City staff brief council on 2025 Texas legislative watch list and resident outreach on density bills

City administrative staff updated council on key bills in the 2025 Texas legislative session that could affect local land‑use authority, taxation and municipal advocacy, and described citizen outreach results showing residents want the city to engage with state lawmakers on these issues.

Scope of legislative tracking: Leah (city staff managing legislative affairs) said the city is tracking roughly 1,000 bills and described several package priorities and bills on the city’s watch lists. She summarized bills under three broad pillars: preserving local control, planning for growth (lot sizes, accessory units, development standards) and functional priorities such as water, infrastructure and public health. Leah said the administration has met with the Georgetown delegation and with Senate staff on priority items.

Bills staff highlighted: the staff briefing listed several bills under different categories. Examples cited included measures that would restrict municipal use of public funds to hire lobbyists or nonprofit associations that hire lobbyists (Senate Bill 19 and related measures); proposals to shift local elections to the November general election date (Senate Bill 1209 referenced in staff discussion); bills proposing a two‑thirds voter requirement to approve tax or bond measures in some drafts (House Bill 2736 cited as an example discussed); and multiple filings that would constrain local regulation of lot sizes, accessory dwelling units, parking and zoning procedures (the presenter referenced prior session drafts and recently filed versions such as Senator Bettencourt’s and related bills often grouped as lot size/density bills).

Why staff flagged these bills: Leah said staff is concerned that several proposals would reduce municipal discretion to manage parking, traffic and service capacity, restrict parkland dedication and impact fees, or alter the timing and voter thresholds for bond and tax elections. Staff also flagged bills that would permit third‑party reviews or limit municipal timelines for plan review; those provisions raise liability and administrative workload concerns, Leah said. Staff noted some bills the city supports — for example, water‑related bills and an aquifer storage and recovery bill that moved through Senate water committee — and said the city will provide analysis and resident‑focused communications on other measures.

Resident outreach findings: staff presented FlashVote survey results the city ran with CAPE: respondents reported they prefer the city make development‑standard decisions (57% said city government), and 85% said development standards should focus on traffic, parking, water and service capacity. When asked who should pay for new growth infrastructure, 71% said the landowner or developer should pay impact fees. Residents also said they want more frequent city updates on legislative activity (about 81% wanted more frequent updates). Leah said the city will continue to use FlashVote and other outreach to inform members of the legislature about local impacts and to encourage resident engagement.

Next steps: staff said it will continue to track bills, prepare informational materials for residents, coordinate with CAPE and municipal associations, and bring specific policy proposals or council action items as needed. Council asked clarifying questions about particular bill language (for example, how a public funds restriction might define public funds and whether utility fund revenues would be affected); staff said some language is still being clarified and that legal analysis and follow‑up will be provided as bills move through committee.