The Texas House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight will gavel in at 9 a.m. Sept. 30 in Capitol Extension room E2.026 to take invited and public testimony on whether Texas could absorb New Mexico counties, how outside groups shape the work of local prosecutors and how local governments spend public money on consultants and nonprofits. The revised hearing notice flags a time change and says registration for public testimony closes at noon, that the chair may limit public testimony and that items may be taken out of order. Texans who will not testify in person can file comments through the committee’s online portal until the hearing adjourns.
Rep. Cody Vasut, R–Angleton, chairs the 13-member select panel, which splits eight Republicans to five Democrats and was appointed March 26, according to Texas Legislature Online. Rep. Armando Walle, D–Houston, is vice chair. Speaker Dustin Burrows created the committee in his March interim charges. This is its third interim hearing; at its last, on Aug. 26, members spent hours on money routed to school district foundations, as the Dispatch reported. The prosecutor charge carries added weight: Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Burrows jointly called Sept. 18 for more accountability from local prosecutors and pointed to this hearing as the first public step, the Dispatch reported.
The Texas-New Mexico Boundary charge directs members to study the constitutional, statutory, fiscal and economic implications of adding one or more contiguous New Mexico counties to Texas and to outline every state and federal step that would be required. The idea grew out of a New Mexico proposal by two Republican state representatives from the oil-producing southeast that would have let counties petition to leave the state; it never got a committee hearing, the Albuquerque Journal reported. When the charge was released, Burrows posted that Texas would welcome Lea County, and a spokesman for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said New Mexico intends to stay intact, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Committee member Rep. Carl Tepper, R–Lubbock, named Lea and Roosevelt counties as possibilities, KOB-TV reported. Any path runs through Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which requires the consent of the legislatures concerned and of Congress before a state is formed from parts of states. Whether that clause governs moving counties between existing states is one of the legal questions witnesses may address.
The Prosecutorial Integrity charge asks the committee to evaluate how for-profit and nonprofit organizations and consultants take part in local prosecution, including their access to case information, any public money supporting their work, procurement and whether charging decisions stay grounded in state law and case facts. The Sept. 18 statement centered on Travis County District Attorney José Garza’s office. National programs work directly with prosecutors; the Vera Institute of Justice says its Reshaping Prosecution initiative has partnered with offices in Texas. Lawmakers already created a removal process for prosecutors who adopt blanket non-prosecution policies in House Bill 17 in 2023. Vasut said in April that he was concerned about nonprofits influencing prosecutors to ignore state law, Texas Scorecard reported.
The Safeguarding Taxpayer Funds charge turns to local contracts with consultants and nongovernmental organizations for health and human services, public safety and homelessness. Austin supplies a fresh case study: a July city audit of 25 social-service contracts with 20 nonprofits found that 67 of 151 performance expectations fell short, while the nonprofits disputed its methods, the Austin Current reported. A related fight over taxpayer-funded lobbying stalled last year when Senate Bill 19 cleared the Senate but never got a House committee hearing.
Because this is an interim hearing, the committee will take no votes and no legislation is before it. Its findings will feed an interim report and the bills filed for the 90th Legislature, which convenes in January 2027.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 9:00 AM CT, Wednesday, September 30, 2026
- Where
- Room E2.026, Capitol Extension, Austin
- Chair
- Rep. Cody Vasut, R–Angleton (HD-25)
- Vice Chair
- Rep. Armando Walle, D–Houston (HD-140)
- Format
- Invited and public testimony; public testimony may be limited at the chair’s discretion; public testimony registration closes at 12 p.m.; items may be taken out of order; in-person witnesses register through the House witness registration system; interim charges only — no vote on legislation
- Live video
- house.texas.gov/video-audio
- Submit comments online
- comments.house.texas.gov (c075) — open until the hearing is adjourned
- Full agenda
- Official hearing notice (capitol.texas.gov)
Committee members
- Rep. Cody Vasut, R–Angleton (HD-25) — Chair
- Rep. Armando Walle, D–Houston (HD-140) — Vice Chair
- Rep. Richard Hayes, R–Hickory Creek (HD-57)
- Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R–Odessa (HD-81)
- Rep. Mitch Little, R–Lewisville (HD-65)
- Rep. AJ Louderback, R–Victoria (HD-30)
- Rep. Christian Manuel, D–Port Arthur (HD-22)
- Rep. Eddie Morales, D–Eagle Pass (HD-74)
- Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D–Laredo (HD-42)
- Rep. Shelby Slawson, R–Stephenville (HD-59)
- Rep. Carl Tepper, R–Lubbock (HD-84)
- Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R–Lakeway (HD-19)
- Rep. Erin Zwiener, D–Driftwood (HD-45)