Senate committee hears SB 36 to create homeland security division inside DPS; bill left pending

Senate committee members on the Committee on Border Security heard testimony Wednesday on Senate Bill 36, a measure from Sen. Charles Parker to establish a homeland security division within the Texas Department of Public Safety that would centralize border security, critical-infrastructure protection and emergency-preparedness functions; the committee left the bill pending for further consideration.

Sen. Charles Parker, the bill’s author, told the committee SB 36 “seeks to establish a homeland security division within the Department of Public Safety to enhance the security and resiliency of our great state, particularly the areas of border security, critical infrastructure protection, and emergency preparedness.”

The bill would consolidate existing functions dispersed across DPS and other agencies, create a centralized intelligence-collection and sharing process for border and infrastructure threats, and prioritize sectors such as energy, communications, transportation and water systems, Parker said. He offered a committee substitute that he said increases collaboration between DPS and the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM).

Why it matters: supporters and witnesses said the state faces evolving, transnational threats that require closer coordination and a single, sustained structure inside DPS. Opponents and some public witnesses warned the plan could fall short on execution, raised privacy concerns about expanded surveillance tools and asked how the state would oversee private actors…