Christie Fogel, chief of staff for the City of Denton, briefed the council and the Denton ISD board on the city’s 2025 legislative priorities on April 1, saying staff is tracking roughly 500 bills and coordinating with partner institutions including the University of North Texas and DCTA.

Fogel said the city has been working with stakeholders to align priorities around community needs, listing protecting local autonomy, ethical sourcing for pet stores, and measures affecting libraries as items the city is monitoring. "We are on day 78 of the legislative session," she said, noting about 8,800 bills had been filed this session and that the city is tracking more than 500 measures of interest.

On land use, Fogel said the session features significant activity around lot sizes, parking requirements, accessory dwelling units and the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), all issues Denton considers central to managing growth. She flagged legislation that would limit municipal authority on library materials and events as closely watched because of prior conflicts between school districts and libraries on content and programming.

Fogel said the governor and legislative leaders have prioritized water, and the city supports efforts to expand funding and access for water projects. She also pointed to possible constitutional amendments and resolutions this session that could raise funding for transit projects and to bills under consideration that would affect airport funding; Denton Municipal Airport was described as the state’s fifth‑busiest airport with more than 200,000 operations.

Other items the city is tracking include municipal court translation services, certificates of obligation and the recent senate committee action to raise the competitive bidding threshold from $50,000 to $100,000. Fogel said many bills the city follows would take effect September 1 if signed and reminded council members the governor has until June 22 to sign or veto measures after the Legislature adjourns on June 2.

Fogel closed by offering to follow up with staff on specific items and said the city is coordinating with regional partners and the school district on the overlapping priorities that affect both jurisdictions.