Speaker Burrows dropped 150+ interim charges across 25 committees this week. Everything from data center water use to oyster mariculture. Most of it won't touch your business. About a dozen charges will. Here's what I'm watching.

Data Centers Got Their Own Charge

State Affairs #9 is a standalone data center study, and the language tells you where the Speaker's head is: "global competitiveness," "growth multiplier effects," "streamline regulations." He wants data centers built in Texas.

But don't skip the caveat. The same sentence says "enabling communities to plan and manage growth responsibly." That's the pushback from counties dealing with siting fights, construction traffic, and water draw. The committee won't just study streamlining. It'll study the friction too.

State Affairs #9 also directs the committee to review SB 6 implementation and the ERCOT Large Load Batch Study Process. If you're in the interconnection queue, these hearings are your chance to tell the committee what's working and what isn't. Written testimony counts. In-person testimony counts more.

Separately, Natural Resources #5 examines data center water use, specifically in "water-stressed regions." Two committees studying the same industry from different directions means hearings are coming. Your testimony matters in both rooms.

I wrote a full breakdown of the data center, grid, water, and nuclear charges. Read the analysis here.

For the complete series: Interim Charges Hub.

The Money Fight: Property Tax and Tax Incentives

Ways and Means #2 is the one to read carefully. It studies property tax relief, whether the appraisal system is "working as intended," and, critically, "the impact of exemptions." That's the committee asking whether tax incentive programs actually deliver. If you've used Chapter 312 or 313 abatements, or you're planning to, this study shapes the environment you'll be negotiating in.

Charge #3 goes after local government spending: certificates of obligation, fees, debt practices. The Legislature's asking how local governments fund themselves outside property taxes, and whether that spending needs a ceiling.

Here's the political subtext. Burrows favors rate compression. Patrick favors homestead exemption increases. The charges reference both approaches. That tension won't resolve before the 2027 session. It'll drive it.

Foreign Ownership and Critical Infrastructure

Homeland Security got three charges aimed squarely at foreign involvement in Texas. Charge #4 is the sharpest: it targets "remote-access technologies embedded in critical infrastructure that could enable cyber intrusion, surveillance, or disruption by foreign adversaries." If you're foreign-owned, foreign-invested, or running foreign-manufactured components in sensitive systems, this charge is about you.

Charges #2 and #3 target foreign financial networks and influence operations, with registration mandates and enforceable penalties. State Affairs #6 examines H-1B patterns, IP theft, and access to sensitive systems. Higher Education #4 adds foreign adversary protections in research institutions.

Four charges, three committees, one direction. Both chambers are pointing at the same target. Patrick's Senate charges hit foreign threats too. When both chambers study the same topic, legislation's more likely in the next session. Plan accordingly.

The Regulatory Streamlining Wave

Three committees got explicit charges to reduce friction. Environmental Regulation #2 studies how to streamline permitting for air, land, water, and industrial development. Licensing #2 targets occupational licensing reform. The new Select Committee on Governmental Oversight is reviewing local ordinances under the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act for conflicts between local and state regulation.

Delivery of Government Efficiency #2 studies using AI to detect fraud, waste, and abuse. Charge #3 reviews the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act. If you're in the tech or data space, both studies will shape your compliance requirements.

The direction's clear: the House wants to make it easier to build and operate here. The question isn't whether streamlining proposals will come. It's whether your industry helps write them or reacts to them after the fact.

Healthcare Costs: New Select Committee

The Speaker created a Select Committee on Health Care Affordability with seven charges. Select committees don't happen by accident. They're the Speaker's way of saying a topic needs its own dedicated body, outside the standing committee structure.

The charges cover cost drivers, insurance design, consolidation's impact on competition, barriers for small and midsize employers, and consumer transparency. If you're an employer dealing with plan costs, or a healthcare company operating in Texas, this committee's work will inform the 2027 agenda.

What It All Adds Up To

Here's the pattern across 25 committees and three select committees: the House is studying a pro-development, pro-security, pro-efficiency agenda. Build more. Restrict foreign influence. Cut regulatory friction. Hold local governments accountable on spending.

The charges that matter most for the 2027 session are the ones where both chambers align. Property tax. Foreign threats. Government oversight. Those three areas have parallel charges in the House and Senate. That's where legislation is most likely.

Interim hearings are when the 2027 session agenda takes shape. The testimony gets heard, the relationships get built, and the committee reports get written before a single bill is filed. You're either in the room when that happens, or you're reading about it afterward.

Read the full interim charges analysis | 512.543.4971

The Speaker Just Told You Where to Show Up