LEGISLATIVE WRAP-UP
That's A Wrap
Nurses Prevailed in the
89th Legislative Session
Nurses Prevailed in the
89th Legislative Session
Jack Frazee, J.D.
Director of Government Relations, Texas Nurses Association
Our success is owed to the many TNA members who raised their voices.
THE 89th REGULAR SESSION ended June 2, 2025. It was an eventful session with many unusual twists and turns.
First, we saw an election cycle that resulted in many new members coming to the Texas House of Representatives. Between the 2024 election and the 2022 election, nearly half of the majority caucus in the House was either brand new or had only one session’s worth of experience. This meant a lot of new relationships and new opportunities.
Second, the House elected Dustin Burrows to be the new Speaker of the House. Speaker Burrows election slowed the beginning of the House’s business, which meant we faced tighter procedural deadlines this session than usual. The Speaker also presided over a change in House rules that established majority-only chairs of House committees. This rule change altered the dynamics of committee negotiations between the majority and minority parties.
Third, we entered the session with an incredibly ambitious agenda. Where TNA typically advocates for approximately a dozen bills, this session involved nearly three times the typical workload. The broad package of legislation was driven by serendipitous opportunities in the world of nursing policy.
During the interim, the Governor appointed a Healthcare Workforce Task Force, which made 18 recommended policy changes for the Legislature to consider. These recommendations spanned budgetary issues as well as statutory changes, and by the end of the bill filing deadline, the recommendations had been converted into a package of nine bills and two budget riders. Ultimately, five of the bills passed, and several of the budgetary items were incorporated into the final budget.
We also had our own set of policy issues researched over the course of the interim, as well as coalition issues taken up by the Nursing Legislative Agenda Coalition. Among the 14 issues established as coalition priorities, four passed into law, including significant investments in nursing education, improvements to the nurse staffing law and prohibition on mandatory overtime, improved board procedures for complaints against nurses (although this was later vetoed by the Governor), and access to over-the-counter medications by Texas students through school nurses with parental or guardian approval.
Nearly every week of the session we saw bills brought before legislative committees that were specific to the nursing profession.
TNA was also called upon by lawmakers to weigh in on a range of public health issues. These included improvements to the Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Review Committee’s internal processes, abortion access for women experiencing life-threatening complications, limitations on noncompete clauses in employment contracts for healthcare practitioners, vaccination policy, and more.
For those interested in learning the details of each bill that passed as well as the final budget, please review TNA’s End of Session Report on the TNA website.
One final takeaway from the 89th Regular Session: The Texas Legislature dedicated a significant amount of its attention to the nursing profession. Nearly every week of the session we saw bills brought before legislative committees that were specific to the nursing profession. Few areas of policy received such consistent focus from the Legislature.
Our success is owed to the many TNA members who raised their voices at Nurse Day at the Capitol, in committee testimony, in phone calls to legislators, and letter writing campaigns. We appreciate your engagement and look forward to more success ahead! TN
