Eight to nine thousand. That is how many bills, according to the city’s government affairs director, get filed in a Texas legislative session. San Antonio cannot read them all with equal care. So every two years the city writes down what it wants, and what it will fight.
The San Antonio City Council votes on that list, the State Legislative Program for the 90th Texas Legislature, on Thursday, Oct. 29. It is item 6 on the A Session agenda, up for individual consideration rather than tucked into the consent agenda. The session it is written for opens Jan. 12, 2027, and lawmakers can start pre-filing bills on Nov. 9, 2026, 11 days after the vote.
The four things at the top
The agenda memo (file 26-224900, packet pages 9 and 10) names four top priorities. The draft program attached to it spells each one out.
1. CPS Energy and the San Antonio Water System. The city wants to protect “the municipal utility model” by preserving local ownership, governance and financial sustainability. The operative sentence: the City “opposes legislation that adversely affects municipally owned utilities and reduces the City’s return on investment.” Ojo: the program does not say how large that return is.
2. A Downtown Sports and Entertainment District. The city will “support legislation, funding opportunities, and innovative financing mechanisms” for a mixed-use district downtown. The program does not name a dollar figure or a financing tool. Puro SA’s Oct. 24 story covered the district’s return to Council at the Oct. 28 B Session; the legislative program is where the ask for state help is written down.
3. Flood infrastructure. Legislation and funding for regional flood resilience in San Antonio and Bexar County, “an area known as ‘Flash Flood Alley.'”
4. The South Texas Parkway. A proposed multi-lane corridor connecting IH-35 and IH-37 between IH-410 and Loop 1604.
The staff presentation from the Oct. 7 briefing marks the arena district and flood priorities as NEW. The order changed, too. The Oct. 7 memo listed the parkway first and CPS Energy and SAWS last; the Oct. 29 memo reverses that. Neither memo says whether the order means anything.
What else is in it
Below the top four, the program lists positions in five issue areas. The Oct. 7 presentation flags which lines are new. Some that matter to households:
- Data centers (new). Support legislation ensuring data center development does not hurt the availability of water or electricity, “pass utility costs on to homeowners,” or harm neighborhoods. Council votes the same day, as item 5, on its own data center zoning rules.
- City debt (new). Oppose legislation “which limits the City’s ability to issue debt responsibly.”
- Local control. Protect city authority over zoning, land use, permitting, inspections and historic preservation, and oppose bills that override local officials’ “fiscal discretion” and cut city revenue.
- Health (several new). Behavioral health and crisis response, a “Centralized System for Diversion and Recovery,” homelessness, and reform of the Independent Dispute Resolution Process (see glossary).
- Military City USA. Support for the state’s DEAAG grant program and opposition to legislation that undermines the city’s ability to prevent “encroachment” near its bases.
The memo lists the fiscal impact of adopting the program as none. The cost shows up later, bill by bill, when departments analyze what filed legislation would do.
The rules behind it
The program states the legal premise in one paragraph: as a Home Rule City, San Antonio’s Council has “broad authority to govern” so long as its ordinances, policies, programs and budgets do not conflict with the Texas Constitution or state law. That is the city’s description, and the program follows from it: the city says it keeps “an active presence” during the session, registering positions on bills and proposing language. The memo describes the program as the guide staff use to decide which bills to support or oppose.
What Council members said on Oct. 7
The B Session was a briefing, with no vote. The only written record of the discussion so far is the draft minutes, which Council is scheduled to approve as item 3 on Oct. 29. They paraphrase; they do not quote. According to them:
- Councilmember Marc Whyte (District 10) expressed concern about bills that provide tax relief but cut city revenues, and urged a public dashboard showing which bills the city supports or opposes.
- Councilmember Ric Galvan (District 6) prioritized data centers and their potential costs to residents, such as higher utility bills.
- Councilmember Edward Mungia (District 4) said there is no east-west connector between Loop 410 and Loop 1604 on the South Side.
- Councilmember Sukh Kaur (District 1) said the city-owned utilities have provided consistently lower rates than privately owned markets.
- Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones noted 17 projects on the updated state flood control list and asked staff for a list of city projects, with talking points, for the San Antonio delegation.
Director Sally Basurto told Council there would be at least 24 new House members and at least 5 new senators. Councilmember Misty Spears (District 9) is listed as absent. The minutes record no one opposing the draft.
What happens next
- Oct. 29: Council votes.
- Nov. 9: Bill pre-filing begins.
- Jan. 12, 2027: Session convenes.
- March 12, 2027: Last day to file bills.
- May 31, 2027: Session adjourns. The governor’s veto period ends June 20.
A separate federal program follows: the presentation puts it before the IGR Committee in November and up for Council adoption in January or February 2027.
To speak on item 6, sign up at SASpeakUp.com. Registration closes 15 minutes before the meeting starts.
Glossary
- Home Rule City: in the program’s words, a city whose council “has broad authority to govern” as long as it doesn’t conflict with the Texas Constitution or state law.
- Unfunded mandate: the program describes these as requirements that “burden cities with costly requirements without adequate resources from the state.” It opposes them.
- Encroachment: the program uses the word for threats to the “long-term protection” of military bases but does not define it.
- IDR (Independent Dispute Resolution): the program does not define it. It says reforms would help prevent higher premiums for families and higher health benefit costs for employers.
- IGR Committee: Council’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee, chaired by Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (District 2), which approved the draft on Sept. 29.
Ahí está. Read the agenda. — Val