Summary of the 1999 Legislative Session

The 1999 Legislature passed 95 bills that can be characterized as regulatory reform, far more than in any other recent session. The 1997 session passed only 28 regulatory reform bills, and 13 were passed in the 1995 session.

In 1999, legislation covered a wide variety of subjects and included a number of Texas Performance Review (TPR) recommendations. The most significant bills of the past three sessions deregulated the telephone industry and electric industry and established a comprehensive statewide water plan.

Additional regulatory reform bills were adopted or amended to make paying taxes easier, to assist small businesses, and to allow state agencies to adjust matching fund requirements for economically disadvantaged counties.

In addition, every state agency was required to "sunset" review all regulations every four years with the intention of repealing as many regulations as possible.