San Antonio Council Votes Thursday on Its Ask of the Legislature: Utilities, an Arena District, Flood Money and a South Parkway
Item 6 on Thursday's A Session agenda is the city's State Legislative Program for the 90th Texas Legislature — the list of what San Antonio will lobby for, and fight, when lawmakers return to Austin on Jan. 12, 2027.
The San Antonio City Council votes Thursday, Oct. 29, on the city's State Legislative Program for the 90th Texas Legislature, according to a Puro SA report read in full by the Local News Desk this cycle. The program, item 6 on the A Session agenda and taken up for individual consideration rather than on the consent agenda, is the list staff use to decide which bills the city supports or opposes. The session opens Jan. 12, 2027, and lawmakers can start pre-filing bills on Nov. 9, 2026.
The agenda memo names four top priorities. First, protecting the municipal utility model at CPS Energy and the San Antonio Water System — the program says the city opposes legislation that adversely affects municipally owned utilities and reduces the city's return on investment. Second, support for legislation, funding and financing mechanisms for a downtown sports and entertainment district. Third, legislation and funding for regional flood resilience in an area the program calls Flash Flood Alley. Fourth, the South Texas Parkway, a proposed multi-lane corridor connecting IH-35 and IH-37 between IH-410 and Loop 1604.
Below the top four, the draft program lists a new data-center position — support for legislation ensuring data center development does not hurt water or electricity availability, pass utility costs on to homeowners, or harm neighborhoods — alongside opposition to limits on the city's ability to issue debt, protection of local control over zoning and land use, new health positions including behavioral health and crisis response, and support for military installations under the city's Military City USA heading. Council votes the same day, as item 5, on its own data center zoning rules.
At the Oct. 7 briefing, according to the draft minutes the report cites, Councilmember Marc Whyte urged a public dashboard showing which bills the city supports or opposes, Councilmember Ric Galvan prioritized data centers and their potential costs to residents, and Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones noted 17 projects on the updated state flood control list. The report records no outcome for Thursday's vote, and this story does not invent one; the vote result will be a follow-up file.
