realize is that clean water is going to be one of the most important issues in the future and I think that we need to concentrate more on doing that kind of thing, working on our water systems to provide more good, clean drinking water for people, and also for industry and farming.”
Several laws go into effect on Sept. 1. School vouchers will officially launch at the start of the 2026-27 school year.
Copyright 2025 KLTV. All rights reserved.
The 89th Legislative Session saw the passage of several bills, including school vouchers, a bill banning the sale of land to individuals from countries designated as hostile, and a proposed law banning THC products. Read More
