The 85th Legislative Session was one of the most challenging for municipal government in recent history. Despite an environment that at times seemed hostile to the idea of local control, the City of Houston’s Government Relations team proposed an ambitious agenda to improve the services of municipal government. The details of the bills that passed and failed are the subject of this report.

However, a listing of wins and losses would not accurately reflect the narrative of both how and why our team focused their specific efforts. The story of the session should reflect the collective efforts of the individuals who worked on behalf of the City of Houston. My thanks are due to the City Legislative Ad-Hoc Advisory Group, the legislative liaisons, those who testified before committees, and the members of the Houston lobby team.

This report is organized to reflect the Government Relations team’s efforts in Major Legislative Battles, our Legislative Priorities, and Behavioral Health Advocacy.

To better illustrate the city’s work this session, the Government Relations team has worked to include video clips of testimony on key measures. Telling the story of how policy recommendations were debated and decided will help better inform governments at various levels understand the importance of the City of Houston’s Legislative Priorities and Principles.

We hope you enjoy this report, bookmark it in your browser, and find it useful as a reference.

Sincerely,

Mayor Sylvester Turner