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2025 was a jam-packed year in Texas politics. It began with the election of a new House speaker for a regular legislative session that saw Gov. Greg Abbott secure his landmark private school voucher program and Republicans check off priorities ranging from tighter bail laws to a ban on land sales to people from certain foreign countries.
The year also brought the devastating July 4 Hill Country floods, which killed over 130 people, including dozens of children and counselors at Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River. Lawmakers responded by passing a series of bipartisan bills meant to bolster the state’s flood infrastructure and disaster response and improve the safety of camps located in or near floodplains.
