What to know: The Midland City Council adopted the city’s priorities for the 90th Texas Legislative Session on Aug. 11, which convenes in January. The document tells state Rep. Tom Craddick and state Sen. Kevin Sparks what city leaders want and don’t want before bills are filed, allowing the city to communicate its priorities directly to its elected representatives rather than relying on a hired lobbyist.

The city said the agenda will evolve once lawmakers begin filing bills in November.

The big picture: The city wants fewer state restrictions on how cities operate while also asking lawmakers to create statewide rules in some areas that the city can enforce locally on its citizens and businesses. The city also wants more state funding for certain local functions while opposing new state requirements that cities would have to pay for themselves.

Asks for funding:

• Emergency response: The city wants more state grants for police, fire, and animal services resources. City spending on police, fire, and EMS has grown 88% over the last 10 years.

• Police: The city wants state funding for school-safety programs and crossing guards, which Midland currently pays for on behalf of Midland ISD. It also wants stronger vehicle-noise laws. Texas law currently requires working mufflers that prevent “excessive or unusual noise,” but sets no statewide decibel limit, leaving enforcement dependent on a subjective standard.

• Airport and spaceport: Midland wants more state investment in Midland International Air & Space Port and expanded funding for aerospace.

• I-14 and I-27: Proposed I-14 would run through Midland toward New Mexico, while I-27 would extend south from Lubbock through Midland. Both would place Midland on major interstate freight corridors, and the city wants state investment to accelerate them.

• TxDOT funding: The Odessa TxDOT district manages projects across the Permian Basin. The city is requesting “impartial” funding, signaling city leaders believe Midland isn’t receiving a proportionate share of district transportation dollars.

• Cross-jurisdictional: The city also wants more tools for cities and counties to pool money for road projects that cross jurisdictional lines.

Asks for more statewide rules:

• Animal service officers: Midland wants state law to treat animal control officers like first responders.

• Animal breeding restrictions: Midland also supports legislation restricting retail sales of commercially bred dogs and cats.

• Airport and spaceport: The Legislature created the Texas Space Commission in 2023 to promote commercial spaceflight and support spaceports. Midland wants aerospace to be formally recognized as an aeronautical category under state law.

• GAC standards: Since 2024, most new Texas subdivisions relying on groundwater must have a licensed engineer or geoscientist certify that adequate groundwater exists. The city wants stricter state standards and has argued the current process provides limited assurance that an aquifer can sustain development long-term.

• Groundwater exports: Groundwater Conservation Districts (GCDs) can charge fees when locally produced water is exported outside the district. Midland wants those fees capped but opposes restrictions on groundwater exports themselves. The city likely believes neither fees nor outright restrictions should make moving water prohibitively expensive.

The city also wants state law to clarify “conveyance,” or water transportation. Producing groundwater within a district and transporting water through it aren’t the same thing.

• Fire: Midland wants workers’ compensation reform for firefighters. Texas law already presumes certain cancers, heart attacks, and other illnesses are job-related under specified conditions, making it easier for qualifying first responders to receive benefits. The agenda does not specify what other changes to the workers’ compensation system it is seeking.

• Homeless population: The city wants the state to create a comprehensive plan to reduce homelessness, with a specific emphasis on veterans.

• Court modernization: The city supports updating court systems to allow online filings, virtual hearings, and expanded public access to records.

Asks for fewer statewide rules:

• Failure to Appear program: Under Texas Transportation Code Chapter 706, courts can flag people who fail to appear or satisfy certain judgments, preventing renewal of a driver’s license until the issue is resolved. The city opposes replacing that enforcement mechanism with civil-only collection, which would reduce courts’ leverage to collect outstanding fines.

• PFAS reporting: The city opposes stricter state reporting requirements for PFAS, long-lasting synthetic chemicals known as “forever chemicals.” Federal rules already require public water systems to monitor and report PFAS levels, so additional state requirements could increase utility compliance costs.