The Texas Legislature adjourned its regular session on June 2, 2025. NFIB State Director Jeff Burdett held a virtual event to recap the legislative session. During the event, Burdett outlined several victories, challenges, and opportunities for reform in future legislative sessions.

CLICK HERE to watch the full virtual event. CLICK HERE to read an end-of-session recap article.

Below are a handful of the small business victories, challenges, and opportunities discussed during the event.

VICTORIES

• Cutting Red-Tape for Small Businesses

Ahead of the legislative session, Burdett was named co-chair of the Small Business Freedom Council, created by Governor Greg Abbott to review government efficiency for Texas businesses. In March, the Council released a report detailing key legislative recommendations to enhance the Lone Star State’s business environment. In April, Gov. Abbott signed SB 14, legislation creating the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office which will make it easier to run a small business in the state.

• Securing Much-Needed Inventory Tax Relief

A top priority for our members across the state for many years, NFIB led the effort to increase the business personal property tax (also known as “inventory tax”) exemption from $2,500 to $125,000. The inventory tax applies to anything used in one’s business, including inventory, furniture, machinery, supplies, and more – regardless of whether a business nets a profit. We pulled out all the stops to get this across the line, including a heavy lobby effort, committee testimony, and a media issue campaign. Governor Abbott signed the bill on June 12, and now it heads to the voters in November.

• Addressing the Cost of Health Insurance

For nearly 40 years, small businesses have identified the cost of health insurance as the number one long-term small business problem. NFIB endorsed bills authored by Sen. Paul Bettencourt and Rep. Dennis Paul to bring transparency and accountability to state health care mandates. HB 138 creates transparency by establishing a process to estimate how proposed legislation will affect the cost of private health coverage.

CHALLENGES

A large part of our job is combating bad bills that are filed. Even in Texas, there were dozens of bad bills introduced this session that would have made it harder for you to own and operate your small business, including minimum wage hikes, new private causes of action, and employer mandates, such as paid family medical leave and/or paid sick leave.

Though these bills did not pass, it is safe to assume they will be reintroduced next year. NFIB will continue to oppose these bills.

OPPORTUNITIES 

• SB 30: Lawsuit Abuse Reform

This bill would have addressed the problem of “nuclear verdicts” by preventing plaintiff attorneys from presenting over-inflated medical damages in court. This would prevent minor fender-bender accidents from yielding massive judgments in court, thus helping drive down the cost of commercial insurance.

• SB 2056: Addressing Credit Card Swipe Fees

This bill would have provided transparency and competition in the credit card marketplace, which would help address the rapidly increasing rates of credit card swipe fees.

CLICK HERE to watch the full virtual event. CLICK HERE to read an end-of-session recap article.

SPECIAL SESSION

Governor Abbott announced a special session beginning July 21.  The special session call is very narrow and only addresses 6 vetoed bills. The primary focus being the legislature’s outlawing of hemp THC products. The others don’t pertain specifically to small businesses. Human trafficking, water projects, judicial branch procedures, etc. But we will keep our radar up to see if that changes.

KEY TAKEAWAY: Stay Engaged With Your State Lawmakers

While there are many pro-small business lawmakers in the Texas Legislature, your advocacy makes a difference! This session, NFIB Texas secured several important victories and warded off some harmful proposals through our direct advocacy at the Capitol in Austin. We hope you’ll continue to actively reach out and voice your concerns with lawmakers.