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THE TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM (2023 — 2024) Introduction City officials across the state are well aware of the fact that many significant decisions affecting Texas cities are made by the Texas Legislature, not by municipal officials. During the 2021 session, nearly 7,000 bills or significant resolutions were introduced; more than 2,000 of them would have affected Texas cities in some substantial way. In the end, over 1,000 bills or resolutions passed and were signed into law; more than 240 of them impacted cities in some way. The number of city related bills as a percentage of total bills filed rises every year. Twenty years ago, around 17 percent of bills filed affected cities in some way. By 2021, that percentage had increased to 31 percent. In other words, a quarter of the legislature's work is directed at cities, and much of that work aims to limit municipal authority. There is no reason to believe that the workload of the 2023 session will be any lighter; it will probably be greater. And for better or worse, city officials will have to live with all the laws that may be approved by the legislature. Thus, the League must make every effort to assure that detrimental bills are defeated and beneficial bills are passed. The TML approach to the 2023 session is guided by principles that spring from a deeply rooted TML legislative philosophy: The League will vigorously oppose any legislation that would erode the authority of Texas cities to govern their own local affairs. Cities represent the level of government closest to the people. They bear primary responsibility for provision of capital infrastructure and for ensuring our citizens' health and safety. Thus, cities must be assured of a predictable and sufficient level of revenue and must resist efforts to diminish their revenue. • The League will oppose the imposition of any state mandates that do not provide for a commensurate level of compensation. In setting the TML program, the Board recognizes that there is a practical limit to what the League can accomplish during the legislative session. Because the League (like all associations) has finite resources and because vast amounts of those resources are necessarily expended in defeating bad legislation, the Board recognizes that the League must very carefully select the bills for which it will attempt to find sponsors and seek passage. Each initiative is subjected to several tests: