Constitutional Amendment: Council of State Vacancies.
HB 443 proposes a constitutional amendment requiring the Governor to appoint a replacement for certain state officers (Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, etc.) from a list of three nominees provided by the vacating official's political party, if the party submits recommendations within 30 days. This change would apply to vacancies occurring after the amendment's approval and would modify the current process where the Governor appoints without party input. The amendment must be approved by voters in the November 2026 general election to take effect. It directly affects the Governor's appointment authority and the political parties of the affected offices.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
May 2026
House Passage
May 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 18, 2025
Last action May 20, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Filed
→
Edition 1
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill text was reformatted to match standard legislative editioning, with the header updated to reflect the official 'First Edition' status and the sponsor list expanded to include additional representatives. The core policy content regarding the constitutional amendment for Council of State vacancies remains unchanged.
TECHNICAL
The document header was updated from a draft identifier ('DRH10211-MCy-166') to the official bill number ('H443-v-1') and marked as 'First Edition'.
The list of bill sponsors was expanded to explicitly name Representatives K. Hall, Blackwell, Stevens, and Huneycutt as primary sponsors.
The date of referral to the House committees was updated from March 18, 2025, to March 20, 2025.
Floor votes · House May 20, 2026
How they voted
94–45
Passed · 6 other
Total votes 145
May 20, 2026
D
Democratic58
77% Nay
I
Independent2
100% Yea
R
Republican85
98% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
17
Key actions
4
Committee
7
Amendments
1
May 20, 2026
Committee
Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
upper
May 20, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed 3rd Reading
lower
May 20, 2026
Amended
Amend Failed A1
lower
May 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reptd Fav
lower
Apr 15, 2025
Committee
Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
lower
Apr 15, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reptd Fav
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Committee
Re-ref Com On State and Local Government
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reptd Fav
lower
Mar 20, 2025
Committee
Ref to the Com on Judiciary 1, if favorable, State and Local Government, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
lower
Mar 18, 2025
Introduced
Filed
lower
3 primary · 12 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Hugh Blackwell
RRepublican
P
Kyle Hall
RRepublican
P
Sarah Stevens
RRepublican
Co
Bill Ward
RRepublican
Co
Brian Biggs
RRepublican
Co
Celeste Cairns
RRepublican
Co
Cody Huneycutt
RRepublican
Co
Dean Arp
RRepublican
Co
Harry Warren
RRepublican
Co
Jake Johnson
RRepublican
Co
Jeff McNeely
RRepublican
Co
Jennifer Balkcom
RRepublican
Co
Keith Kidwell
RRepublican
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