City staff recap wins and defeats from 89th Texas Legislature, highlight $50M cyber hub for Port San Antonio

San Antonio’s government affairs team delivered a recap Thursday of the 89th Texas Legislature, outlining items that passed, local appropriations and bills that either failed or would limit municipal authority.

Sally Basurto, director of government affairs, told the council the Legislature adopted a two‑year spending plan and that the governor has until June 22 to sign or veto bills. Major appropriations that the city highlighted include $50 million for a cybersecurity hub at Port San Antonio, $40 million for defense community projects (including a $5 million award to the city) and hundreds of millions for mental health grants. The team also cited $2 million for Woodlawn Park and $1 million for Brooks Park in San Antonio as specific local park awards.

Basurto summarized a number of enacted bills with direct local effects: HB 150 (establishing a Texas Cyber Command headquartered in San Antonio in partnership with UTSA and federal partners); SB 22 (renewing and increasing funding for the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program); and HB 9 (raising the personal property exemption threshold for businesses) among others. Staff noted SB 840, which preempts municipal regulation for some multifamily and mixed‑use conversions, and other bills that narrow local regulatory authority.

The briefing also covered bills that did not pass and those the city opposed. Basurto said several large preemption measures and proposals to reduce municipal financing tools were stalled or failed, a result she attributed to sustained advocacy. The city also tracked bills that would have limited local regulation of third‑party inspections and backup power installations, measures that were narrowed or did not pass.

Councilmembers used the briefing to thank government affairs staff for the work of tracking thousands of bills and for protecting local authority on key issues. Council discussion also raised concerns about bills that affect public health and youth (including several proposed measures regarding e‑cigarette retailing near schools that did not pass) and a statute requiring the city to withdraw from sister‑city relationships with certain Chinese municipalities (HB 128), a provision staff said the city was still evaluating with the city attorney’s office.

Basurto said the city’s intergovernmental relations team would circulate a fuller memo after the June 22 deadline and continue to monitor the governor’s actions and next steps on implementation of appropriation line items.