89th Legislative Session Recap

Successful 89th Legislative Session!

Monday, June 2nd marked the end of an eventful and highly productive 89th Legislative Session. LeadingAge Texas worked tirelessly on issues impacting non-profit aging services providers, and continued investments were made as a result. All of our high-priority bills crossed the finish line.

Thanks to your advocacy and support, LeadingAge Texas members helped pass legislation to preserve longstanding charitable tax exemptions, increase Medicaid reimbursement, modernize the continuing care retirement community statute, and guarantee due process for facility survey determinations.

Considering the number of bills and the significance of these bills, this has been our most successful session in over 25 years.

Below is a list of LeadingAge Texas priority bills sent to the Governor’s desk:

SB 1 | General Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Years 2026 – 2027
The budget includes approximately $533M (all funds) to increase Medicaid reimbursement to nursing facilities. 

HB 2525 | Preserve Charitable Tax Exemptions for Charitable Organizations Serving the Elderly
Creates a new pathway to charitable tax exemption (4% test), and new definitions of charity tailored to senior housing, for nonprofit organizations who have provided charitable housing and services in Texas for at least 20 years, or who are under common control of a nonprofit organization that has provided charitable housing and services for the last 20 years.

SB 457 | Ensuring Transparency in State Funds for Nursing Homes
Adds an additional $12/day to the Medicaid base rate and ensures that at least 80% of funds for patient care expenses are spent on patient care expenses, instead of shareholder dividends.

SB 1522 | Modernization of the Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) Statute
Updates the CCRC statute to clarify that a care continuum may exclude skilled nursing, or may include skilled nursing  via a third-party, without jeopardizing licensure,. The bill also increases consumer protection by requiring disclosure by unlicensed communities that charge upfront fees, by prohibiting advertisement as a CCRC without licensure, and by affording the TDI Commissioner greater oversight into land ownership of a CCRC.

SB 2269 | Ensuring Due Process for Long-Term Care Communities During the Survey Process
Guarantees that a decision made by MPRO (Michigan Peer Review Organization) during the Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process is binding and cannot be dismissed by the Health & Human Services Commission (HHSC) with regard to state citations and resulting state remedies.

HB 3595 | Preserving Regional Flexibility for Emergency Preparedness Planning
Codifies emergency preparedness requirements that afford communities the opportunity to craft region-conscious protocols to ensure the health and safety of senior Texans.

We look forward to continuing the conversation with members during our upcoming 89th Legislative Session Recap on July 8, from 10–11 am (Virtual). During this session, we’ll take a deeper dive into the legislative proposals LeadingAge Texas helped negotiate, the issues we defended against and tracked throughout the session, and what the implementation process will look like.

Thank you for your continued support and advocacy on behalf of nonprofit aging services providers across Texas. Your engagement throughout this session made a real difference.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please contact Emiliano Romero, Director of Advocacy & Public Policy, at emiliano@leadingagetexas.org.