Texas Democrats File the Paycheck Bills: Richardson's HB 110 Would Set a $15 Minimum Wage — and the Session's First Bill Would Insure a Million Texans
Of the 1,262 bills filed on the first day of prefiling for the January session, two carry the Metroplex's signature. HB 110, by Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos of Richardson, and HB 132 would lift Texas's minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour on September 1, 2027 — with a third bill reaching for $17 — while HB 101, literally the first bill filed in the House, would expand Medicaid to more than a million low-income Texans in the state with the nation's highest uninsured rate.
AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers filed 1,262 bills on Monday, the first day of prefiling for the 90th legislative session, and the wage-and-coverage pair at the top of the Democratic stack both run through North Texas. House Bill 110, filed by state Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos, D-Richardson, and House Bill 132, by Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, would raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour — or the federal rate, if higher — effective September 1, 2027. A third measure, House Bill 246, would raise it to $17.
The distance those bills have to travel is the story of Texas work itself. Texas follows the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which has not changed since 2009 — a full working generation of cooks, clerks, aides and warehouse hands in Dallas–Fort Worth have been hired at a floor set before some of them were born. Similar proposals have been filed in prior sessions and did not advance under Republican control; this filing lands in a different Capitol, after Democrats flipped the Texas House and captured the governor's office in last week's midterms, though the Republican-held Senate remains the wall every one of these bills must climb.
The coverage bill arrived first — literally. House Bill 101 was the first bill filed in the House for the session. HB 101 and HB 102, both by Rep. John Bucy III, D-Austin, would extend Medicaid coverage to low-income adults eligible for federal matching funds, potentially covering more than 1 million Texans. In all, 13 opening-day measures would expand Medicaid, including proposed constitutional amendments in each chamber that would require voter approval, such as Senate Joint Resolution 6 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo.
The need is not abstract in the Metroplex's hospital corridors: Texas has the nation's highest uninsured rate and is one of only 10 states that have not adopted Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion. Bill filing continues through March 12, and the session convenes January 12, 2027. Between the wage bills and the coverage bills, the Democratic majority's opening argument is a household-budget argument — what a shift pays, and what a doctor visit costs — and Dallas County's own representative is carrying the paycheck half of it.
