During the 88th legislative session, YI Texas fought for equity in higher education, adequate mental health resources, supports for parenting students, student debt relief and accessible healthcare. We saw monumental investments in community college finance, workforce development, and increased support for parents–both in healthcare and higher education.
We brought nearly 100 young adults to the Capitol at our Deep in the Heart of Advocacy day in April where we advocated on five key policies. During this session we brought over 1,300 young people to the Capitol, testified 20 times, tracked over 175 pieces of legislation and had 20 bills passed and signed by the Governor.
Legislative Wins:
Higher Education
This was a monumental session for higher education, community colleges and students. Student outcomes, expanded financial aid, updated policies to clear academic pathways, emphasized workforce needs, and an ensured stable funding structure for community colleges were priorities this session.
Community College Finance Reform: HB 8
HB 8 was a priority bill for YI. It aims to support Texans in pursuing affordable pathways to education and addresses the growing skilled workforce shortage by providing more opportunities to earn credentials in high-demand, high-wage fields. The bill allocated $691 million towards improving affordability and outcomes for community college students across Texas, with a particular focus on low-income students and adult learners.
Throughout the process of developing this legislation, current and former community college students played a significant role. Texas Postsecondary Advocates Coalition for Equity (PACE) worked to assemble the Texas Community College Student Advisory Council, a group of over a dozen students that YI helped empower and activate leading up to–and throughout–this legislative session. This group actively informed and advocated for the policy proposals included in the commission’s recommendations (in which they wrote a nod to our amazing advocates) and the new law, proving to be instrumental in ensuring the inclusion of student perspectives and needs. You can watch videos of our advocates testifying here: Victoria’s testimony (1:24), Angel testimony & Chelsea testimony begins around (1:50)
SB 1887 called for a wider adoption and implementation of the Field of Study curricula developed under the Texas Transfer Framework. This bill aims to streamline the transfer process, ensure that students’ credits are recognized and accepted by receiving institutions, and minimize the need for students to retake courses.
HB 4005 established the Texas Competency-Based Education Grant Program, which aims to provide grants or financial assistance to eligible students enrolled in competency-based bachelor’s degree programs.
Mental Health:
Students and young adults helped inform YI’s mental health recommendations, which were reflected in a report we released early on this session called, “More Than Self Care: Students Speaking Out for Mental Health.” YI advocated for legislative action toward student mental health support on college campuses and supported the work of the Hogg Foundation and other mental health organizations through the collaborative work in the Texas Coalition for Healthy Minds.
HB 3631 requires higher education institutions to highlight mental health locations on orientation tours and provide additional mental health service information, including maps to service locations, to students. This language was successfully added on as an amendment to SB 532, which improved and included mental health in the medical assistance repayment program and was signed by the Governor. Watch our testimony on HB 3631 here (1:37:02).
HB 2100 is a dedicated bill for student loan repayment assistance for certain mental health professionals.
Parenting Students: HB 1361 and SB 459
For the third session, YI championed a policy (HB 1361) to appoint parenting-student liaisons at every public college campus in Texas, a critical resource to ensure parenting students are made aware of and have access to services, and ensure that institutions collect data on this understudied population. We also worked to support additional bills, such as SB 459, which would allow parenting-students to register early for classes. Watch our testimonies: Naomi (timestamp: 1:50:50) Kasey (9:10)
Healthcare
With the current state of reproductive rights, this session we continued to build on our efforts to reduce maternal mortality, and to support continuity of care for those enrolled in Healthy Texas Women, CHIP, and Medicaid.
Women’s Health
SB 379 was signed into law, effectively repealing the “tampon tax”, allowing diapers, maternity clothes and menstrual products to be sales tax-free.’
We were also thrilled to see $2,614,100 in General Revenue each fiscal year allocated to the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) specifically designated to fund patient navigators at providers participating in women’s health programs.
Postpartum Medicaid Expansion: HB 12
HB 12 extended postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to twelve months to support the well-being of women and their children.
YI has advocated for this for multiple years and we were happy to see after close attempts to finalize this bill into law over the past three sessions, HB 12 passed with bipartisan support and was signed by Governor Abbott. The final version of the bill allows the state to seek fast-track approval from the federal government to implement the extended postpartum coverage quickly. This marks a significant step forward in improving postpartum care and addressing maternal mortality rates.
The bipartisan bill requires health benefit plans to allow women with a prescription to receive a 12-month supply of their birth control in a single pharmacy visit. Signing this bill into law will hopefully increase access and convenience for women by reducing the need for frequent trips to the pharmacy to refill their prescriptions.
Workforce
This session, YI worked to further our priority of affordable higher education by focusing our efforts on college completion and workforce. In Texas, there has been an increasing amount of interest in alternative pathways to get young adults the credentials they need to fulfill crucial workforce gaps.
Apprenticeships: HB 4451
This bill aims to address the shortage of apprenticeship programs in Texas by requiring a new annual legislative report, which would focus on expanding the availability of apprenticeships in emerging, high-demand industries across the state. Additionally, through the budget, there was language to help coordinate apprenticeship funding by eliminating and simplifying administrative barriers to increase the availability of work based learning programs in Texas. YI is thrilled to see the passage of these bills, as it echoes our 2022 Women in Apprenticeship report’s calls to recognize the importance of apprenticeships as an opportunity that combines on-the-job training and skills-intensive instruction.
Civic Engagement:
While we were not able to have our voices heard on any “good” elections bills, we did manage to block destructive bills.
SB 2 would make “illegal voting” a criminal offense.
SB 1600 would require a proof of citizenship to vote.
HB 2390 which would have prohibited polling place locations on higher education campuses.
Legislative Misses:
Higher Education:
Although these bills were not given a hearing and we were disappointed to not have the opportunity to discuss the importance of student debt and its impacts on young adults, we were relieved to see there were no attempts to make the state of student debt, or its consequences, worse.
Student Debt:
SB 642/HB 1044 would ban institutions from refusing to give students their transcripts, even if they are in default and would have required institutions to charge students the same fee for their transcripts, despite default status.
SB 548 took the first step in trying to reduce student debt by limiting the amount of tuition charged the upcoming academic year to the 2023-2024 rates.
HB 4935 would have made it so that institutions would have to notify their employees that they may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and broadened the scope of what hours would count towards PSLF.
HB 306 would designate that institutions release transcripts if students have made a “good faith effort” to make payments on their debt and stipulates that the student would have to pay their debts eventually.
Healthcare:
Texas is the largest state in the nation not to expand Medicaid, leaving significant implications for the state’s estimated 5.2 million uninsured population. Without Medicaid expansion, many Texans fall into the “coverage gap”, which often disproportionately impacts rural and marginalized communities and individuals with limited financial resources.
Women’s Health:
HB 2642/HB 3689 would require public institutions of higher education to provide information regarding women’s health programs to students, so that students can become more aware of the resources and support available for their health needs.
Contraceptives:
SB 123 would have allowed abortions if necessary to preserve the pregnant patient ’s life.
HB 2853 would have authorized a statewide order issued by the commissioner of state health services to authorize emergency contraceptives.
HB 4137 would have made non-prescription contraceptive methods, including condoms and emergency contraception available free of charge through automated vending machines.
HB 3337 would have required public institutions of higher education to provide free menstrual products.
Civic Engagement
This session we wanted to prioritize modernizing elections and expanding access to polls via inclusivity of using Student ID’s to vote and adding polling locations on campus. We are largely disappointed in the lack of efforts from the legislature to push forward the designation of polling place locations on the campuses of certain academic teaching institutions.
HB 2062, an elections administration and conduct bill which would change the order in which candidates appear on the ballot, making it so local offices appear sooner and federal last.
HB 644/ SB 118 both sought to designate polling locations on college campuses
HB 1477/HB 75 aimed to expand the acceptance of high school and college IDs as acceptable forms of identification for voting.
Conclusion:
Overall, this session made great strides for mental health resources, community colleges, postpartum Medicaid coverage, and parenting students. We were thrilled to work with so many legislative offices, state commissions, and nongovernmental organizations. While we brought several bills to the Governor’s desk, some important items such as policies to help clarify the abortion ban in Texas and to address student debt, serious investment in mental health, and medicaid expansion, did not move forward. We also saw blatant attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, banning of DEI in higher education, and policies to further confuse and restrict voting rights in Texas.
Young Invincibles will continue to fight for equitable policies and uplift the voices of young adults in every aspect of our work. This legislative session helped create the foundation for several bills to succeed in future sessions.