Return of the Texas Special Session: What Nonprofits Need To Know

Hello Texans! We have officially turned over our calendar to the second half of 2025, which is the perfect time to look at the current legislative landscape.

On June 2, the 89th Texas legislature wrapped up a legislative session that provided mixed results for nonprofit organizations. For example, while attempts to expand access to Medicaid failed, local nonprofit organizations like Every Texan were successful in blocking attempts to add barriers to food access for children enrolled in SNAP or Medicaid programs.

Similarly, other nonprofit groups were also able to block attempts to significantly increase the state’s near-total ban on abortion. At the same time, legislators from both sides of the aisle voted to pass Senate Bill 31, which was sold as an attempt to clarify exceptions that would allow doctors to perform abortions to save a pregnant woman’s life. However, according to various healthcare professionals and reproductive rights advocates, the bill’s language did not address specific situations that could save a pregnant woman’s life and could open the door for a reintroduction of pre-Roe statutes.

But alas, not all is lost if your organization was unable to achieve strong wins during the regular session. Texas Governor Greg Abbott called a special session for the legislature to address specific issues of interest to nonprofit organizations.

What to Know About the Special Session

On June 9, Gov. Abbott officially announced he was reconvening state legislators for a special session. This special session is scheduled to begin today (July 21, 2025) and will include at least 18 agenda items. According to the Texas Constitution, the special session is limited in scope and time, since it can only last 30 days. Despite this time limitation, the governor has the ability to call as many special sessions as he wants.

Special sessions represent a unique opportunity for nonprofit organizations, as they can narrow down their efforts to specific items on Abbott’s agenda. Some of the key items being considered during this special session include:

• Banning taxpayer-funded lobbying: Of interest to many nonprofit organizations and special purpose districts, Abbott included this agenda item aimed at prohibiting taxpayer-funded lobbying. It is unclear what the new piece of legislation would look like, but this agenda item is related to Senate Bill 19, which failed to gain support in the House of Representatives after obtaining the approval of Senate Republicans. If addressed, the ban would prevent local governments, including Texas special purpose districts, like Hospital Districts and Independent School Districts, from using public funds to hire lobbyists. Previous versions of the legislation also included banning cities from hiring lobbyists with taxpayer funds.

• Education: Following the disappointing passage of a school voucher program, Abbott is seeking to introduce legislation that eliminates the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test. According to critics, STAAR test results have been weaponized in the past to justify school district takeovers by the state.

• Redistricting: Abbot is pushing to redraw the Texas political maps by calling on the legislature to look at specific districts and revise their boundaries.

• Elections: Aside from redistricting, the current administration wants to expand the attorney general’s power to pursue state election crimes. After a failed attempt to pass House Bill 5138 during session, Abbott wants lawmakers to reintroduce legislation that would give the attorney general’s office the power to independently prosecute criminal offenses without having to wait for a local county or district attorney to act first.

• Flood prevention: As a result of devastating floods in Central and South Texas, Abbott wants the lawmakers to put legislation together that could prevent this disaster from happening again.

• Ban on THC products: After exercising his veto power on SB3, the bill that would have banned many THC and hemp-based products in Texas, Abbott wants the legislature to come up with a pathway to regulate the sale and production of this industry.

What Can Your Organization Do to Make an Impact

Here are some quick tips to make your voices heard during the special session:

• Track bills online as they are filed.

• Plan an advocacy day at the Capitol.

• Meet with legislators and lobby for or against specific legislation.

• Attend committee hearings for the House of Representatives and Senate.

• Make your voice heard on social media.

Remember, some of these activities will likely count as lobbying that needs to be tracked against a 501(c)(3) public charity’s lobbying limits and could trigger state level lobbyist registration and reporting. If you have any questions about your organization’s ability to engage in advocacy around the special session, do not hesitate to reach out to our free technical assistance hotline.

Víctor Rivera Labiosa is senior bilingual counsel for Bolder Advocacy at Alliance for Justice.