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News
From the Pink Dome: Updates on the 88th Legislative Session's Opening Week
The 88th Texas Legislative Session was officially convened at 12:00 noon Tuesday, January 10, with the House and Senate already making significant moves.
The Texas House overwhelmingly re-elected Rep. Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) for a second term as House Speaker, defeating Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) with a vote of 143 to 3. Speaker Phelan welcomed 26 new House members and identified property tax relief, healthcare, infrastructure, and dependable energy as his key priorities for the session. In adopting the formal House Rules, lawmakers added a daily fine for members participating in a quorum break, in efforts to hinder a repeat of the deadlock created when House Democrats fled to Washington in 2021.
In the Texas Senate, Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills) was selected as president pro tempore, and senators drew slots to determine which half of the chamber will have four-year terms and which will have two-year terms to restore the two-year stagger. The Senate also voted to reconsider its redistricting plan, which draws the boundaries of the state’s political districts, to ensure they meet the constitutional requirement to apportion districts in the first regular session following the Census.
Lawmakers also received an updated biennial revenue estimate from Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who projected $188 billion in general revenue was available for the upcoming biennium's budget, a 26% increase from last session, and a budget surplus increase from $27 billion to $32.7 billion. This is a significant development for the State as it means legislators will have more resources to allocate to important programs, including healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
Methodist Healthcare Ministries will advocate this session to secure state funding for health and social programs that assist working families and vulnerable populations. Click here to view Methodist Healthcare Ministries’ 2023 Policy Agenda.
Newly Released TX Broadband Development Map Identifies Areas Eligible for Funding
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced the release of the Texas Broadband Development Map, a tool that visually illustrates the current state of digital access, using data collected from internet service providers (ISPs) to show the availability of various types of high-speed internet access across the state’s 254 counties. The interactive map divides the state into eligible and ineligible areas for funding based on state law and prior federal funding commitments. Legislators and stakeholders will be able to use this map to prioritize funding for broadband expansion projects and improve connectivity to reliable internet service to remain competitive in today’s digital world. Learn More
Texas House Water Caucus Aims to Make Water Infrastructure a Legislative Priority
The Texas Water Foundation announced the formation of the Texas House Water Caucus, a bipartisan group of 38 legislators committed to addressing water issues in the state, including educating fellow legislators and the public on water security issues and the fragile state of Texas' water infrastructure. This includes aging infrastructure and limited investments in rural communities, which have led to a high number of boil-water notices and a less reliable water supply as the state's population continues to grow and strain resources. Led by Rep. Tracy King (D-Batesville), the caucus aims to educate legislators and the public on the importance of elevating water security during the 88th Texas Legislature. Learn More
HHSC e-Health Advisory Committee Focuses on Telemedicine in Biennial Report
The Texas Health and Human Services E-Health Advisory Committee released its biennial report to the legislature, highlighting educational and support opportunities for telemedicine, telehealth, and telemonitoring within the state. Their recommendations to drive down healthcare costs and improve population health include establishing a shared telemedicine and telehealth tech support pool for rural and underserved areas, creating trainings and educational classes for policy makers and healthcare providers, and leveraging existing electronic health records and health information exchange infrastructures to comply with interoperability regulations. The group’s subcommittee on behavioral health also recommended building a timeline with targets to achieve interoperability among local mental health authorities (LMHAs) and state hospitals by the end of fiscal year 2025, and incentivizing early connectors. Learn More
Congress Passes Funding Bill with Changes to Medicaid, CHIP, and Protections for Children
In December, Congress reached an end-of-year funding agreement in the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act with significant implications for the more than 90 million people who rely on Medicaid and CHIP for their coverage. The agreement launches the unwinding of the continuous coverage protections on April 1, 2023, by delinking the requirement from the declaration of the public health emergency. As a result, Texas will need to verify the eligibility of nearly 2.7 million renewals. Taking into consideration the Texas Health and Human Services Commission is already struggling to process redeterminations, thousands of Texans will be potentially at risk of losing health coverage amid the public health crisis. The bill also includes a provision requiring all states to cover children enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP for 12 months regardless of changes in circumstances, a longtime priority for Texas child health advocates. Learn More
Federal Report Shares Gains Made in Americans Securing Health Coverage in Last Two Years
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a new report identifying significant gains in health insurance coverage among Americans between 2019 and 2021. According to the report, the national uninsured rate reached an all-time low in early 2022, revealing the national uninsured rate for people under age 65 fell from 11.1 percent in 2019 to 10.5 percent in 2021. The report attributes these gains to federal policies such as enhanced Marketplace access to a Special Enrollment Period in 2021, expanded and enhanced premium tax credits under the American Rescue Plan, enhanced funding for Marketplace outreach and enrollment assistance, and the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision during the COVID-19 public health emergency. A recent snapshot of the 2023 Marketplace Open Enrollment Period already has found a 13 percent increase in coverage since last year, with nearly 16 million Americans signing up for coverage. Learn More
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