ABOUT
- Legislative Profile
- Official Bio
- District Info
- Committee Assignments
- Legislative Record
- Legislative Summary (Analysis)*
- Authored/Co-Authored Legislation (Career)
- Sponsored/Cosponsored Legislation (Career)
REP. JAMES TALARICO - DISTRICT 50
INFO
- House District 50
- 2019 - Present
- Room E2.902, P.O. Box 12910, Austin, Texas 78711-2910
- (512) 463-0821
- (512) 463-1199 Fax
- Committees
- House Administration
- Public Education
- S/C on Academic & Career-Oriented Education - Vice Chair
- Trade, Workforce & Economic Development - Vice Chair
OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
Representative James Talarico is a former public school teacher first elected to serve in the Texas House of Representatives in 2018. Born in Round Rock, Rep. Talarico attended Wells Branch Elementary School and graduated from McNeil High School before earning degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University. After college, he taught middle school on the Westside of San Antonio. He currently sits on the Public Education Committee, the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee, and the Calendars Committee.
As a former teacher, Rep. Talarico has worked to ensure all Texas students have access to a quality education. In his first term, he helped write the most significant reform to the state’s school finance system in 20 years. He went on to pass major legislation to open up millions of dollars for student mental health and character education programs, establish the first-ever cap on Pre-K class sizes to reduce student-to-teacher ratios, and improve the quality and affordability of child care.
As a type 1 diabetic, Rep. Talarico also passed historic legislation to cap insulin copays in Texas at $25 a month and import low-cost prescription drugs from Canada — dramatically reducing prescription drug costs for Texas patients. In addition, he passed laws to combat teen fentanyl overdoses, ban reality TV policing, increase accountability within the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, and give all incarcerated minors in Texas the opportunity to earn a high school diploma.
For these accomplishments, Talarico was named one of the Top 10 Best Legislators by Texas Monthly magazine.
District Map
Member Biographical Information
LEGISLATION
LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY
- Supported: 104 bills and resolutions
- Total Enacted: 23
- Breakdown
- Authored / Joint Authored: 68
- Coauthored: 26
- Cosponsored: 6
- Sponsored / Joint Sponsored (Senate bills & resolutions): 4
- Constitutional Amendments Supported: 7
- HJR 204 – Prohibits the legislature from restricting access to abortion
- HJR 205 – Establishes an Independent Citizen Redistricting Commission
- HJR 206 – Limits tenure of statewide executive officers
- HJR 23 – Local option property tax exemption for school-district employees
- HJR 112 – Protecting parental rights
- SJR 3 – Dementia Prevention & Research Institute (constitutional funding mechanism)
- SJR 34 – Parental rights amendment
POLICY AREAS
- Education & Youth – ~30
- School finance, teacher pay, school safety
- Bilingual education, CTE, special education
- Foster youth tuition, student mental health
- Labor & Workforce – ~17
- Minimum wage, paid leave, union rights
- Workforce development program oversight
- Occupational licensing reform
- Healthcare & Public Health – ~16
- Mental health coverage
- Prescription drug purchasing pools
- Dementia research
- Medicaid buy-in
- Reproductive health
- Housing, Land Use & Property – ~13
- ADUs, lot size reform
- Corporate landlords
- Affordable housing on surplus state land
- Multifamily regulation
- Criminal Justice & Public Safety – ~11
- Sexual assault penalties
- Deepfake criminalization
- Weapons restrictions (libraries)
- Juvenile justice, family violence monitoring
- Government Ethics, Elections & Democracy – ~9
- Campaign finance limits
- Redistricting reform
- Lobbyist restrictions
- Officeholder term limits
- Family, Civil Rights & Social Policy – ~8
- Parental rights (both progressive & conservative frames)
- Domestic violence leave
- Marriage law updates