Terry Wilson, Texas State Representative of 20th district | Facebook
Terry Wilson, Texas State Representative of 20th district | Facebook
More specifically, the official text was summarized by the state legislature as ’’Relating to measures to protect public institutions of higher education from foreign adversaries and to the prosecution of the criminal offense of theft of trade secrets; providing civil and administrative penalties; increasing a criminal penalty’’.
The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.
This bill aims to protect public institutions of higher education in Texas from foreign adversaries by regulating gifts, contracts, and partnerships with foreign sources from designated adversaries. The bill requires these institutions to report and seek approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for any gift or contract involving a foreign adversary. It mandates the establishment of a research integrity office for screening foreign researchers and implementing international travel monitoring programs. Additionally, the bill prohibits student associations from engaging with foreign adversaries and mandates an audit on the implementation of these measures by March 31, 2026. Effective Sept. 1, 2025, the bill also amends the Penal Code to increase penalties for theft of trade secrets intended to benefit foreign agents or governments.
Terry Wilson, chair of the House Committee on Higher Education and member of the House Committee on Redistricting, proposed another three bills during the 89(R) legislative session.
Wilson graduated from Texas A&M University in 1990 with a BS.
Terry Wilson is currently serving in the Texas State House, representing the state's 20th House district. He replaced previous state representative Marsha Farney in 2017.
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 1018 | 03/07/2025 | Relating to the establishment of a certification program for public work contracting purposes for operators of certain facilities that emit air contaminants |
| HB 982 | 03/06/2025 | Relating to the authority of a taxing unit other than a school district, county, municipality, or junior college district to establish a limitation on the amount of ad valorem taxes that the taxing unit may impose on the residence homesteads of certain low-income individuals who are disabled or elderly and their surviving spouses |
| HB 873 | 03/05/2025 | Relating to air quality permits for aggregate production operations and concrete batch plants |
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