The Greater San Antonio Chamber is committed to advocating for policies that foster economic growth, workforce development, infrastructure investment, and overall quality of life for our region. During the 89th Texas Legislative Session, the Greater Chamber actively engaged with lawmakers, agency leaders, and community partners to advance the priorities of our members and the broader business community.
FY 2026-2027 Budget - $338 billion (SB 1 & HB 500)
The Governor signed 1155 bills and vetoed 26.
AEROSPACE
Supported funding for military installation improvements, including Port SA, workforce training programs for aviation technicians, and local aerospace industry incentives.
Registered support and submitted testimony for Advanced Air Mobility (HB 3134) – passed House, but never secured a hearing in Senate Transportation.
CYBERSECURITY
Advanced initiatives to position San Antonio as Texas’ cyber hub, including passage of Texas Cyber Command (HB 150) and support for higher education programs. Greater Chamber staff and volunteer leaders testified multiple times in support.
Unfortunately, $50 million for the Joint Activity Cyber Center facility to house 16th AF at Port San Antonio was vetoed from the supplemental budget.
EDUCATION
Early Childhood/Child Care – Advocated for $100 million to serve 10,000 additional children through the childcare scholarship program; HB 2 established PreK Hubs to assist school districts in establishing PreK Partnerships; SB 2 establishes Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs) which will allow families to use public funds for their children’s education at accredited private schools, including private childcare providers serving children in prekindergarten or kindergarten; SB 599 preempts local regulations for state licensed and registered home based childcare providers; HB 117 creates the Governor’s Task Force on the Governance of Early Childhood Education and Care to conduct a review of the existing state and federal systems that oversee and regulate birth-age 8 education.
Public Education – Worked to protect public education funding through support for HB 2 with $8.5 billion in new funding ($4 billion for teacher and staff permanent salary increases, expanded funding streams for various programs like CTE, early learning, teacher preparation and certification, and district operational costs; supported increase of nearly $2 billion to overhaul special education, expand, pre-K and early childhood, and career and technical education programs.
Higher Education – SB 1786 builds on the work of previous legislature in HB 8 to strengthen community colleges’ role in preparing Texas students for high- demand, high-wage jobs. It expands access to dual credit, strengthens transfer pathways, refines the definition of credentials of value, enhances education-to -workforce data systems, and strengthens collaboration between state agencies
ENERGY
Provided context for the important economic development contributions of large load users (demand of 75MW or more) with support for SB 6 to increase grid reliability.
Maximized opportunities for our region to access all sources of energy with SB 14 creating a framework for permitting and supporting new advanced nuclear reactor development in Texas; SB 1535 establishes a nuclear workforce development program through the Texas Workforce Commission; HB 14 expands state’s nuclear energy industry with increased research investment and economic development tools of $350 million towards the development of nuclear power sources
Legislators added $5 billion more into the Texas Energy Fund, a pot of money lawmakers created two years ago that helps subsidize construction of new gas-powered plants through low-interest taxpayer funded loans.
HEALTH CARE
We supported measures to increase health care access and backed funding for local public health and mental health resources, including SB 5/SJR 3 – creating the Dementia Prevention & Research Institute of Texas with $3 billion in funding.
SB 25 requires daily physical activity and nutrition curriculum for students, increased food labeling standards, and establishes the Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee to create nutritional guidelines for Texans and study links between food additives and chronic health conditions.
HOUSING
Lawmakers enacted a spate of bills intended to tackle the state’s high home prices and rents, mainly by allowing more homes to be built. Among the most prominent were bills to allow smaller homes on smaller lots as well as apartments and mixed-use developments in more places, such as along retail and commercial corridors, in the state’s largest cities with SB 840. They also approved a bill to make it harder for residents to stop new homes from being built.
SB 15 gives builders the flexibility to build smaller houses in the state’s largest cities
LOCAL ISSUES
This session saw changes to the governance of the Alamo (SB 3059) to shift management and control of The Alamo from the General Land Office (GLO) with a 5-member Alamo Commission composed of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, House Speaker, 1 sitting senator, and 1 sitting representative
Our region could also see the impact from increased film tax incentives. SB 22 provides $1.5 billion in tax incentives for movies filmed in Texas over the next 10 years. To qualify, a film must be approved by the Music, Film, Television and Multimedia Office and must employ at least 35% Texans to staff project.
TRANSPORTATION
Supported investments in highways, public transit, and congestion relief efforts as seen in SB 1 providing $39.9 billion for TxDOT, an increase from previous biennium of $37.2 billion; SB 1555 establishes a local grant program administered by TxDOT for rail-roadway and railpedestrian grade separations; HB 2876 to address connectivity between IH 35 and 130 passed the House, but was never referred to a Senate committee
WATER
Over $20 billion potential investment for water projects over the next 20 years with a $1 billion annual allocation through proposed constitutional amendment for Texas Water Infrastructure Fund and $2.6 billion invested via supplemental budget bill and general appropriations act with SB 7/HJR 7. The money will be split evenly between fixing the state’s fragile water infrastructure and projects to create new water supply. This includes desalination, repairing old water infrastructure, conservation and flood mitigation projects.
There were water-related bills that had support, but failed to make it across the finish line. This includes House Bill 1400, which would have established a fund for groundwater research, science and innovation. This fund would have been used to improve groundwater
models used for water planning, among other research to improve groundwater conditions in Texas.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Over multiple legislative sessions, the Greater Chamber has encouraged efforts to help military spouses maintain professional and financial stability when they relocate to Texas and were pleased with the passage of HB 11 on occupational licensure reciprocity with other states.
SB 1976 adds more credentials of value at community colleges, allocates $5.9 billion for workforce development through TWC and grant programs, and strengthens education to employment pipeline with a focus on dual credit and CTE access for high demand industries.
LOOK AHEAD
We will continue to work with local and state partners to monitor implementation and prepare for interim hearings in shaping the next legislative agenda to meet the needs of our members and our city’s dynamic growth.
THANK YOU TO OUR MEMBERS
Your voices made a difference this session. Together, we keep San Antonio strong and successful!