For housing, interim charges are an early gatekeeping mechanism. They help determine which topics get hearings, which questions get staffed and analyzed, and which ideas enter the next session with a record already behind them rather than emerging late under deadline pressure.
TAAHP has long treated this process as a core part of its legislative strategy. The association submits proposed study language, supplies data and project-level examples from across the state, and participates in hearings and testimony to ensure housing production and housing stability remain part of the interim agenda.
Why interim charges matter
Interim charges are how the Speaker and Lieutenant Governor set committee expectations before bill filing begins. They don’t write legislation, but they shape what is considered “in scope” and ready for action. In practice, that matters in three ways:
- They confer legitimacy by putting an issue inside a committee’s assigned work.
- They build shared understanding through hearings, analysis, and stakeholder input before session pressures take over.
- They strengthen the case for legislation by linking a filed bill to a stated interim directive.
What TAAHP asked lawmakers to study this interim
TAAHP submitted interim charge letters on Feb. 4, 2026, to three committees, aiming to keep housing supply, program design, and appraisal practices on the early agenda.
Senate Local Government Committee
TAAHP asked the Senate Committee on Local Government to study how Texas can turn the expanded federal housing credit investment in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into actual units on the ground. Read the letter here.
Proposed interim charge: Review how current state policy and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs rules governing the 9 percent Housing Credit program affect Texas’ ability to fully leverage the expanded federal Housing Credit investment enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Evaluate whether current program design allows that expanded investment to produce the maximum feasible number of affordable housing units statewide.
The core argument is simple. Federal resources increase beginning in 2026, but state policy and TDHCA program rules determine how much of that additional capacity becomes new housing. The interim is the best window to evaluate whether Texas is positioned to maximize production before bill filing ramps up ahead of the 2027 session.
House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee
TAAHP submitted the same housing supply request to the House Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs. Read the letter here.
In addition, TAAHP submitted a second interim study concept focused on property tax exemptions for affordable housing, as Texas continues to adjust oversight and implementation following recent legislation. Read the letter here.
Proposed interim charge: Study issues related to public private partnerships for affordable and workforce housing in Texas, with particular attention to Public Facility Corporations, Housing Finance Corporations, and Public Housing Authorities. Monitor the implementation of HB 2071 from the 88th Legislature and HB 21 from the 89th Legislature, and evaluate the impacts on workforce housing production.
The aim is to keep the interim discussion anchored in implementation. What is working, what is not, and what adjustments may be needed to support workforce housing production under the new rules.
House Ways and Means Committee
TAAHP also submitted interim charge language to House Ways and Means focused on appraisal volatility and inconsistent valuation practices for income restricted housing. Read letter here.
Proposed interim charge: Study issues related to property tax appraisal practices for income restricted multifamily housing, including the use of capitalization rates and the consistency of valuation methodologies across appraisal districts. Make recommendations to improve predictability, transparency, and uniformity in appraisal practices for income restricted properties, reduce unnecessary valuation volatility and disputes, and support stable local tax administration while maintaining appropriate local appraisal authority.
This request is intentionally narrow. The goal is to keep the interim work technical and solvable, and to build on the appraisal conversations already underway, without expanding into broader exemption debates that can slow down progress.
What happens next
Over the next several months, committee chairs will decide what gets airtime during the interim and what does not. Housing supply, the design of the 9% Housing Credit program, and appraisal volatility could become subjects of hearings and staff work, or they could be eclipsed by higher profile fights that dominate the Capitol’s attention.
TAAHP’s February 4 letters are aimed at shaping that interim agenda while it is still being built. The key question now is whether committee leaders take up the requests and develop a public record through hearings, testimony, and written findings. If they do, these issues enter the 2027 session with clearer problem definitions, vetted options, and committee familiarity already in place. If they do not, the debate is more likely to restart under the time pressure of a 140 day session, when complex housing policy competes with hundreds of other priorities.