Texas lawmakers will clap back at cities that attempt to thwart new laws intended to ease the state’s housing affordability crunch, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt said Wednesday.

Texas legislators passed a slew of bills this year aimed at tackling high home prices and rents by rolling back local regulations and allowing more homes to be built.

Several suburban cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth region have particularly pushed back against a new law that allows developers to build apartment buildings and mixed-use developments in places that previously only allowed commercial development. Officials in Irving, Plano, Arlington and Frisco enacted rules intended to curb how many apartments could be built under the new law, if any.

In Irving, for example, apartment buildings that once could reach up to three stories now must be at least eight stories. If they want to build new apartments in the Dallas suburb, developers must now include amenities like swimming pools, dog parks and a workspace for remote workers among other things.

Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who shepherded the housing bills this session, called such moves “preposterous” and said lawmakers would pass a bill to stop such behavior by cities when lawmakers reconvene in 2027, though he did not give specifics about what such a bill would look like.

“All Irving is doing is just moving that development out of their city to all the other cities around it,” Bettencourt said. “They’re really hurting themselves.”

Bettencourt made the remarks during a wide-ranging discussion with Matthew Watkins, Texas Tribune editor-in-chief, at Lone Star College-University Park in Houston.

Property taxes

State lawmakers gave bigger breaks to homeowners and business owners on the taxes they pay to Texas public schools this year, but voters in November’s constitutional amendments election will have the final say on whether those breaks take effect.

One amendment would boost the state’s homestead exemption, or the amount of a home’s value that can’t be taxed to pay for public schools, from $100,000 to $140,000. A separate measure would give even bigger breaks to homeowners above the age of 65 or living with disabilities.

“If you paid a lifetime of taxes, you deserve a break,” Bettencourt said.

Business owners would see relief on the taxes they pay on their inventory.

Texas lawmakers have committed a hefty $51 billion toward property tax cuts over the next two years, maintaining cuts passed in previous years and paying for cuts enacted this year. State budget watchers and tax-cut skeptics have worried the state couldn’t afford that amount should the state’s economy, which has slowed this year amid the Trump administration’s aggressive trade policies, hit a real rough patch.

Texas lawmakers would have to find ways to pay for tax breaks enshrined in the state Constitution, like the homestead exemption, Bettencourt said. It’s not clear what would happen to billions of dollars’ worth of property tax breaks that aren’t guaranteed by the Constitution, including billions sent to school districts to replace money that otherwise would have been collected via local property taxes.

Free speech on college campuses

Bettencourt spoke briefly about a pair of committees appointed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows to explore civil discourse and free speech issues at universities. Patrick and Burrows named the committees in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who gained his following by speaking on college campuses. Officials said those committees were formed in the spirit of “honoring (Kirk’s) life and legacy.”

At the same time, Texas Republicans have sought consequences for those who have mocked Kirk’s death. Texas State University officials expelled a student at Gov. Greg Abbott’s urging after the student taunted other students who were mourning his death — a move legal experts said could violate the First Amendment.

Bettencourt said he wants to hear from that student when the committee meets, though he also said: “We cannot condone assassination.”

“I can’t say that people can’t express their opinions, but I can say you can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater,” Bettencourt said. “So we’re going to look at that balance.”

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