Sine Die, Reflections on the Session, & My Bills That Passed

June 11th, 2025

Last Monday, the Texas House and Senate adjourned "sine die" after 140 days, marking the end of the 89th Legislative Session. This was my seventh legislative session, and, like all the others, it was truly unique. This session had far more late nights than any before and had more record votes on the floor than any prior session. Despite this, it was also one of the most productive sessions. While the session had a rocky start due to the Speaker’s race, it ended on a strong note, with most of the major statewide priorities getting across the finish line.

Personally, I filed 31 bills and sponsored 6 Senate bills on a wide range of topics including hospital pricing, health insurance, law enforcement, foster care, and public education. Of those 37, 19 passed as stand-alone bills, and another 3 were passed as parts of larger bills. I’ll summarize each of them in a section below this letter.

In total, the House and Senate filed over 9,000 bills and roughly 1,600 were passed into law. One of those was the state budget, which is the only constitutionally-required action of the session. We also passed nearly all of the high-profile, high-priority bills—bills on issues like public school funding, bail reform, school choice, grid security, property tax relief, etc. Because of that, this will be the first time since 2019 that we’re not expecting any special sessions (at least for the foreseeable future). Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing a series of updates breaking down the major legislation that passed, organized by topic. Below this letter, you’ll find a table with a timeline showing what to expect.

I am so grateful to be back in the district (and out of Austin!), spending time with my family and being able to see constituents in person. Thank you to those who called, emailed, or visited the office this session to provide input and feedback. And thank you to those who prayed for me and Alisha. Lastly, thank you to everyone across the 14 counties of HD-69 for giving me the opportunity and responsibility to represent you in the Texas House. It is a privilege to serve you. 

May God bless you and your family,

Representative James B. Frank 

My Bills That Passed Out of the Legislature

Healthcare

HB 1959/SB 926: Patient Savings Incentives

• In order to have a well-functioning health care market, patients must be engaged in the process. Patients should have the opportunity and be rewarded for choosing lower-priced, higher-quality care. Self-insured plans commonly adopt policies that do so. However, a state agency rule prevents state-regulated health plans from offering these incentives to enrollees.
• SB 926 allows state-regulated plans to incentivize patients to choose lower-priced and higher-quality medical services by adjusting their cost-sharing amounts, and requires that plans must do so with a fiduciary obligation to act in the best interest of the patient or policyholder.

HB 1612: Prohibiting Hospital Price Discrimination for the Uninsured

• Hospitals typically charge far different prices for the same procedure, depending on the insurance—or lack thereof—of the patient. To protect uninsured patients from unfairly high charges, HB 1612 requires hospitals to charge uninsured patients no higher than 150% the lowest negotiated commercial rate or 125% the amounts generally billed. 

SB 331: Price Transparency Requirements

• Without price transparency in the healthcare system—knowing what something costs—there’s no incentive for prices to ever go down. In 2021, the Legislature passed a bill to require hospitals to disclose their prices for services. SB 331 expands that requirement to all other health care facilities.

SB 269: Reporting Adverse Effects of Experimental or Emergency-Use Drugs and Vaccines

• SB 269 requires physicians to report adverse effects a patient has in response to a vaccine or drug that is authorized for emergency or experimental use. If we’re going to follow the science, we need to know the data. 

Strengthening Parents and Families

HJR 112/SJR 34: Parental Rights Constitutional Amendment

• SJR 34 proposes a constitutional amendment to enshrine parents rights into the Texas Constitution.
• Currently, the right of parents to direct the care and upbringing of their children is protected in state and federal case law but it is not anywhere in the Constitution. That means it could be weakened or overturned by future court decisions. Adding this right to the Texas Constitution will better preserve it for future generations.
• Another very important reason for this amendment is to provide clarity for judges and attorneys, which should make legal cases less lengthy and expensive.
• Since this is a constitutional amendment, it will be on the ballot in November and will become part of the Texas Constitution if it receives a majority vote.

HB 3284: Texas Commission on Marriage and Family

• For thousands of years, the family has been the most significant building block of society. While some may not believe it is the role of government to help encourage family stability, government should never discourage family stability with financial or other penalties. 
• HB 3284 creates the Texas Commission on Marriage and Family, which will identify laws, rules, and policies currently discouraging Texans from marrying or having children, and make recommendations to the Legislature for how Texas can become the best place to be married and raise children. 

Military and Veterans

HB 879/SB 1787: Veterans Medical Licensing

• Many medical professionals serving on military bases in Texas are licensed in other states and, thus, are not authorized to practice off-base in Texas. When they retire from active duty, they must either go through Texas’ full licensure process—which can be time-consuming and burdensome—or return to the state where they’re already licensed.
• HB 879 creates a streamlined pathway for doctors, nurses, and physician assistants who were licensed in another state but practiced on a Texas military base to obtain a Texas license more easily. The goal is to retain more qualified medical professionals in Texas after their military service ends.

HB 2337/SB 1271: Military Base Law Enforcement

• Military bases in Texas operate under exclusive federal jurisdiction, meaning they're subject only to federal penal codes. This can pose issues for law enforcement, particularly for juvenile offenses (which are typically handled at the state and local levels). HB 2337 addresses this gap in law enforcement by allowing concurrent jurisdiction, in which military bases can partner with state and local law enforcement to enforce the law on base. 

HB 2757: Grade-Age Flexibility for Children of Foreign Allied Military Members

• Sheppard Air Force Base hosts the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program (ENJJPT), bringing members of allied foreign militaries to Sheppard for combat pilot training. Since many European countries have different kindergarten entry ages, when the children of the ENJJPT members start pre-K or kindergarten based on the Texas school year, they are months behind their peers when they return home. HB 2757 allows these children to start school at the appropriate age so they can transition to the right grade when they return home. 

HB 2898: Early Notification for Wind Farms

• Sheppard Air Force Base has faced challenges with wind turbine farms being developed in locations that interfere with its flight training patterns. To address this, HB 2898 requires advanced notice to military bases before wind farms are developed. This will help Sheppard better plan their pilot training routes. 

Public Education

HB 2911: School District Health Insurance

• School districts can either operate their own health plans or join TRS-ActiveCare, the state’s health plan for school employees. Under current law, districts that opt to leave TRS-ActiveCare must wait 5 years before they're able to return. Many districts left TRS-ActiveCare during the pandemic but were disadvantaged when, the following year, the state boosted funding exclusively for TRS-ActiveCare.
• HB 2911 would have done 2 things:

1. Given these school districts a one-time chance to get back into TRS-ActiveCare (without having to wait the full 5 years).
2. Required the state to fund TRS-ActiveCare districts and non-TRS-ActiveCare districts equally.

• HB 2911 was placed on the Calendar for a vote but did not get voted on before the deadline. However, a similar bill passed: HB 3126 by Representative Drew Darby, which achieves point # 1: it allows small and mid-sized districts a one-time chance to get back into TRS-ActiveCare.

HB 775/SB 401: Homeschool UIL Access

• As you may recall, I passed a bill in 2021 to enable school districts to allow resident homeschool students to participate in UIL activities. HB 775/SB 401 builds off the progress made by that bill, in two ways:

1. The bill allows homeschool students to participate in UIL activities at the nearest school that welcomes them. (For example, if the student's resident district prohibits homeschool UIL participation but a neighboring district allows it, the student can participate at the neighboring district.)
2. The bill allows districts to opt-in to homeschool UIL participation without having to take a formal vote. The district only needs to take a formal vote if they want to prohibit homeschool UIL participation.

HB 3397/SB 920: School Nurse Authority

• Historically school nurses have administered medications to students, as long as they have the parent’s consent. However, last summer there was an issue raised that resulted in the Texas Nursing Board stating school nurses cannot administer even basic over-the-counter medication without a doctor’s prescription. This is inconvenient for parents and students. 
• This bill restores school nurses' authority to administer over-the-counter medication without a prescription (as long as they have parental consent).

SB 1049: Allowing Release-Time for Religious Instruction

• SB 1049 allows students to receive excused absences for off-campus religious instruction for 1 to 5 hours per week. Many Texas parents want their children’s education to include a religious component, and this bill ensures they’ll have that option with local school district approval. It includes very clear guidelines to protect the separation of church and state.

Bills Specific to House District 69

HB 913: State Hospital Governance

• Currently, the "North Texas State Hospital" is led by one superintendent but is actually two entirely separate campuses—one in Wichita Falls, and the other in Vernon—with different functions. I believe having the campuses share a superintendent leads to inefficiency and leaves the campuses without the oversight and attention they need. HB 913 formally splits these two campuses into two state hospitals with distinct governance.

HB 2026: Memorial Highway Naming

• Archer County is home to two remarkable individuals who served our country and were killed in action: Gary C. Johnston and his nephew Gary S. Johnston. To memorialize them and their sacrifice, HB 2026 will name part of State Highway 25 the “U.S. Army Gary C. and U.S.M.C. Gary S. Johnston Memorial Highway.”

HB 3718: Local Courts Jurisdictions

• HB 3718 adjusts the jurisdiction of courts in Wichita County for certain civil cases such that county courts at law would have a higher level of material damage in their jurisdiction. This will help the courts move quicker. The language of HB 3718 was added into SB 2878, an omnibus bill to address local courts throughout the state.

Human Services

HB 4615/SB 457: Nursing Home Accountability

• Texas is one of the lowest-ranked states for nursing home quality, particularly for staffing levels, which is strongly correlated with the overall quality of patient care. 
• This bill aims to increase the quality of care for the almost 80,000 Texans in nursing homes, and increase accountability for our tax-dollars going to nursing homes (through Medicaid payments). The bill does this by requiring 80% of the Medicaid dollars nursing homes receive be spent on direct patient care.

HB 5285/SB 1388: Refining the Thriving Texas Families Program

• Last session, Senator Lois Kolkhorst and I passed a bill to codify the Alternatives to Abortion program into statute (which we re-named to Thriving Texas Families). The Thriving Texas Families (TTF) program gives grants to organizations dedicated to helping women who are experiencing crisis pregnancies to embrace the gift of life and achieve family stability and self-sufficiency. 
• As is typical with laws that codify major programs, we watched the bill be implemented by the state agency during the interim and noticed some clarifications were needed.
• This bill makes some adjustments to the program, in order to address issues or ambiguities noticed in the implementation process. Specifically, it clarifies that TTF is a pro-life program and no money should go towards entities who are affiliated with pro-abortion groups in any way, and it clarifies that these funds should go towards local community organizations and not entities that receive other government revenue or health care facilities.

HB 5546/HB 4666*: Simplifying State Agency Reports

• This bill simplifies the reporting requirements for reports due under the Health and Safety Code by making them all due by one deadline: December 1st.
• *I got the language from my bill (HB 5546) added onto a bill on a related topic (HB 4666) via an amendment on the House floor.

Child Welfare

HB 2789/SB 1149: Streamlining Child Welfare Regulations

• Last session, I passed a bill that required an independent 3rd-party audit to evaluate Texas' regulations on foster care and adoptive services. The audit provided recommendations for streamlining and simplifying regulations in order to lift burdens on foster parents and the organizations serving Texas youth, while prioritizing child safety. State agencies implemented most of the recommendations, but a few of them required statutory changes.
• HB 2789 makes those statutory changes. It removes outdated and overly burdensome regulations that are slowing down foster care placements and increasing costs for providers—without compromising child safety.

HB 3396/SB 855: Foster Care Healthcare Payment Options

• Under current law, foster children receive healthcare coverage through a Medicaid managed care plan. However, due to narrow provider networks, foster parents sometimes struggle to access timely medical or behavioral health services and may wish to pay out-of-pocket for more immediate or specialized care.
• This bill allows foster parents to pay for out-of-network healthcare services for foster children, if they choose to pay out-of-pocket. While we must address the issue of the limited Medicaid provider network, this bill provides a solution for some families who are able and wanting to pay out-of-pocket.

STAY CONNECTED

Note: Please forward this email to individuals interested in receiving updates from Representative James Frank. If you, or someone you know, would like to receive these updates, please email votejamesfrank@gmail.com.   

To be removed from this list, please reply with the subject line "Remove."

This is a paid political advertisement of James Frank Campaign.