The 2027 Bills Are Here: A Citizen Initiative, a Gold Mandate, and a Grid Firewall

Prefiling for the 2027 session opened this week, and Daniel Miller spent the first half of this Coffee Talk on what has already landed. As of Thursday morning, 1,378 bills had been filed in the first three days. Every one of them goes through the TNM's review: the full bill text, not just the caption, is measured against the mission and sorted into bills that advance it, bills that work against it, and bills that do not touch it. Nobody has filed the Texas Independence Referendum Act yet. Miller said the TNM has the people to get it filed this time.

Three early filings got the spotlight. HJR 54, a constitutional amendment from Democratic Representative Zwiener, would give Texans a citizen initiative on a binding statewide ballot, the same thing the TNM pushed the Republican Party of Texas to do on its primary ballot. Miller's warning: it hands the Texas Legislative Council, a body of appointed lawyers, the power to rule a measure unconstitutional before voters ever see it. HB 165 from Representative Carrie Isaac changes one word in last session's gold-backed payments law, turning the comptroller's "may" into "shall" so the program can no longer sit on a shelf. SB 191 from Senator Bob Hall bars any ERCOT connection that would bring the Texas grid under additional federal control.

The bad bills are here too: looser immigration and election integrity, bad economic policy, and direct attacks on the right to keep and bear arms. Miller's ask was simple. Call your state representative and state senator, whatever their party, and ask one question: will you support a public hearing for the referendum bill? He also noted his letter to the incoming governor and lieutenant governor has drawn no response, and the TNM will follow up next week.