Texas vs. The Regulatory Empire: A Moment for Real Reform

Every great story has a moment where the tide can turn. For Texas, that moment is now.

For years, the state has built a reputation as a beacon of economic freedom, but beneath that reputation lies a growing and often ignored reality: Texas has quietly constructed a regulatory state that increasingly looks less like a free market and more like a sprawling bureaucracy.

Layer by layer, rule by rule, mandate by mandate, the system has grown. Not with a single sweeping law, but through accumulation.

And like any sprawling system, it now demands something it has long avoided: accountability.

The Scale of the Problem: Texas’s Regulatory Burden

The data tells a story that should concern anyone who values economic freedom.

Texas ranks among the worst in the nation when it comes to occupational licensing burdens. Thousands of licenses, fees, continuing education requirements, and renewal hurdles stand between Texans and the ability to simply work.

It is not just about safety-sensitive professions anymore. Regulation now extends deep into low-risk occupations, creating barriers that disproportionately impact lower-income Texans and those trying to enter the workforce.

More broadly, the regulatory code itself has grown to a scale that is difficult to navigate, even for experienced professionals. This is not a system designed for accessibility. It is a system that requires permission.

Death Star 1.0: What HB 2127 Actually Did

The most serious attempt to address this problem in recent years came during the 88th Legislative Session with the passage of House Bill 2127, the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act, or as it came to be known colloquially, the “Death Star bill.”

HB 2127 was not about studying regulation. It was about limiting it.

At its core, the law reasserted the state’s authority over key areas of commerce and prevented local governments from creating a patchwork of conflicting regulations across Texas.

It did this by preempting local regulation in major statutory areas, including labor, agriculture, finance, natural resources, and others, effectively declaring that if the state occupies a regulatory field, local governments cannot override it. It also created a private right of action, allowing individuals and businesses to challenge unlawful local regulations and recover relief.

That mattered because for the first time, there was an enforcement mechanism.

In Star Wars terms, HB 2127 was not a study. It was a weapon. A targeted strike against regulatory fragmentation. Death Star 1.0.

The DOGE Committee: A Shot That Missed

Fast forward to the 89th Legislative Session, and expectations were high.

The House created a DOGE Committee, ostensibly to review government, identify inefficiencies, and reduce the regulatory burden.

The premise was sound. The execution was NOT.

As our analysis at Texas Policy Research found, the committee’s output did not result in meaningful reductions in government. In many cases, the legislation that moved through the process increased costs and expanded programs.

Instead of dismantling bureaucracy, it reorganized it. Instead of reducing the regulatory state, it managed its growth. That distinction is EVERYTHING.

Because reviewing government is not the same thing as reducing government, and the DOGE Committee ultimately proved that without clear constraints, “efficiency” efforts can become a vehicle for expansion.

SB 14: Building a System to Study the System

At the same time, Senate Bill 14 created the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office (TREO).

Texas Policy Research supported the bill with amendments, fully aware of the tradeoff it represented.

To review the government, Texas expanded its government.

The new office is tasked with evaluating regulations, identifying redundancies, and improving transparency. In theory, that could be a meaningful step forward.

In practice, the results remain to be seen. The office is still organizing. Still building its processes, and still determining how aggressive it will be.

And that leaves Texas in a familiar place.

Waiting to see whether a bureaucracy designed to review regulation will actually reduce it.

The Lesson So Far: Tools Without Teeth

Taken together, these efforts tell a clear story.

HB 2127 showed that structural reform is possible. The DOGE Committee showed that intent alone is not enough. SB 14 shows that building review mechanisms is easy. Producing results is hard.

What Texas has right now are tools.

What it does not yet have is a consistent commitment to using those tools to actually shrink government.

Death Star 2.0: What the Next Session Must Deliver

If Texas is serious about regulatory reform, the next legislative session must build on HB 2127, not retreat from it.

Call it Death Star 2.0.

Not a study. Not a review panel. Not another advisory structure. A system designed to eliminate regulation at scale.

That means expanding on the principles behind HB 2127:

Statewide consistency must extend beyond preemption into reduction. Regulations should carry expiration dates unless affirmatively renewed. Agencies should be required to justify existing rules, not just new ones. Major regulatory actions should require direct legislative approval.

And most importantly, success MUST be measurable.

If the regulatory code is not shrinking, reform is not working.

The Role of Oversight: Real Reform or Performance?

The newly formed House Select Committee on Government Oversight presents another opportunity, but only if it learns from the failure of the DOGE Committee.

Oversight cannot stop at hearings and reports. It MUST lead to elimination; otherwise, it becomes performance.

The difference between the two is simple:

Real oversight reduces government. Performative oversight explains it.

A Narrow Window

Texas now has something rare.

A proven model in HB 2127. A cautionary example in the DOGE Committee. A new institutional tool in the Regulatory Efficiency Office.

That combination creates a window for real reform, but that window will close.

Because the natural trajectory of government is growth.

Unless it is actively reduced.

The Bottom Line: Take the Shot

Texas does not need another study. It does not need another commission. It does not need to better manage the regulatory state. It NEEDS to reduce it.

HB 2127 proved that bold reform is possible. Now the question is whether Texas lawmakers are willing to go further.

Because at some point, you stop analyzing the Death Star.

And you take the shot.