diff --git a/.github/.OwlBot.lock.yaml b/.github/.OwlBot.lock.yaml
index 9786771c43..9351fdfb9a 100644
--- a/.github/.OwlBot.lock.yaml
+++ b/.github/.OwlBot.lock.yaml
@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 docker:
   image: gcr.io/cloud-devrel-public-resources/owlbot-java:latest
-  digest: sha256:3c950ed12391ebaffd1ee66d0374766a1c50144ebe6a7a0042300b2e6bb5856b
+  digest: sha256:387835a1375a0049ec44e02542c844302854c732d8291bdf8e472c0ff70a8f67
diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
index 940d477efc..912a85b3bb 100644
--- a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -5,3 +5,6 @@ Thank you for opening a Pull Request! Before submitting your PR, there are a few
 - [ ] Appropriate docs were updated (if necessary)
 
 Fixes #<issue_number_goes_here> ☕️
+
+If you write sample code, please follow the [samples format](
+https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/java-docs-samples/blob/main/SAMPLE_FORMAT.md).
diff --git a/.github/workflows/downstream.yaml b/.github/workflows/downstream.yaml
index a675b7ec74..8a41a7afcc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/downstream.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/downstream.yaml
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ jobs:
         - workflows
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-    - uses: actions/setup-java@v1
+    - uses: actions/setup-java@v3
       with:
         java-version: ${{matrix.java}}
     - run: java -version
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1ab847f0c1..85e60b3bc1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,25 @@
 # Changelog
 
+### [2.5.5](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/compare/v2.5.4...v2.5.5) (2022-02-28)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* **java:** initialize spanner test environment class at build-time ([#734](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/734)) ([684934e](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/684934efb28e4ed5f5f975aab91adad25bf1ab52))
+* **java:** initialize TestTag at build time ([#732](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/732)) ([a5f1dc2](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/a5f1dc2ed3d71404d699830ba4bea8824e67d0e8))
+
+
+### Dependencies
+
+* update actions/setup-java action to v3 ([#739](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/739)) ([46322e3](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/46322e3a9929195c223fc6399860c1cab4d81eb5))
+* update dependency com.google.api.grpc:proto-google-common-protos to v2.7.4 ([#728](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/728)) ([3b83bd7](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/3b83bd7dce6a369c6668f0967572ae08df1b77d8))
+* update dependency com.google.api.grpc:proto-google-iam-v1 to v1.2.4 ([#729](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/729)) ([0759c2b](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/0759c2b8163d45bf87692e2f131df76dac5f178e))
+* update dependency com.google.api.grpc:proto-google-iam-v1 to v1.2.5 ([#735](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/735)) ([cefbf97](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/cefbf978ac21f00b3c4558ebc40ef1f6355ea156))
+* update dependency com.google.auth:google-auth-library-bom to v1.5.3 ([#737](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/737)) ([a1cb8d8](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/a1cb8d81db34142937c85be5c4502036a4b7939d))
+* update dependency com.google.code.gson:gson to v2.9.0 ([#727](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/727)) ([faf8a44](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/faf8a44e8823ecae44d543e6f5c2a9d8598f04fe))
+* update dependency com.google.http-client:google-http-client-bom to v1.41.4 ([#730](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/730)) ([1975b61](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/1975b617e23f7dd0b263e9acb4010b3126e5d7e7))
+* update dependency io.grpc:grpc-bom to v1.44.1 ([#736](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/736)) ([4ca315c](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/4ca315ca400e020badbdf27bb92d1b67680a2e73))
+
 ### [2.5.4](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/compare/v2.5.3...v2.5.4) (2022-02-11)
 
 
diff --git a/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml
index 40f7a10d43..8de131172d 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-bom</artifactId>
-  <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
@@ -63,22 +63,22 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-core</artifactId>
-        <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+        <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-core-grpc</artifactId>
-        <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+        <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-core-http</artifactId>
-        <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+        <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>native-image-support</artifactId>
-        <version>0.12.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:native-image-support:current} -->
+        <version>0.12.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:native-image-support:current} -->
       </dependency>
     </dependencies>
   </dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml
index ea9a5b742e..a9cf8ffa8b 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-grpc</artifactId>
-  <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Core gRPC</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core-grpc</site.installationModule>
diff --git a/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml
index 83acd443e7..3e061e282c 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-http</artifactId>
-  <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Core HTTP</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core-http</site.installationModule>
diff --git a/google-cloud-core/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core/pom.xml
index 637fd84d5a..58708c8caa 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core</artifactId>
-  <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Core</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core</site.installationModule>
diff --git a/native-image-support/pom.xml b/native-image-support/pom.xml
index 93aca9597f..98b19ac769 100644
--- a/native-image-support/pom.xml
+++ b/native-image-support/pom.xml
@@ -7,13 +7,13 @@
   <name>Google Cloud Native Image Support</name>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>native-image-support</artifactId>
-  <version>0.12.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:native-image-support:current} -->
+  <version>0.12.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:native-image-support:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
   <parent>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
-    <version>2.5.4</version> <!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.5.5</version> <!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
 
   <description>
diff --git a/native-image-support/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/nativeimage/features/clients/OpenCensusFeature.java b/native-image-support/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/nativeimage/features/clients/OpenCensusFeature.java
index f2b6cb2098..e718f28567 100644
--- a/native-image-support/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/nativeimage/features/clients/OpenCensusFeature.java
+++ b/native-image-support/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/nativeimage/features/clients/OpenCensusFeature.java
@@ -25,11 +25,15 @@
 @AutomaticFeature
 final class OpenCensusFeature implements Feature {
 
-  private static final String OPEN_CENSUS_CLASS = "io.opencensus.impl.tags.TagsComponentImpl";
+  private static final String TAGS_COMPONENT_CLASS = "io.opencensus.impl.tags.TagsComponentImpl";
+  private static final String STATS_COMPONENT_CLASS = "io.opencensus.impl.stats.StatsComponentImpl";
 
   @Override
   public void beforeAnalysis(BeforeAnalysisAccess access) {
-    if (access.findClassByName(OPEN_CENSUS_CLASS) != null) {
+    if (access.findClassByName(STATS_COMPONENT_CLASS) != null) {
+      registerForReflectiveInstantiation(access, STATS_COMPONENT_CLASS);
+    }
+    if (access.findClassByName(TAGS_COMPONENT_CLASS) != null) {
       registerForReflectiveInstantiation(access, "io.opencensus.impl.metrics.MetricsComponentImpl");
       registerForReflectiveInstantiation(access, "io.opencensus.impl.tags.TagsComponentImpl");
       registerForReflectiveInstantiation(access, "io.opencensus.impl.trace.TraceComponentImpl");
diff --git a/native-image-support/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/nativeimage/features/clients/SpannerFeature.java b/native-image-support/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/nativeimage/features/clients/SpannerFeature.java
index e902c77928..3e5495840d 100644
--- a/native-image-support/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/nativeimage/features/clients/SpannerFeature.java
+++ b/native-image-support/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/nativeimage/features/clients/SpannerFeature.java
@@ -27,9 +27,14 @@
 final class SpannerFeature implements Feature {
 
   private static final String SPANNER_CLASS = "com.google.spanner.v1.SpannerGrpc";
+  private static final String SPANNER_TEST_CLASS = "com.google.cloud.spanner.GceTestEnvConfig";
 
   @Override
   public void beforeAnalysis(BeforeAnalysisAccess access) {
+    Class<?> spannerTestClass = access.findClassByName(SPANNER_TEST_CLASS);
+    if (spannerTestClass != null) {
+      NativeImageUtils.registerConstructorsForReflection(access, SPANNER_TEST_CLASS);
+    }
     Class<?> spannerClass = access.findClassByName(SPANNER_CLASS);
     if (spannerClass != null) {
       NativeImageUtils.registerClassHierarchyForReflection(
diff --git a/native-image-support/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/com.google.cloud/google-cloud-core/native-image.properties b/native-image-support/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/com.google.cloud/google-cloud-core/native-image.properties
index 369a7fe6bf..2228a1f094 100644
--- a/native-image-support/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/com.google.cloud/google-cloud-core/native-image.properties
+++ b/native-image-support/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/com.google.cloud/google-cloud-core/native-image.properties
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 Args = --allow-incomplete-classpath \
 --enable-url-protocols=https,http \
 --initialize-at-build-time=org.conscrypt,\
-  org.slf4j.LoggerFactory \
+  org.slf4j.LoggerFactory,\
+  org.junit.platform.engine.TestTag,\
+  com.google.cloud.spanner.IntegrationTestEnv \
 --initialize-at-run-time=io.grpc.netty.shaded.io.netty.handler.ssl.OpenSsl,\
     io.grpc.netty.shaded.io.netty.internal.tcnative.SSL,\
     io.grpc.netty.shaded.io.netty.internal.tcnative.CertificateVerifier,\
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 6f6a1c1a89..d561439163 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
-  <version>2.5.4</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.5.5</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <name>Google Cloud Core Parent</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
   <description>
@@ -153,13 +153,13 @@
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core-parent</site.installationModule>
     <gax.version>2.12.2</gax.version>
     <google.api-common.version>2.1.4</google.api-common.version>
-    <google.common-protos.version>2.7.3</google.common-protos.version>
-    <google.iam.version>1.2.3</google.iam.version>
-    <google.auth.version>1.4.0</google.auth.version>
+    <google.common-protos.version>2.7.4</google.common-protos.version>
+    <google.iam.version>1.2.5</google.iam.version>
+    <google.auth.version>1.5.3</google.auth.version>
     <google.api.version>1.33.2</google.api.version>
-    <google.http.version>1.41.3</google.http.version>
+    <google.http.version>1.41.4</google.http.version>
     <graalvm.version>22.0.0.2</graalvm.version>
-    <grpc.version>1.44.0</grpc.version>
+    <grpc.version>1.44.1</grpc.version>
     <protobuf.version>3.19.4</protobuf.version>
     <opencensus.version>0.31.0</opencensus.version>
     <annotations-api.version>1.3.2</annotations-api.version>
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@
     <threetenbp.version>1.5.2</threetenbp.version>
     <objenesis.version>3.2</objenesis.version>
     <errorprone.version>2.11.0</errorprone.version>
-    <gson.version>2.8.9</gson.version>
+    <gson.version>2.9.0</gson.version>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-project-info-reports-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>3.2.1</version>
+        <version>3.2.2</version>
         <reportSets>
           <reportSet>
             <reports>
diff --git a/versions.txt b/versions.txt
index 2e56949fe1..085bce8492 100644
--- a/versions.txt
+++ b/versions.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Format:
 # module:released-version:current-version
 
-google-cloud-core:2.5.4:2.5.4
-native-image-support:0.12.4:0.12.4
\ No newline at end of file
+google-cloud-core:2.5.5:2.5.5
+native-image-support:0.12.5:0.12.5
\ No newline at end of file