HB 346 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the fee amounts prescribed by the secretary of state for expedited commercial and business record searches or filings and the exemption from the franchise tax and certain filing fees for veteran-owned businesses.

HB 346 modifies fee structures for expedited business record searches and filings with Texas' Secretary of State, setting maximum fees of $15 for security interest searches and $25 for corporate filings. It repeals existing exemptions from franchise tax and certain filing fees for veteran-owned businesses, removing a prior benefit. The bill requires the Secretary of State to publish any varying fee schedules online and aligns with the law's effective date of September 1, 2025. This directly affects veteran-owned businesses (by ending tax/file fee exemptions) and all businesses using expedited services (by establishing new fee limits).

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

Jun 2025

Signed into Law

Jun 2025

Introduced Feb 28, 2025 Signed Jun 12, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed → Enrolled · 5 edits · Jun 12, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was completely rewritten from a new business support and fee exemption measure into a streamlined set of expedited business record search and filing fees. The original text focused on eliminating first-year business fees and requiring state agencies to award at least 5% of contracts to new businesses, while the new version focuses on setting specific fee amounts for expedited access to business records and repealing related provisions from a previous bill.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from broad new business support (contract awards, fee eliminations, workforce funding) to specific administrative fee structures for expedited business record services.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed provisions eliminating first-year business entity fees and requiring state agencies to award at least 5% of contracts to new businesses.

REQUIREMENT

Added specific fee amounts for expedited handling of business record searches, filings, and electronic data access, with authority to vary fees by business type.

FISCAL

Removed requirements for economic development funding allocations to support new businesses and workforce development reporting on new business support.

ENFORCEMENT

Repealed previous statutory provisions related to business organization fees and replaced them with new fee schedules for expedited record services.

TIMELINE

Added effective date of September 1, 2025, and certification of passage dates in May 2025.

Floor votes · House May 9, 2025

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 12, 2025

Signed into law

Signed by the Governor

executive

Jun 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Signed in the Senate

upper

May 31, 2025

Lower · Passed

Signed in the House

lower

May 30, 2025

Introduced

House concurs in Senate amendment(s)-reported

upper

May 30, 2025

Introduced

Text of Senate Amendment(s)

lower

May 30, 2025

Introduced

House concurs in Senate amendment(s)

lower

May 29, 2025

Introduced

Senate Amendments Analysis distributed

lower

May 29, 2025

Introduced

Senate Amendments distributed

lower

May 29, 2025

Lower · Passed

Senate passage as amended reported

lower

May 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed

upper

May 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee report printed and distributed

upper

May 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported favorably as substituted

upper

May 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

Vote taken in committee

upper

May 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

Testimony taken in committee

upper

May 12, 2025

Committee

Referred to Economic Development

upper

May 12, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

upper

May 12, 2025

Introduced

Received from the House

upper

May 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

May 9, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed to engrossment

lower

Apr 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report sent to Calendars

lower

Apr 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report distributed

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Left pending in committee

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee

lower

Feb 28, 2025

Committee

Referred to State Affairs

lower

Feb 28, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

lower

3 primary · 1 co-sponsor