Waiting 18 Years for Help: HB 1106 Would End Property Tax for Caregiver Families

A Texas family takes care of a disabled son or daughter at home. They wait on a state list for help. Year after year. Some of them, 18 years. A bill filed in Austin says: while you wait, you stop paying property tax on your home.

Plain English

On November 12, 2026, Rep. Diego Bernal filed two pieces of paper in the Texas House. FACT.

HJR 72 is a constitutional amendment. It would let the Legislature exempt the total value of a homestead owned by an unpaid caregiver of a person who is eligible for Medicaid long-term services and supports, while that person sits on a waiting list. FACT.

HB 1106 is the law that would make it work. FACT.

Under HB 1106, the caregiver has to be a parent, grandparent, or legal guardian. The person they care for has to be on a Medicaid interest list and live in the home. A licensed medical professional has to sign a statement that the person has complex medical needs. FACT.

The exemption lasts only while the person is on the list. FACT.

If voters approve the amendment on November 2, 2027, the law would take effect January 1, 2028. If voters say no, HB 1106 does nothing. FACT.

Why it matters

Texas calls its waiting lists "interest lists." The state's own numbers are hard to read.

As of September 30, 2026, the Health and Human Services Commission counted 198,819 people on its six waiver interest lists, unduplicated. FACT.

The HCS list alone had 136,144 names. The CLASS list had 99,790. FACT.

On the HCS list, 947 people had been waiting 18 years or more. Another 6,467 had been waiting 17 years. FACT.

From September 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, HHSC reports 9,966 people were added to the HCS list. In that same report, 496 HCS releases ended in enrollment. FACT.

That is not a line. That is a parking lot.

In May 2026, KERA News reported that the House Human Services Committee heard testimony on these lists, and that advocates told lawmakers some Texans wait 17 to 18 years. DOCUMENTED INFERENCE.

So the families on that list are doing the job the program was built to do. At home. Unpaid. And they still get a tax bill.

The receipt

• HJR 72 text: adds Section 1-q to Article VIII of the Texas Constitution. Election date November 2, 2027. FACT.
• HB 1106 text: adds Section 11.136 to the Tax Code, "Residence Homestead of Unpaid Caregiver." Covers people on interest lists for 1915(c) waiver programs, STAR Kids, and STAR+PLUS HCBS. FACT.
• Partial year: if a family qualifies mid-year, the tax is prorated by the day. If the person leaves the list, the tax comes back for the rest of the year. FACT.
• School funding: HB 1106 adds these homesteads to the list the Comptroller does not count as taxable value in the school property value study. FACT. In plain terms, that usually means a school district is not punished in state funding formulas for the lost value. DOCUMENTED INFERENCE.
• HHSC data: "Interest List Data with Times and Dispositions," through September 30, 2026, report generated 10/20/26. FACT.

No fiscal note was posted when I checked. Nobody has published what this would cost cities, counties, and the state. FACT.

What Ryan says

I am going to say this plain.

If a mom and dad are caring for a grown child with complex medical needs at home, they are saving this state money every single day.

The state put them on a list. The state is making them wait longer than some of those kids have been alive.

And then the appraisal district sends them a bill.

I like the idea behind this. Families who carry the load should not be squeezed for it.

But I want three things answered before anybody cheers.

First, the cost. Show me the fiscal note. Show me what every county and city in East Texas loses, and who makes it up.

Second, the guardrails. The medical statement is the gate. That gate has to be real, so the families who need this get it, and nobody games it.

Third, the real problem. A tax break does not move anybody up the list. The fix is more slots and a list that tells the truth about who is waiting. A tax exemption is a bandage. Austin owes these families the cure.

Same state. Same families. Eighteen years. The record does not lie.

What this does not prove

It does not prove this bill will pass. It was filed November 12. It has no committee and no hearing yet.

It does not prove how much money any family would save. That depends on home value and local tax rates.

It does not prove every person on the list needs services today. HHSC says people can be on more than one list, and the counts move every month.

What it does prove

It proves the state's own report shows nearly 200,000 Texans waiting, with some on the HCS list for 18 years or more.

It proves a bill now exists that would take the property tax off the homes of the families doing that care.

It proves voters would get the last word in November 2027 if lawmakers send it to the ballot.

The bottom line

The families on this list are not asking for a handout.

They are asking the state to keep its promise.

Until it does, the least Austin can do is stop taxing the roof they are caring under.

Do not threaten anyone. Do not harass anyone. Do not contact anyone in my name. Read it. Share it. Send receipts, evidence, witnesses. Put eyes on the record.