These New Texas Laws Went into Effect on Jan. 1, 2025

It’s a new year and with 2025 comes new laws in the state of Texas.

Several bills passed by the 88^th Texas Legislature in 2023 have officially taken effect.

Here are some new laws, according to the Texas State Law Library:

Vehicle Safety Inspections Reports No Longer Required

House Bill 3297 eliminates requirements for annual inspections during the vehicle registration process for non-commercial drivers. The Department of Public Safety has posted a reminder about the upcoming changes.

Emissions testing may still be required by local ordinances for vehicles in densely populated counties like Travis, Harris, and Dallas counties.

Property Tax Relief Act

Senate Bill 2 from the 2^nd Called Session is referred to as the Property Tax Relief Act. You can read the bill summary to learn how this law affects property taxes in Texas.

Many sections in Senate Bill 2 have already gone into effect, but Article 4 takes effect on January 1^st. This part of the bill provides “circuit breaker” limitations on increases to the appraised value of real property not covered by a homestead exemption.

Texas Data Privacy & Security Act

House Bill 4 is known as the Texas Data Privacy & Security Act. It added Chapter 541 to the Texas Business & Commerce Code.

Chapter 541 expands the data privacy rights of Texans by restricting the sale and processing of personal consumer data by businesses operating in Texas. A lot of this chapter is already in effect, but the procedures for designating a consumer’s authorized agent in Section 541.055(e) went into effect on January 1^st.

All bills passed by the 88^th Texas Legislature are on Texas Legislature Online.

To view the bills in the order in which they become law, see the Legislative Reference Library of Texas (LRL)’s Bill Effective Dates page.

The Regular Session of the 89^th Texas Legislature begins on Jan. 14, 2025.