Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed 26 bills Sunday — from one that would have banned the sale of virtually all hemp products containing THC, to another that would have created a multistate cosmetology licensing program.
Some of the proposed laws rejected by Abbott, including the would-be ban on THC products, will be the focus of a special legislative session he has called for July 21. This year’s regular session ended early this month.
Below is a list of the bills vetoed by Abbott, along with his reasons for preventing the legislation from becoming law.
This legislation would have banned the sale of virtually all hemp products in Texas that contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound in cannabis.
In his veto proclamation, Abbott said the bill would not address ongoing substance abuse issues. Abbott has added SB 3 to the upcoming special session agenda and is advocating for increased regulation of THC rather than a full ban.
"Passing a law is not the same thing as actually solving a problem," he said. "Texas needs a bill that is enforceable and will make our communities safer today, rather than years from now."
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This legislation would have given a defendant who had previously been deemed incompetent 14 days to raise any evidentiary or procedural issues before a case could move to trial. Abbott, in his veto proclamation, said the bill was too broad and that its 14-day timeline was too restrictive.
This legislation would have created a criminal offense for trespassing on or near a school or daycare property.
In his veto proclamation, Abbott said he vetoed the bill because it "would make a criminal of anyone merely present near a school or day-care center — even absent an unlawful or threatening act."
This legislation would not have allowed people charged with a class B misdemeanor or more serious crime to be held in jail before their trial longer than the sentence they could receive if found guilty.
While Abbott said HB 413 is "common-sense" reform, he also said the legislation lacked safeguards.
"The protection of liberty must be balanced with clarity, accountability and public safety. This bill fails to strike that balance," he said in his veto proclamation.
This legislation would have made it unlawful to produce or distribute sexually explicit media created using "deep fake" technology. The bill defines deep fake media as a visual depiction of an individual created using artificial intelligence that is indistinguishable from the real person.
Abbott said he vetoed HB 449 because a similar "more comprehensive" bill — Senate Bill 441 — related to deep fake media also passed during the legislation.
This legislation would have established a multistate cosmetology licensing program, which would have allowed those with a cosmetology license to practice in participating states without having to receive a license from each jurisdiction.
Abbott argued in his veto proclamation that the legislation would have encroached on Texas' state sovereignty.
"While I appreciate that the bill's authors added language that attempts to protect state sovereignty, this is no guarantee that the Compact Commission will respect that language, or that it will refrain from making changes in the future that hurt Texans," Abbott said.
Abbott also said out-of-state cosmetology licensees can already seek a reciprocal license in Texas.
This legislation would have required that a public notice be given when a permit is filed for the transfer of groundwater out of a groundwater conservation district.
Citing the ongoing water shortages across the state, Abbott said he vetoed the legislation because it would have created another regulatory hurdle to obtain groundwater.
"State law already authorizes groundwater conservation districts to adopt rules necessary to manage groundwater resources, including rules for public notice and hearings on groundwater permits," he said in the veto proclamation.
This legislation would have created the Texas Commission of Teacher Job Satisfaction and Retention to make recommendations to, as the name suggests, increase the retention of teachers throughout the state.
Abbott said he vetoed this legislation because he had an issue with the commission being under the executive branch and that it would not have to follow other hiring regulations.
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"It is unconstitutional for a different branch, by appointment or otherwise, to superintend the exercise of executive power," he said in his veto proclamation. "The stated purpose of this bill can be achieved without expending additional state funding, removing important contracting requirements, or transgressing the Texas Constitution's separation of powers."
This legislation would have required school board managers appointed by the Texas Education Agency to abide by the Open Meetings Act, but Abbott vetoed it, arguing that TEA-appointed board members are already subject to the law.
This legislation would have required residential child detention facilities to seek a Memorandum of Understanding with a local government that includes plans for reporting and preventing illness, conducting quarterly inspections, safely evacuating residents and reporting periodically on occupancy and facility incidents.
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Abbott said in his veto proclamation that, due to President Donald Trump's immigration policy, now would not be the right time to enact such legislation.
"But these sorts of arrangements [child detention facilities] should be things of the past," he said. "While making the border more secure than ever before, President Trump has also reduced the trafficking of unaccompanied minors. ... Given all this change, now is not the right time to adjust the rules governing such facilities."
This legislation would have allowed private property owners to dedicate their groundwater to the Texas Water Trust, which regulates water rights for environmental purposes under the Texas Water Development Board.
Abbott said in his veto proclamation that he is against the legislation because it "fails to explain" how groundwater would be transferred to a trust that mainly deals with surface water.
This legislation was related to the disclosure of confidential juvenile records to a managed assigned counsel program. Abbott did not provide any reason for rejecting the bill in his veto proclamation.
This legislation would have allowed the Johnson County Special Utility District to fund construction projects without approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ). Abbott vetoed this bill because it would be "fiscally inefficient" to allow the district to build infrastructure without input from TCEQ, according to his veto proclamation.
This legislation would have required that complaints against health care practitioners be forwarded to the regulatory board that issued the practitioner’s license. Abbott said he vetoed the bill because it would have inadvertently made the complaint process more complicated by preventing non-licensee boards from addressing complaints.
"The Medical Board, for example, should not be prohibited from issuing a cease-and-desist order for unlicensed medical practice simply because the specific practice at issue is also regulated by another board," he said in the veto proclamation.
This legislation would have prohibited barbers or cosmetologists from making an incision into a person's skin.
Abbott vetoed this bill because it could cause a barber or cosmetologist to lose their license for accidentally cutting someone with a razor, according to the veto proclamation.
This legislation would have allowed the Texas Forensic Science Commission to refer certain criminal cases to the Texas Office of Capital and Forensic Writs (OCFW), which was created in 2010 to ensure the constitutionality of death penalty cases.
In his veto proclamation, Abbott said he was against the bill because it would encourage convicted criminals to try and use the legislation to have their conviction reviewed again after exhausting their appeals.
This legislation would have strengthened protections against title and deed fraud, but Abbott said it would place too much burden on low-income landowners.
"Although Senate Bill No. 648 seeks to strengthen protections, it does so by imposing barriers that will burden low-income Texans, rural residents and those handling family land without legal assistance," he said in the veto proclamation.
Abbott has added SB 648 as one of the items on the agenda for his upcoming special session.
This legislation would have allowed public school teachers to serve on an appraisal district's appraisal review board.
Abbott said he vetoed the bill because it could interfere with the board's judgment or the perception of its judgment.
The Governor's University Research Initiative helps public institutions of higher education recruit distinguished researchers. SB 1032 would have expanded this to include private institutions.
Abbott vetoed the bill because it did not fully fund the program, but he said in the veto proclamation that he would reconsider the bill if a future version fully funded it.
This legislation would have changed the fees for certain water projects, but Abbott vetoed it because he said it singled out property owners in one specific groundwater conservation district, according to the veto proclamation.
This legislation would have protected victims of human trafficking or forced prostitution from being prosecuted.
While Abbott said he supports the general idea, the legislation was too broad and could have opened up a loophole for victims to avoid any prosecution, not just those related to forced illegal acts, according to the veto proclamation.
Abbott has also added this bill to his special session agenda.
This legislation dealt with the appointment of certain court-appointed attorneys, known as attorneys ad litem, and their compensation. Abbott said in his veto proclamation that the legislation would have "invited attorneys appointed ad litem to argue with the courts that appointed them — at the taxpayer’s expense — about how much money they are owed."
This legislation would have mandated nuclear DNA testing in every capital case and required laboratory experts to participate in pretrial meetings and hearings. In his veto proclamation, Abbott said the bill could inadvertently delay justice by limiting "evidentiary tools available to hold murderers accountable.”
This legislation would have required courts to appoint counsel in post-conviction habeas proceedings any time a habeas petitioner has a potential claim.
Abbott said in his veto proclamation that this legislation would have encouraged convicted criminals to try and use the legislation to have their conviction reviewed again after exhausting their appeals.
This legislation would have given impoverished parents more freedom to select legal counsel in child custody-related proceedings. Abbott said in his veto proclamation that the bill went too far and would have allowed a parent to keep selecting a new public defender over and over again, ultimately delaying the legal proceedings.
This legislation would have made changes to a wide number of procedures in the judicial branch. Abbott, in his veto proclamation, said the bill did not receive adequate consideration during the legislative session.
Abbott also said he agrees with most of the bill and has added it as an item for the upcoming special session.
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