On New Year’s Day, Texas will wake up with 30 new laws passed by the Texas Legislation during 2023. Nineteen of those are related to taxes and among the remaining 11 is the controversial SB 17 which bans diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in public institutions of higher education. 

In February 2023, Gov. Abbott sent a warning telling state agencies that DEI policies unfairly benefit some groups to the detriment of others by considering factors other than merit in hiring decisions, prompting several universities in the state to pause their DEI initiatives. On March 2023, SB 17 was filed to the Texas Senate while a companion bill HB 512 was filed in the Texas House of Representatives.

After the legislation was passed in mid-June 2023, Texas became the second state to ban higher education institutions from implementing DEI policies. Once the law goes into effect on Jan. 1, universities won’t be able to create diversity offices nor require applicants to undergo DEI training as a hiring requirement, instead, they’ll have to use “color-blind and sex-neutral hiring processes.”

A second law relates to higher education. HB 1595 was the result of the Legislature’s effort to support the state’s higher education institutions by expanding funding beyond UT and Texas A&M university systems, the sole beneficiaries of the Permanent University Fund. According to the Austin American-Statesman, the two academic institutions are Texas’ only listings ranked among the top 100 universities by research and development expenditures. In comparison, California has nine universities.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2024, the National Research University Fund will become the Texas University Fund (TUF) and qualified universities will be entitled to participate in the funding. The universities currently qualified include Texas State University, Texas Tech University, University of Houston and the University of North Texas.

A law passed in June protecting children from electronic cigarette ads. HB 4578 makes advertising, marketing and selling e-cigarettes to children a criminal offense resulting in a Class B misdemeanor. According to the text of the law, containers that depict cartoon-like fictional characters, mimic trademarks or trade dresses of products primarily aimed at children, have an image resembling food like juice and candy or include the image of a celebrity would be considered as breaking the law. 

For a complete list of all the laws going into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, click here.

[Story courtesy of Virginia Mingorance / localprofile.com]