Texas laws going into effect on January 1, 2024
A new year is right around the corner and plenty of new laws are going into effect in Texas.
31 new bills and new sections for 13 other bills will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Many of the laws have to deal with taxes.
You can dive deeper into each of the bills here, but here are a few of the more interesting ones.
Cost of Living Adjustment for Retired Teachers
The Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 10 earlier this year to give members of the Texas Teacher Retirement System a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
There is a 2 percent COLA for eligible retirees who retired between September 1, 2013, through August 31, 2020, a 4 percent COLA for eligible retirees who retired between September 1, 2001, through August 31, 2013 and a 6 percent COLA for eligible retirees who retired on or before August 31, 2001.
The new law also called for a one-time payment of $2,400 for TRS retirees and beneficiaries who are at least 70 years old.
The payment for people 75 and older was $7,500.
The one-time stipends were paid in Sept. 2023.
According to the Texas Retired Teachers Association, 186,000 TRS retirees will get $7,500 and 104,000 TRS retirees pocketed $2,400.
The total cost of the payments is believed to cost $1.636 billion, according to the Legislative Budget Board.
Texas University Fund
In November, Texas voters approved Proposition 5.
The constitutional amendment gives millions of dollars to support research at state universities.
With the constitutional amendment approved, House Bill 1595 renames the National Research University Fund to the Texas University Fund (TUF).
The bill would establish Texas State University, Texas Tech University, the University of Houston, and the University of North Texas as general academic teaching institutions eligible to receive distributions from TUF for each fiscal year.
Limits on Appraisal Increases
Texas voters overwhelmingly approved the biggest property tax rebate in history this November.
The most-talked about part of the Senate Bill 2, which permanently raises of the homestead exemption on local school taxes from $40,000 to $100,000 per year, went into effect immediately after it was approved by Texas voters, but Article 4 of the bill goes into effect on Jan. 1.
Article 4 of the bill limits appraisal value increases for non-homesteaded properties valued at less than $5 million to 20 percent per year.
That means if your property was valued at 100,000 last year and is appraised at $125,000 this year, your taxes will be based on a value of $120,000.
Homestead properties still have a 10 percent appraised value cap.
E-Cigarette Marketing
New restrictions are going into place that would change how electronic cigarettes are marketed.
House Bill 4758 makes it a Class B misdemeanor for any marketing, advertising, selling, or causing to be sold an e‑cigarette product, including any substance containing nicotine from any source that is intended for use in an e‑cigarette, in certain containers that are designed to appeal to minors.
State Song License Plate
You could soon see some new license plates on Texas roads.
House Bill 2323 amends the transportation code to allow for the creation of specialty licenses plates commemorating the 100th anniversary of the writing of the state song "Texas, Our Texas."
Appraisal District Online Database
House Bill 796 amends the Tax Code to require the chief appraiser of each appraisal district to create, maintain and annually update a searchable Internet database containing information about protest hearings, including the determination of the protest.