TX Legislative Updates

“Our Bills' Progress”

The Texas Legislature meets for just 140 days every other year – and FARFA is busy making the most of those days to pass bills. Below is a list of all our priority bills and where they are in the process.  The system is designed more to kill bills than pass them. Especially bills supported by grassroots groups fighting entrenched high-dollar lobby interests. The good news is you can help keep these bills alive!  

Check out the list below and pick two or three bills that impact you. 

• Look up your state legislators and call them.  
• Tell them you are a constituent and urge them to co-author the bills. 
• Share why you care about them in just a few sentences when you call.

The graphic below the summaries shows the process each bill has to go through, so that you can see how far they have come & what steps are left!

1. Local Meat:

SB 691 would allow farmers to sell small shares in live animals, and then use a custom-exempt slaughterhouse to process the animals.  Since access to slaughterhouses is a major barrier for small farmers, this would increase access to affordable, local meat. Read the fact sheet.

STATUS: Passed the Senate unanimously on April 3 and sent to the House. 

NEXT STEP: Waiting to get a hearing in the House Public Health Committee.

2. Cottage Foods:

SB 829  is our 4th expansion of this great law to allow people to make and sell foods in their home kitchens.  The bill contains multiple provisions: allowing for indirect sales so that cottage food operators can sell to co-ops and small mom & pop grocers; increasing the sales cap to $100,000; providing an alternative to putting your home address on the label; adding refrigerated baked goods; and providing a mechanism to stop local health departments from requiring permits or fees.  Read the fact sheet.

STATUS: Passed the Senate unanimously on April 12 and sent to the House.

NEXT STEP: Waiting to get referred to a House Committee.

3. Eggs:

HB 2945 / SB 481 would allow farmers to sell their eggs to restaurants and retailers without having to get a special grading  permit and go through the time-consuming process of weighing, measuring, and candling each egg – which have no effect on the safety or nutrition of the eggs.  Read the fact sheet.

STATUS:  HB 2945 was approved by the House Agriculture Committee on April 12.

NEXT STEP: Goes to the Calendars Committee to be scheduled for a vote on the House floor.  

4. Home Food Security & Resilience:

HB 92  protects people from city or homeowner associations bans on having gardens, rabbits, or poultry to raise food for oneself, as well as protecting the right to collect rainwater, have solar panels, and a backup generator to provide water and electricity.  Read the fact sheet.

STATUS: Passed by the House by a vote of 131 ayes to 9 nays on April 17.

NEXT STEP: Will be sent to the Senate to be referred to a Senate committee.

5. Protecting Small Produce Farms:

HB 3373 would rein in the Texas Department of Agriculture’s overreach and intrusion onto small produce farms.  The bill clarifies that the TDA cannot require registration or physical entry onto farms that are exempt under the federal rule that the agency is supposed to be administering. Read the fact sheet.

STATUS: Approved by the House Agriculture Committee and recommended for the Local & Consent Calendar.

NEXT STEP: Will be scheduled for a vote on the House floor.

6. Fair Taxes for Small Farmers:

SB 1455/ HB 3857 would help small farmers get the same property tax treatment as large ones, but faces an uphill fight due to opposition from the cities that fear loss of tax revenues. Read the fact sheet.

STATUS: HB 3857 was heard by the House Ways & Means Committee on 4/17 and left pending.  SB 1455 has not had a hearing yet.

NEXT STEP:  A vote by the House committee.

One of the most effective things you can do to help is call your state legislators. The call can be just a couple of minutes long, and it truly makes a difference!  

Look up your state legislators here!