A new set of legislative priorities released by Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows is drawing attention in New Mexico after one directive instructed Texas lawmakers to study the possibility of annexing parts of New Mexico into Texas.
According to a report by the Texas Tribune, Burrows directed a Texas House committee to examine “the implications of adding to Texas ‘one or more contiguous counties of New Mexico’ and the process to do so,” after proposals surfaced suggesting some New Mexico counties might be interested in seceding and joining Texas.
While the idea of changing state boundaries is highly unlikely in the near future, the directive signals that Texas lawmakers are at least willing to explore the concept as part of their planning for the 2027 legislative session.
“Following a legislative session defined by historic solutions, it is critical the Texas House remains engaged in thoughtful policymaking and oversight as our state continues to grow and advance,” Burrows said in a statement, according to the Texas Tribune. He added that the interim charges are meant to build on that progress while identifying fraud, waste and abuse and safeguarding taxpayer dollars.
The annexation study was just one item on a broader list of priorities that included property tax relief, water infrastructure, data center development, foreign influence concerns and government oversight. Data center growth appeared multiple times on the priority list, with lawmakers directed to examine regulatory changes and water usage tied to data center expansion — an increasingly important issue as Texas faces ongoing water supply challenges.
Texas lawmakers were also instructed to review the property tax system, including school district tax rates and homestead exemptions, as state leaders continue looking for ways to reduce the property tax burden on homeowners.
The list also included directives related to energy markets, oil and gas production, and geopolitical instability abroad, particularly in the Middle East and global liquefied natural gas markets, according to the Texas Tribune.
But it was the New Mexico annexation idea that quickly generated political reaction across state lines.
Far-left Democrat U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez responded on social media after the report was published, writing, “Texas invaded New Mexico before. We won then, and we won’t ever let Texas win. Besides, you don’t even have green chile…”
Her comment referenced the long historical rivalry between the two states, as well as the 19th-century territorial conflicts that shaped the modern Texas–New Mexico border.
The Texas Tribune noted that while boundary changes are unlikely to happen anytime soon, the proposal could appeal to pro-secession activists and political groups that have periodically pushed the idea of rural counties leaving New Mexico for Texas.
Any attempt to move state boundaries would face enormous legal and political hurdles, including approval from both state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.
Still, the fact that Texas leadership has now formally directed a committee to study the issue suggests the idea may continue to surface in political discussions leading up to the 2027 Texas legislative session.
For now, the directive remains a study request — not a formal proposal — but it has already sparked debate and reactions on both sides of the state line, highlighting ongoing political, economic and cultural differences between Texas and New Mexico.
Whether the idea goes anywhere remains to be seen, but the conversation itself has now officially entered the policy arena in Texas.
How about annexing the entire state and doing away with our current government? That would be great!
Amen!
I`m all in .
NM was historically part of TX. Let’s revert to the old boundaries!
Sounds good to me. Remember what Mimi Stewart said about New Mexican’s liking Texas? Why move to Texas, let Texas annex those counties in New Mexico to Texas.
I see plenty of Texas plates in N.M. Wallyworld parking lot, lol
Take the whole thing, Texas! It could only help.
Wake me up when we’re Texas.😴💤💤
Yes .
Lincoln, Otero, Chaves, Lee, and Eddy I am for it! You all go to hell, I am going to Texas.
Sierra County as well!
Hell yeah!
Please take the area where the satanic abortion clinic is built so it can be demolished!
yes!
Take Sierra County!
Texas continues to keep it’s people first. Education here is so much better than it was in NM. They just recently did away with capital gains. There is not a state income tax and is just much more welcoming to business. All things NM is in complete opposition to. Is it perfect? No, but we’re at peace and love it here 💓💓.
Taking east NM would be great! It would severely limit the BS Santa Fe does. And like in Canada, where Alberta wants to secede, theyre the primary income producers and get very little in return, so does eastern NM.
Bring it on!
Take our leadership in Santa Fe, in Washington, ABQ Mayor and his socialist minions. I will pay their way.
Include Harding County.
Revert to the old borders when NM was part of Texas. I love it!
TEXAS SHOULD TAKE THE WHOLE STATE BACK
Actually, Pilgrim, there is a lawful foundation and legal basis for all of this talk, dating back to the pre-Civil War era. Arizona and New Mexico were “approved” as territorial protectorates by the “de jure” Article I, US Congress. The Constitutionally unlawful “de facto” USA, Inc. that emerged after the Civil War in 1871, approved both of these massive territories as individual states in 1912. Today’s borders were arbitrary “de facto” vertical border lines. The “de facto” USA, Inc. government was declared bankrupt and dissolved publicly in recent months, meaning that the former New Mexico Territory and Arizona Territory, respectively, are still NOT “states” and were never lawfully granted statehood under the original 1787 “de jure” Constitution – look it up! (refer to the “Howell Code”) — The New Mexico Territory was split into two parts along a West-to-East straight line from the Colorado River on the California border to the Texas Panhandle along the “32-degree Latitude line” running horizontally through the stage stop at San Antonio on the old “Butterfield Trail” (SEE: the “San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line”) a few miles south of Socorro. New Mexico is NOT a 1787 (ratified 1789) Constitutionally valid “state” and the current New Mexico “government” is not lawful. It has lost its “de facto claimed standing” under the 1787 Constitution! …and lawfully reverted back to being a “Territorial protectorate” under the original Constitution. Likewise, for the post-Gadsden Purchase “Arizona Territory,” which is also not a de jure Constitutionally-admitted “state.” The real Arizona Territory southern border is the current border line from El Paso to Yuma. The real Congressionally approved northern Arizona Territorial border as I perceive it, is the 32-degree Latitude line, Everything south of it is the Constitutionally lawful “Arizona Territory” and its first capital was Mesilla, land ater moved to Tucson (not Prescott, or Phoenix). The supposed 1912 “statehood” approvals were made under the now-defunct and dissolved USA, Inc. corporation. I am ALL-IN for this proposed correction of historical governance. Let Texas have what they originally fought for (and, yes,the majority of all of the Civil War troops in the Arizona Territory were from Texas). Give everything north of 32-degrees (Socorro) to Colorado and make Arizona the separate “de jure” State they initially applied for and almost achieved before the Civil War began. Boom! …its a win, win, win. This is not “conspiracy theory” – it is historical FACT. Do your homework, …and for my friends in the Texas oil patch / Panhandle, get on with it. You have “lawful standing” to proceed under the 1787 US Constitution and your own Texas de jure state consitution — which is why this came up in the Texas Legislature. …BRAVO !! …All ‘ya all have a nice day now, ‘ya hear?
Not that far fetched of an idea. Grant County looked at moving to Az some years ago. This current idea in eastern NM is no doubt the result of the totally political gerrymandering to dilute their conservative voices. Santa Fe wants the tax revenues from all extraction industries but ignores the will of the people in those areas.
Too good to be true