Texas Senate Business and Commerce committee will hear invited and public testimony on rising property insurance prices, the future of blockchain and crypto kiosks, and the state’s broadband-funding office.
When: 9:00 AM, Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Where: Room E1.012 (Hearing Room), Capitol Extension, Austin
Chair: Sen. Charles Schwertner, R–Georgetown (SD-5)
Vice Chair: Sen. Phil King, R–Weatherford (SD-10)
Format: Invited and public testimony; testimony limited to 2 minutes per witness; written testimony requires 15 copies to the clerk; interim charges only — no vote on legislation
Live video: senate.texas.gov/av-live.php
Submit comments online: N/A — testimony given in person; no online public-comment portal listed for this hearing
The Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce will gavel in at 9 a.m. Wednesday to hear invited and public testimony on three interim charges: the rising cost of property and casualty insurance, the future of financial technology including cryptocurrency, and the strategic planning of the state’s broadband-funding office. The hearing notice was reissued as a revision; witnesses will be limited to two minutes each.
Chaired by Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, with Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, as vice chair, the 11-member panel oversees insurance, banking, utilities and economic regulation. The committee is working through interim charges ahead of the 90th Legislature, which convenes in January 2027. Wednesday’s agenda narrows a longer interim charge list — which also includes electric-grid reliability and data-center growth — to three consumer- and technology-focused items.
The first charge, Strengthening Regulatory Oversight and Access to Affordable Insurance for Texans, directs the committee to evaluate the rising cost of property and casualty insurance and to weigh the stability and competitiveness of the Texas market, insurer participation and coverage availability. Members are asked to recommend ways to improve affordability and strengthen consumer protections — a response to years of climbing homeowners’ and auto premiums in the state.
The second charge, Fostering Financial Technology Innovation, asks the panel to evaluate the future of blockchain and cryptocurrency in Texas, assess coordination with federal rules, and examine the prevalence of virtual-currency kiosks — crypto ATMs increasingly tied to consumer scams. The charge directs members to make recommendations to protect “vulnerable Texans” and to review implementation of Senate Bill 21 of the 89th Legislature.
The third charge, Examining Broadband Development Office Strategic Planning, directs the committee to review the Broadband Development Office’s management of state and federal broadband funds and its strategic plan for timely deployment, with recommendations to improve program efficiency using existing resources. The office administers Texas’s share of federal broadband dollars alongside state infrastructure funding.
Because this is an interim hearing, the committee will gather testimony and develop findings rather than advance bills; any resulting legislation would be filed in 2027.
Committee members
- Sen. Charles Schwertner, R–Georgetown (SD-5) — Chair
- Sen. Phil King, R–Weatherford (SD-10) — Vice Chair
- Sen. César Blanco, D–El Paso (SD-29)
- Sen. Donna Campbell, R–New Braunfels (SD-25)
- Sen. Brent Hagenbuch, R–Denton (SD-30)
- Sen. Adam Hinojosa, R–Corpus Christi (SD-27)
- Sen. Nathan Johnson, D–Dallas (SD-16)
- Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R–Brenham (SD-18)
- Sen. José Menéndez, D–San Antonio (SD-26)
- Sen. Kevin Sparks, R–Midland (SD-31)
- Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D–Laredo (SD-21)