Senate committee hears debate on bill to create Texas Cyber Command at UTSA amid security, governance and procurement concerns

Senators heard more than three hours of testimony and questions on House Bill 150, a proposal to create a Texas Cyber Command that would assume the state's cyber responsibilities now housed in the Department of Information Resources and be administratively attached to the University of Texas System, with an initial operational home at the UT San Antonio downtown cyber campus.

The bill would create a governor-appointed, senate-confirmed chief to run the command and transfer “every cyber related power, rule, form, contract, and full time employee from DIR to the command on a date certain no later than December 30, 2026,” with a memorandum of understanding required by Jan. 1, 2026, to govern the transition, sponsor Senator Parker said. Parker said the command “stands up that force by creating the Texas scribe command” and located it in San Antonio to plug into an existing federal and private cyber ecosystem.

Supporters — including representatives from cybersecurity firms, industry groups and the proposed host institution — argued the command will centralize threat intelligence, provide a 24/7 hotline for local governments, stage incident-response “go kits,” and operate a digital forensics lab to assist law enforcement. David Brown,…