New right-to-repair protections, residential solar registration requirements, public-school funding changes and manufactured-housing rules are among the Texas laws taking effect.
By The Katy News
KATY, Texas — A new group of Texas laws and delayed legislative provisions took effect Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, bringing changes that could affect consumers, homeowners, educators, school districts, businesses and local governments.
The measures originated during the 89th Texas Legislature. The Texas Legislative Reference Library’s effective-date list includes both entire laws beginning Sept. 1 and individual sections of larger bills that took effect in stages. That distinction is important because the appearance of a bill on the Sept. 1 list does not necessarily mean every provision in that bill started on that date.
For Katy-area residents, some of the most notable changes involve repairing electronic devices, purchasing residential solar systems, funding special-education services and regulating manufactured housing.
Texas Right-to-Repair Law Begins
House Bill 2963 establishes new right-to-repair requirements for certain consumer electronic devices sold in Texas.
The law generally applies to digital electronic equipment sold to a Texas consumer with a wholesale price of at least $50. Manufacturers must make the documentation, replacement parts and tools needed to diagnose, maintain or repair covered equipment available on fair and reasonable terms to independent repair businesses and equipment owners.
This could eventually give consumers more choices when deciding where to repair certain phones, tablets, laptops and other eligible electronic devices instead of relying exclusively on a manufacturer or its authorized repair network.
However, the law will not immediately apply to every electronic device currently owned by a Texas resident.
HB 2963 applies only to covered equipment that was originally made available for sale in Texas by the manufacturer on or after Sept. 1, 2026. Manufacturers also have up to one year after the product’s first Texas sale to make the required repair materials available.
The law contains several exclusions, including certain motor vehicles, medical devices, farm equipment, heavy equipment, major home appliances, alarm and life-safety systems, video-game consoles and equipment used in critical infrastructure.
Enforcement belongs to the Texas attorney general. The law does not create a private right of action allowing an individual consumer to sue solely under the new right-to-repair chapter.
For consumers, the main point is that the change will develop gradually as newly introduced products become subject to the law.
Residential Solar Retailers and Salespeople Must Register
Beginning Sept. 1, residential solar retailers and solar salespeople must be registered with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation before conducting covered sales or leases of residential solar panels and solar-energy systems.
The registration requirement is part of Senate Bill 1036, which created the Residential Solar Retailers program. Certain prohibited business practices and additional regulatory requirements also became enforceable Sept. 1.
Several consumer protections under the law had already taken effect on Sept. 1, 2025.
Covered residential solar agreements must provide for installation by a licensed electrical contractor, identify the contractor or possible contractors and require the appropriate permits and utility interconnection approvals. A buyer or lessee must also be allowed to cancel the contract without a penalty by providing written notice no later than the fifth business day after signing. The agreement must identify the final calendar date of the cancellation period and provide an address for submitting the cancellation.
Before signing a solar agreement, Katy-area homeowners should:
- Ask for the registration information of both the solar retailer and the salesperson.
- Verify the registration through the TDLR online license-search system.
- Confirm the name and license number of the electrical contractor.
- Review the financing terms separately from the projected electricity savings.
- Make note of the exact deadline and method for canceling the agreement.
TDLR says it is currently accepting retailer and salesperson registration applications. The agency is temporarily suspending enforcement of two administrative rules involving contract disclosures and consumer educational materials until Nov. 1, 2026. TDLR separately states that the retailer and salesperson registration requirement begins Sept. 1, 2026.
Special-Education Funding Formula Changes
Senate Bill 568 includes major changes to the way Texas funds special-education services.
Beginning Sept. 1, the state moves from a placement-based special-education funding model toward a service intensity-based model. In general, the revised approach is intended to connect state funding more closely to the level and intensity of services provided to a student rather than relying primarily on the student’s instructional placement.
The delayed provisions also:
- Establish a new special-education service-group allotment.
- Provide transition funding for the 2026–2027 school year.
- Revise funding eligibility involving students with dyslexia or related disorders.
- Remove a cap on the portion of the dyslexia allotment that may be used to obtain supplemental academic services from a private provider.
- Require additional special-education information to be reported through the Public Education Information Management System.
Because these provisions primarily address state funding formulas, classifications and reporting, their earliest effects are likely to be seen in school-district budgeting and administration. Parents should not assume that every student’s services or educational plan automatically changes because the funding model has changed.
Area school districts may provide additional information as the Texas Education Agency implements the new funding structure.
Teacher Incentive Funding Also Changes
Delayed sections of House Bill 2, the state’s major public-education and school-finance legislation, also took effect Sept. 1.
The law revises the Teacher Incentive Allotment by increasing allotment payments and accounting for new teacher-designation levels. HB 2 also expanded local teacher-designation systems and established grants intended to help districts make more teachers eligible for designations.
The Sept. 1 change does not mean every Texas teacher automatically receives the same raise. The amount available to a district or teacher can depend on designation status, the district’s approved system and the way state allotment funds are implemented locally.
Other delayed HB 2 provisions concern educator-preparation allotments, achievement academies, special-education financing and grants supporting early-grade instruction.
Does the STAAR Replacement Begin Sept. 1?
House Bill 8 from the Legislature’s second called session also appears on the Sept. 1 effective-date list, but only one delayed section of the bill begins on that date.
The broader law directs the Texas Education Agency to transition from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, commonly known as STAAR, to a new instructionally supportive assessment program. However, most of the assessment-system changes apply beginning with the 2027–2028 school year—not Sept. 1, 2026.
The section taking effect Sept. 1, 2026, concerns a future school-finance calculation involving certain reading-support grants and third-grade assessment performance. The funding reduction described in that section does not begin until the 2030–2031 school year.
Therefore, families should not interpret HB 8’s appearance on the Sept. 1 list as meaning STAAR testing was immediately eliminated or replaced at the start of September 2026.
New Manufactured-Housing Requirements
Senate Bill 785 changes how municipalities with zoning regulations may treat new homes built under the federal HUD manufactured-housing code.
Under the law, a municipality generally may not require a specific-use permit for a compliant new HUD-code manufactured home when the municipality does not impose the same type of permit requirement on other residential property within the same zoning classification.
Municipalities with zoning regulations must also allow new HUD-code manufactured homes by right in at least one residential zoning classification, residential zoning district or dedicated manufactured-housing district. Municipalities with comprehensive zoning maps must identify the applicable areas on those maps.
The law does not allow a manufactured home to be placed automatically on any property. Other zoning requirements, development standards, deed restrictions, utility requirements and applicable construction rules may still apply. Anyone considering the purchase or placement of a manufactured home should confirm the requirements for the specific property before making a financial commitment.
Texas Recognizes Gold and Silver as Legal Tender
Part of House Bill 1056 also took effect Sept. 1.
The law recognizes qualifying gold and silver specie as legal tender in Texas. However, it expressly provides that a person or business cannot be required to offer or accept gold, silver or a gold- or silver-backed currency as payment.
The legislation also authorizes the Texas comptroller to establish electronic payment systems involving currency backed by gold or silver bullion held by the Texas Bullion Depository. Most of those broader implementation provisions are scheduled to take effect May 1, 2027.
For consumers, the practical distinction is that the state’s recognition of gold and silver does not require Katy-area stores, landlords, lenders or service providers to accept precious metals as payment.
Volunteer Firefighter Compensation Limit Updated
House Bill 5424 changes the method used to calculate the maximum compensation, reimbursements or benefits that may be provided to an individual designated as a volunteer or auxiliary firefighter.
A fire department may not provide annual compensation, reimbursement or benefits exceeding 20 percent of the highest total compensation paid to full-time fire-protection personnel by a local government in the same county. When no local government in that county pays full-time fire-protection personnel, the comparison may be based on an adjacent county.
The change may be particularly relevant to volunteer and combination fire departments when structuring stipends, reimbursements and benefits.
Additional Provisions Taking Effect
The state’s Sept. 1 list also includes narrower or more technical provisions concerning court administration, advisory bodies connected to the Department of Family and Protective Services, governmental operations in the Texas border region, continuing education for certain property-tax arbitrators, veterinary regulation and compensation for distributed renewable-energy owners in certain areas outside ERCOT.
Some of those laws took effect earlier, with only designated sections delayed until Sept. 1, 2026.
What Katy-Area Residents Should Remember
The most immediate consumer-facing changes are the solar registration requirement and the beginning of the right-to-repair framework.
Homeowners considering solar should verify registrations before signing, carefully examine financing terms and keep copies of all contracts, cancellation notices and communications.
Consumers seeking electronic repairs should remember that right-to-repair coverage depends on the type of product, when it was first made available for sale in Texas and whether it falls within one of the law’s exemptions.
Parents, teachers and school employees should watch for notices from their school districts and the Texas Education Agency explaining how the new special-education and teacher-incentive funding provisions will be administered locally.
Because many Texas bills contain multiple effective dates, residents should review the enacted text—not merely the bill’s overall title—before deciding whether a particular provision applies to them.
This article provides general public information and is not legal advice.
