By: TSHA Advocacy Team of Lori Colletti, Vice President for Advocacy; Mark Hanna, Legal and Legislative Counsel; and Larry Higdon, Director of Legislation

As we know, “advocacy” is broadly defined as active support for a cause, idea, or policy, and an “advocate” is one who argues for that cause, idea, or policy. In this regard, from a governmental affairs perspective, the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) is committed to shaping governmental policies and practices to promote the highest quality, life-changing care for individuals with communication and related disorders. As we all know, when it comes to governmental affairs, the Texas Legislature is the biggest player in this arena. An informed understanding of the Texas Legislature and its organization, procedure, and timetable is an important tool for all TSHA members who actively advocate in support of TSHA’s Legislative priorities.

Accordingly, below are some important facts regarding the Texas Legislature and a summary of the legislative timetable for the remainder of 2024 and the upcoming 2025 General Session.

Important Legislative Facts

The Texas Legislature includes two separate bodies: the Texas House of Representatives (150 members) and the Texas Senate (31 members).  The Speaker of the House presides over the Texas House, and the Lt. Governor presides over the Texas Senate. House members are elected for two-year terms, and Senate members are elected for staggered four-year terms. In order to become a law, a bill must pass both the House and the Senate and then be signed by the Governor, who also has the power to veto the bill if it is not to his liking. The Texas Legislature meets in regular session every odd-numbered year for 140 days beginning in January. Additionally, the Governor has the power to call the Legislature into a 30-day Special Session from time to time at his discretion to address important legislative issues, just as Governor Abbott did on four different occasions in 2023 to consider property tax relief, border security, public school finance, and education savings accounts, also referred to as “school vouchers.”

The 2024-2025 Legislative Timetable 

The 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature adjourned “sine die” on May 29, 2023, and the last of our called Special Sessions ended on December 5, 2023. The primary election for legislative candidates was held on March 5, 2024, and the primary runoff election to select political party candidates for the November general election for federal, state, and county officers was held on May 28, 2024. Going forward, important dates of interest leading up to and continuing through the 2025 Regular Session are as follows:

Interim

Regular Session

Finally, it is important to note that throughout each and every Regular and Special Session, the legislative campaigns and election process, and legislative Interim Committee activities, TSHA continues to serve as a resource for the members of the Texas Legislature and their staff regarding any questions they may have related to the services TSHA members provide to the citizens of Texas. Most importantly, TSHA serves as an advocate to shape governmental policies and practices in order to promote the highest quality, life-changing care for individuals with communication and related disorders. Please join us in this important effort today as we prepare for the upcoming Legislative Session and launch our legislative initiative in support of the passage of TSHA’s Interstate Compact Bill for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists in 2025. We will provide important information and what you might expect regarding TSHA’s Interstate Compact Bill in the weeks to come.

In the meantime, for additional information regarding the Texas legislative process and TSHA’s Interstate Compact Bill, please contact the TSHA Legislative Team:

Larry Higdon, MS, CCC-A
Director of Governmental Relations
(830) 265-0828
lwhtsha@gmail.com

Lori Colletti, MS, CCC-SLP
Vice President for Advocacy
(817) 814-2850
lori.colletti@fwisd.org

Mark J. Hanna
Legal and Legislative Counsel
(512) 477-6200
mhanna@markjhanna.com