Texas Legislature starts Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know

The Texas Legislature is gaveling in today for its 140-day run. Here’s a comprehensive list of stories that Dallas Morning News reporters covering the 88th Texas Legislature have produced before the session starts, along with dates and how to contact your representatives.

This will be updated as more content is produced.

Follow along with Tuesday’s events here. The first action of the day came from the Texas House, where members overwhelmining elected Beaumont Republican Rep. Dade Phelan to a second term.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced an almost $33 billion budget surplus. The only bill that legislators are required to pass is the state budget, and there should be plenty of cash available to fund the demand for tax cuts after the latest budget estimate.

In addition to the budget, the Legislature may look at five issues that could affect the lives of Texans. Property tax reduction, more abortion legislation, sports betting, school choice and curbing mass shootings.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov Dan Patrick have forged separate roles. Abbott and Patrick are likely to jostle over who’s the agenda-setter with the best vision for the state – and a game plan for keeping the state GOP in power for another generation.

Following the February freeze in 2021 that killed hundred of Texan, the state’s electricity market is likely to come under scrutiny. A bipartisan group of state senators wants Texas’ electric grid regulator to halt its redesign of the ERCOT electricity market.

Some legislators are calling for legislation to ban masks and COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The recommendations by the Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee is a sign pandemic policy may become a flashpoint in the session.

An analysis by The Dallas Morning News shows the makeup of the Legislature will be significantly less diverse than the rest of the state’s population. About 62% of lawmakers in both the House and Senate are white, despite white Texans making up about 40% of the state’s population.

The Legislature runs through Memorial Day this year. Here’s a look at the session’s key dates for the next five months.

Want to contact your representatives in Austin and Washington, D.C.? Here’s a handy list with contacts.