Relating to expressive activities at public institutions of higher education.
SB 2972 protects free expression at Texas public universities by requiring common outdoor campus areas to be treated as traditional public forums. It ensures students and employees can engage in protests, speeches, and other expressive activities there, as long as the activity is lawful and doesn’t significantly disrupt campus operations. The law permits universities to impose only reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on these activities, while explicitly excluding commercial speech, threats, defamation, and other unprotected categories. This policy change directly affects all public university students, faculty, and staff in Texas, effective September 1, 2025.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Jun 2025
Senate Passage
Jun 2025
House Passage
Jun 2025
Signed into Law
Jun 2025
Introduced Mar 14, 2025
Signed Jun 20, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Engrossed
→
Enrolled
·
1 edit
·
Jun 20, 2025
MINOR
SB 2972 was converted from an Engrossed version to an Enrolled version, meaning it has passed both legislative chambers and is ready for the Governor's signature. The text shows minor formatting cleanup and the addition of final certification signatures and dates from the Senate, House, and Governor. No substantive policy changes to the bill's content were made during this final stage.
TECHNICAL
Removed draft formatting markers (like '1[...]1') and added Enrolled version headers and certification signatures from legislative officers.
Floor votes · Senate May 13, 2025 · House May 27, 2025
How they voted
21–9
Passed
Total votes 30
May 13, 2025
D
Democratic10
90% Nay
R
Republican20
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
80
Key actions
25
Committee
15
Amendments
7
Jun 20, 2025
Signed into law
Signed by the Governor
executive
Jun 2, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed in the House
lower
Jun 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
Signed in the Senate
upper
Jun 1, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate adopts conference committee report
upper
Jun 1, 2025
Lower · Passed
House adopts conference committee report
lower
May 30, 2025
Lower · Passed
House grants request for conference committee
lower
May 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
Senate requests conference committee-reported
lower
May 29, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate requests conference committee
upper
May 29, 2025
Introduced
House amendment(s) laid before the Senate
upper
May 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
House passage as amended reported
upper
May 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
May 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed to 3rd reading as amended
lower
May 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amended
lower
May 27, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (110-26-10)
house
May 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
May 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
May 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
lower
May 16, 2025
Committee
Referred to Higher Education
lower
May 16, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
May 15, 2025
Introduced
Received from the Senate
lower
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
May 13, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed to engrossment as amended
upper
May 13, 2025
Upper · Passed
Amended
upper
May 13, 2025
Introduced
Amendment(s) offered
upper
May 13, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (21-9)
senate
Apr 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee report printed and distributed
upper
Apr 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported favorably as substituted
upper
Apr 23, 2025
Upper · Passed
Vote taken in committee
upper
Apr 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
Left pending in committee
upper
Apr 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
Testimony taken in committee
upper
Apr 7, 2025
Committee
Referred to Education K-16
upper
Apr 7, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
2 primary · 2 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Brandon Creighton
RRepublican
P
Jeff Leach
RRepublican
Co
Lois Kolkhorst
RRepublican
Co
Mayes Middleton
RRepublican
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