AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott’s window to accept or reject the hundreds of bills lawmakers sent to him recently closed, marking the formal end of the Legislature’s 89th regular session.

In all, the governor signed more than 1,100 bills and vetoed 26. He’ll bring lawmakers back to Austin on July 21 for a special session to complete work on a half-dozen agenda items, including judicial reforms and how to regulate the $8 billion THC industry in the state.

“Working with the Texas Legislature, we delivered results that will benefit Texans for generations to come,” Abbott said in a statement Monday. “This session has seen monumental success, but there is more we can do.”

Since Texas’ biennial session ended June 2, Abbott traveled across the state to host signing ceremonies for some of his top priorities: a bail reform package in Houston; a multibillion-dollar investment in public education funding and teacher pay raises in Salado; ibogaine treatment research outside the Capitol; and property tax relief in Denton.

Other proposals that gained significant attention this session were addressed with little or no fanfare — quietly signed into law, vetoed or set to take effect without Abbott’s stamp of approval.

Most new laws will take effect Sept. 1.

Here’s what happened to some of the key bills watched this session:

Vetoed

Statewide THC ban

A proposal to ban the retail sale of consumable products containing THC would have criminalized the sale, possession and manufacture of hemp-derived gummies, vapes and other products with tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive compound in marijuana.

Abbott vetoed Senate Bill 3 just before the Sunday deadline and announced plans to hold a special session starting July 21. He said banning the market is unconstitutional and told lawmakers to establish strict regulations on the industry that has drawn some 8,500 retailers to vape shops, convenience stores and coffee shops in Texas since they were legalized through a loophole in a 2019 state law.

Criminal justice measures

A bill by Houston Democrat Rep. Jolanda Jones would have kept defendants awaiting trial from spending more time in jail than they would if they were convicted. The proposal had strong bipartisan support and passed the GOP-dominated Texas House 126-10. Abbott called House Bill 413 a “common-sense” measure that would save taxpayers money and avoid letting the system treat pretrial detention as punishment.

However, the governor said he vetoed the bill because it didn’t place enough conditions on release that would “ensure public safety and appearance at trial.” Abbott said he’d consider such legislation again if it arrived on his desk with those changes, though he did not add the issue to the special session agenda.

Senate Bill 1278, by Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, was passed as a way to help human-trafficking victims forced into prostitution or domestic violence by their traffickers. Abbott vetoed it, saying the bill language would not limit it to those types of crimes and would let those defendants off the hook for any crime — including killing a police officer or raping a child. The legislation was added to the special session’s agenda.

Senate Bill 1937, by Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, would have required crime labs to use nuclear DNA testing in all capital cases. Abbott said that requirement was unreasonable because not all evidence is the same in every case. Labs need flexibility to use the sort of evidentiary testing that works best for each instance, the governor said in explaining his veto.

Summer food help for low-income schoolchildren

Abbott canceled $60 million that was set aside for a program that provides additional summer grocery benefits to qualifying families.

The governor can strike single items inside the state’s two-year budget, which came in this year at $338 billion for the 2026-27 cycle. It’s the only bill in which he has that line-item veto power.

State funding for the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program would have allowed Texas to participate in a federal program that gives qualifying families up to $120 per child in additional benefits to make up for the months when children may lose access to free meals during the school year.

Abbott said the measure carries too many uncertainties right now about how much the state may receive in federal matching funds and about the long-term fiscal impacts. He said lawmakers can reconsider the program when there is more clarity.

Signed into law

Abortion policies

A law that clarifies when doctors may legally perform an abortion to save a pregnant woman’s life took effect immediately upon Abbott’s signature after passing the House and Senate by wide margins with bipartisan support.

Another measure will prohibit government entities from using taxpayer money to provide logistical support for abortion-assistance groups. Republicans say this will close a loophole used by Austin and San Antonio to help their constituents obtain abortions outside the state.

Ten Commandments and prayer in Texas public schools

Public school classrooms must conspicuously display 16-by-20-inch copies of the Ten Commandments.

A Dallas-based group filed a lawsuit Tuesday aimed at stopping the law, alleging it violates the First Amendment and interferes with parents’ rights to guide their children’s religious education.

Louisiana passed a similar law that’s being held up in court. Federal appellate judges ruled June 20 that Louisiana’s law is unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, another new Texas law requires local district trustees to vote on whether their schools must offer students and staff a period of prayer and reading of religious texts outside of instruction time.

Transgender Texans and LGBTQ-related bills

More than 80 bills related to LGBTQ issues were filed during the legislative session.

Among those that passed are a new law that exempts parents who refuse to affirm their child’s gender identity or sexual orientation from the state’s definition of child abuse and neglect. The incoming law outlines that it is not abuse for a parent to refuse to use a child’s preferred name or pronouns, regardless of whether the name was legally changed.

Another defines terms such as man, woman, male and female. The law essentially codifies Abbott’s January letter to state agencies rejecting “woke gender ideologies.” It will require state government vital statistics data to identify individuals as either male or female based on biological sex.

School choice, teacher pay raises and public education

Abbott’s signature policy achievement was creating an education savings account program that will allow public funds to be used on private school education.

The voucherlike program is funded at $1 billion and will give the parents of private school students access to about $10,000 to pay for education expenses, such as tuition or books.

Meanwhile, the Legislature approved a record-breaking $8.5 billion in new spending for public education. A large portion of the funding is dedicated to retention-based pay raises for teachers. Educators in smaller districts could see their salaries increase by as much as $10,000 after reaching five years of experience.

About $135 million of the new money is dedicated toward bolstering educator quality through preparation and certification programs with a mandate to phase out uncertified teachers from core classes by 2030.

Hostile nation property bans

Citizens of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia cannot buy certain property in Texas under a bill Abbott signed into law.

Legal residents from those countries are prohibited from purchasing any property in Texas except for a homestead. The law also blocks some citizens of those countries from owning businesses in the state.

Power grid reforms

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, will create a “kill switch” program that gives the power grid operator the ability to shut off power to the state’s largest electricity consumers in electricity supply emergencies.

The law updates how the power grid operator projects power demand growth. Power grid officials have said the current projections that show massive increases in electricity demand in the coming years are likely inaccurate.

Bail restrictions

Unelected judges would not be allowed to grant bail to repeat offenders accused of major violent crimes, such as murder and sexual assault, under a proposed constitutional amendment that will go to voters in November.

Elected judges would be required to issue rulings explaining why they granted bail to such defendants.

The Texas lottery’s fate

The state lottery will continue to operate, but the commission that oversees it will be abolished.

Some wanted to abolish the lottery after the system came under intense scrutiny following questionable winnings by an overseas entity and then a ticket sold by a courier.

The new law moves oversight of the lottery and Charitable Bingo to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Dallas elections

Dallas was given the green light to move its mayoral and council elections from May to November in odd-numbered years. The council has until the end of 2025 to make the change.

Sexual assault victims in lawsuits

A new law championed by two North Texas GOP lawmakers — Rep. Jeff Leach of Allen and Sen. Angela Paxton of McKinney — bans the use of nondisclosure agreements to silence sexual abuse survivors.

The ban prevents NDAs from being used to prevent a survivor of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, human trafficking or child sexual abuse from disclosing their abuse to others.

Ibogaine research

Clinical trials for ibogaine, a psychedelic plant-based medicine believed to be a powerful treatment for drug addiction and trauma, are coming to Texas after Abbott signed a $50 million program into law.

Senate Bill 2308 authorizes Texas to invest $50 million into clinical trials of ibogaine in Texas. The trials would be run by medical schools, consortiums, drug companies or others, and the state would provide matching funding for research that could lead to approval of ibogaine for use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration.