As per reports, the Texas Legislature’s new laws including key tax code revisions, a host of bills targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and several education-related measures take effect from Monday (01 January).
• The tax code revision laws include 19 total measures became active. Two key bills address appraisal review boards, which determine property taxes for homes within assigned appraisal districts.
• HB796 creates a publicly available Internet database of information related to hearings conducted by the appraisal review boards. HB4101 establishes a set of rules aimed at protecting appraisal review board protests.
• Texas Republicans targeted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives during this summer’s legislative session by passing a blanket ban on DEI initiatives at all public universities and institutions of higher learning in Texas.
• The SB17 law bans public colleges and universities from promoting policies or procedures designed or implemented in reference to race, color, or ethnicity and specifically bans schools from establishing or maintaining a diversity, equity and inclusion office.
• Several new laws related to public school safety curriculum, school safety have taken effect, wherein SB10 gives teachers who are active members of the Texas Teacher Retirement System a cost-of-living adjustment. SB2124 requires districts to create and implement advanced math programs starting in middle school.
• Texas legislators also passed HB473, wherein the bill establishes parents’ rights to be notified if their child is the subject of a “threat assessment” conducted by a public school’s threat assessment and safe and supportive school team.
• Texas legislators also passed HB614, which requires property owners’ associations that levy fines to adopt an enforcement policy that includes restrictive covenants, a schedule of fines, and information on hearings. The association must also provide a copy of the policy to each owner annually and make the policy available online.
• Additionally, the SB1780 sets out provisions and revises current law to provide for the online notarization by an online notary public of tangible instruments or electronic documents that are notarized by the online notary public with a tangible symbol and not an electronic signature.
