{"id":103595,"date":"2025-12-29T13:11:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T13:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/103595\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T13:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T13:11:08","slug":"new-texas-laws-that-go-into-effect-on-jan-1-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/103595\/","title":{"rendered":"New Texas Laws that go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

houston \u2013 More than 30 laws go into effect in January<\/a> in Texas, bringing significant changes that will impact Texans across business, law enforcement, housing, technology and more.<\/p>\n

Local immigration enforcement agreements<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 8 <\/a>requires sheriffs in counties with jails to enter into agreements with the federal government to allow local law enforcement to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with immigration enforcement in detention facilities. Supporters say the law enhances cooperation, while critics have raised concerns about community trust in law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Bill speeds up eviction process for squatters<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 38<\/a> is aimed at speeding up eviction cases, particularly involving individuals who are occupying property without legal right. The law simplifies and expedites procedures in justice courts so that unauthorized occupants \u2014 sometimes referred to in headlines as \u201csquatters\u201d \u2014 can be removed more quickly. It also clarifies timelines and limits certain procedural delays, though tenants maintain basic notice and court rights. The bill seeks to be more friendly to landlords, while preserving basic notice and appeal processes.<\/p>\n

Bill streamlines unemployment claims<\/p>\n

House Bill 3699<\/a> could help people get money faster when they file for unemployment. The bill changes how initial claims under the unemployment compensation system are handled. The bill streamlines and modifies the process for filing and processing unemployment claims.<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence oversight<\/p>\n

House Bill 149 <\/a>creates a state regulatory framework for artificial intelligence systems, including restrictions on harmful or discriminatory uses of AI and requirements for disclosure when AI is used in certain contexts. This law reflects growing statewide attention to AI risks and innovation governance.<\/p>\n

Digital platforms and age verification<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 2420<\/a> \u2014 known as the App Store Accountability Act \u2014 was set to require app platforms to verify user age and secure parental consent for minors before downloads or in-app purchases. However, a federal court has blocked enforcement of this law ahead of its implementation, citing First Amendment concerns, and the state is expected to appeal.<\/p>\n

Tax code changes for local governments after natural disasters<\/p>\n

House Bill 30<\/a> targets tax code changes allowing for a \u201cDisaster Debris Rate\u201d to address costs and repairs for local governments following natural disasters. The legislation also prevents local governments from temporarily raising property taxes above the normal voter-approved limit without holding an election in the year after a disaster, according to Texas Legislature Online (TLO).<\/p>\n

Relating to declination, cancellation, or nonrenewal of insurance policies<\/p>\n

House Bill 2067<\/a> requires insurers to always give written reasons when they decline, cancel, or refuse to renew regulated insurance policies. The bill also mandates insurers regularly report those reasons by ZIP code to the Texas Department of Insurance, which must post summaries online.<\/p>\n

Business tax relief<\/p>\n

House Bill 9<\/a> provides a major tax break for business owners by raising the amount of business property exempt from local property taxes. Under the new law, businesses can exclude up to $125,000 worth of inventory, equipment and other tangible property from their property tax bill, offering relief to small and medium enterprises throughout the state. <\/p>\n

A full list of bills scheduled to take effect can also be found through the Texas Legislature\u2019s official effective-dates listing.<\/a><\/p>\n

800 new laws took effect on Sept. 1, 2025. This included Senate Bill 2<\/a>, which helped push forward the state\u2019s private school vouchers program.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"houston \u2013 More than 30 laws go into effect in January in Texas, bringing significant changes that will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[46941,27,29,36048,46940,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-103595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-state-capitol","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-texas-headlines","11":"tag-texas-laws","12":"tag-texas-laws-january-2026","13":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}