As the 89th Legislature manages a contentious special session, debates over hemp regulation, taxpayer-funded lobbying, and new influences from large political donors give an indication of the state’s shifting direction and identity. According to political scientist Mark P. Jones, what’s happening in Texas reflects political forces reshaping American governance.
Jones is a fellow in political science at Rice University’s Baker Institute, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, and a professor at Rice’s Department of Political Science. He has studied Texas politics for decades, applying the same analytical tools he once used in Argentina and Central America to understand roll call votes, public opinion, and partisan trends in the Lone Star State. “I’ve always had a strong interest in American politics and U.S. politics,” he says. “The tools that we developed to study Argentina or the U.S. Congress are very easily transferable to the study of Texas.”
Jones’ interests have included the impact Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, has had in Texas. “He effectively had all of his wealth, his investments here in Texas, plus an alliance with the most influential Republican in the country,” Jones says. “That’s pretty powerful.”
During the session, Musk used his influence to support and oppose various bills—many of which aligned with his own business interests in battery storage, backup power, and space operations. “Anything that relates to battery power or to EVs benefits Tesla, but it also benefits the entire energy [sector],” Jones says. Other efforts, like cracking down on drone surveillance near SpaceX’s Starbase or limiting beach access near launch facilities, were more narrowly tailored. “That legislation was more targeted to benefiting his specific business.”
One of Musk’s broader policy interests—shrinking the size of government—has found a foothold in Texas through initiatives like the new Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office. “Texas has always run a pretty lean state government,” Jones says. “It’s not entirely clear that you’re going to find all that much more fat or excess in Texas.”
Still, he agrees with the principle of reviewing government functions for efficiency, even if the results don’t mirror Argentina’s recent reforms. “President Trump has shown that he’s not willing to cut Social Security, Medicare,” Jones says, contrasting that with Argentine President Javier Milei’s sweeping austerity. “I think the jury’s still out over whether he’ll actually be successful or whether eventually it’ll crash, which has been what Argentina has traditionally done.”
Jones sees the total THC ban proposed in SB 3—now revisited as SB 5—as a key test. Originally passed in 2019 to legalize industrial hemp, the law inadvertently opened the door to an unregulated market of hemp-derived THC products. “This whole unregulated industry developed and turned itself into a very potent lobbying force,” Jones says. “Including many veterans and others.” He says even reform advocates now agree the status quo is untenable. “There is effectively no regulation on this industry.”
Jones expects the session to focus on navigating between two extremes. He says Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick realizes that a total ban is not a viable option, but that Patrick wants “something that effectively really does follow the spirit of the original legislation.” Whether that aligns with the profitability needs of the industry remains to be seen.
Another issue—ending taxpayer-funded lobbying—is also under consideration in the special session. The challenge is, powerful lobbyists have had an easy time defeating limits on their industry. “There are a lot of school districts, cities, counties and others who want to be able to lobby the state,” Jones says. “You also have the Austin lobby, which doesn’t want to see the source of revenue dry up.” Prior efforts to limit this practice were watered down, allowing in-house lobbyists even while curbing outside contracts.
In recent years, Jones has drawn attention for his ideological rankings of Texas legislators. His latest analysis shows the Senate shifting even further right. According to Jones, that ideological drift may define Texas politics. “Where Dan Patrick was back in 2013 was considered to be an outlier, today it’s considered to be the norm,” he says. “Today, he would be pretty much right in the center.”