Rep. Caroline Harris Davila introduced HB 1290, a bill on Education and Minors, to the Texas House on Wednesday, Nov. 13 during the 89(R) legislative session, according to the Texas Legislature website.
More specifically, the official text was summarized by the state legislature as ’’relating to prohibiting certain food additives from being included in free or reduced-price meals provided by school districts’’.
The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.
This bill prohibits school districts and open-enrollment charter schools in Texas from providing free or reduced-price meals that include certain food additives starting with the 2025-26 school year. The additives banned from these meals are brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, azodicarbonamide, butylated hydroxyanisole, red dye 3, and titanium dioxide. This measure specifically applies to meals provided through the national school breakfast and lunch programs. Contracts to provide such meals entered into or renewed on or after September 1, 2025, must comply with this prohibition. The act takes effect immediately if it garners a two-thirds majority vote in both legislative houses; otherwise, it becomes effective September 1, 2025.
Caroline Harris Davila, the vice chair of the House Committee on S/C on Workforce, proposed another 10 bills during the 89(R) legislative session. She is also a member of the House Committee on Trade, Workforce & Economic Development and a member of the House Committee on Transportation.
Davilla graduated from Thomas Edison State College with a BA.
Caroline Harris Davilla is currently serving in the Texas State House, representing the state’s 52nd House district. She replaced previous state representative James Talarico in 2023.
Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.
You can read more about the bills and other measures here.
| Bill Number | Date Introduced | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
| HB 652 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to prohibited uses of public money by certain municipalities and counties that reduce or reallocate funding or resources for certain law enforcement agencies |
| HB 517 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the authority of a property owners’ association to assess a fine for discolored vegetation or turf during a period of residential watering restriction |
| HB 408 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the awarding of contracts by the Texas Department of Transportation for certain materials used in road construction projects |
| HB 388 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to a uniform coordination of benefits questionnaire for health benefit plans |
| HB 346 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to support for new businesses |
| HB 296 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to the issuance of a license to practice medicine to certain applicants licensed or educated in a foreign country |
| HB 287 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to an annual study by the Texas A&M University Texas Real Estate Research Center of the purchase and sale of single-family homes by certain institutional buyers |
| HB 251 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to price estimates and billing requirements for certain health care facilities |
| HB 216 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to itemized billing for health care services and supplies provided by health care providers |
| HB 208 | 11/12/2024 | Relating to provision to a patient of an itemized bill for health care services and supplies |
