HB 255 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the definitions of certain terms for purposes of the exemption from ad valorem taxation of farm products in the hands of the producer.

HB 255 clarifies definitions for a property tax exemption on farm products produced by farmers. It adds livestock, poultry, and timber (including standing timber) to the list of "farm products" eligible for the exemption. The bill specifies that "in the hands of the producer" means livestock/poultry/eggs owned by the farmer on January 1 of the tax year, or timber still on the property where it was grown. This bill takes effect for tax years starting January 1, 2026, but only if voters approve a related constitutional amendment.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 27, 2025 Last action Apr 29, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Engrossed · 3 edits · Apr 25, 2025
MINOR
The bill text was reformatted and cleaned up, removing extraneous metadata and standardizing the layout. The substantive policy content regarding farm product tax exemptions, definitions, and effective dates remains unchanged from the original version.
Scope change
No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; only formatting and presentation were modified.
TECHNICAL

Removed metadata headers and footers that were mixed into the bill text, such as bill numbers and page references.

Standardized spacing and line breaks throughout the document for better readability.

Reorganized the bill structure to place the title and enacting clause in standard legislative format.

Floor votes · House Apr 24, 2025

How they voted

1450
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 146
Apr 24, 2025
D Democratic60
59 Yea 1
98% Yea
R Republican86
86 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
26
Key actions
7
Committee
7
Apr 29, 2025
Committee
Referred to Local Government
upper
Apr 29, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
Apr 28, 2025
Introduced
Received from the House
upper
Apr 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
Apr 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed to engrossment
lower
Mar 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
Mar 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
Mar 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably as substituted
lower
Mar 10, 2025
Lower · Passed
Left pending in committee
lower
Mar 10, 2025
Lower · Passed
Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
lower
Feb 27, 2025
Committee
Referred to Ways & Means
lower
Feb 27, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
2 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors