Rep. Carl Tepper

Maddy summaryHB 524 requires home-rule cities with charters allowing citizen petitions to submit proposed new ordinances or changes to existing ones to the Texas Attorney General for review before holding elections. The city must submit the measure within five days of receiving the petition, and the Attorney General must review it within 30 days to check for conflicts with state law. If the Attorney General finds a conflict, the city cannot hold the election; if the Attorney General misses the deadline, the city must proceed. Voters may also challenge the Attorney General’s finding in court, which could require the city to hold or cancel the election based on the court’s ruling. The law applies only to measures submitted on or after September 1, 2025.

Maddy summarySJR 37 proposes a constitutional amendment to explicitly state that non-U.S. citizens cannot vote in Texas. It amends Article VI, Section 1(a) of the Texas Constitution by adding "persons who are not citizens of the United States" as a prohibited voting class. This would clarify existing voting eligibility rules by making citizenship a constitutional requirement, directly affecting non-citizen residents. The amendment must be approved by Texas voters in the November 4, 2025, election to take effect.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR 13) urges the U.S. Department of State and the International Boundary and Water Commission to ensure Mexico complies with the 1944 Treaty on shared water resources. It specifically addresses Mexico's failure to deliver the required 350,000 acre-feet of water annually (averaged over five years), with a current deficit of 984,814 acre-feet. The resolution highlights how this shortfall harms Texas water users, including municipal, agricultural, and industrial sectors in the Rio Grande Valley, impacting reservoir levels and causing economic losses like the closure of Texas' only sugar mill. As a non-binding resolution, it formally requests U.S. federal agencies to take action but does not change legal obligations.

Maddy summarySB 1706 allows state agency boards to hold closed meetings specifically to discuss defense, military, or aerospace matters. It directly affects state governmental bodies (like local boards or commissions) that handle federal defense projects. The bill defines these matters as either establishing military bases/facilities in Texas or offering economic incentives tied to federal defense grants. The law amends Texas Open Meetings rules to permit this exception for those specific issues, without requiring public disclosure during deliberations. This is a procedural change, not a new policy on defense funding or facility location.

Maddy summaryHB 4731 designates a specific portion of State Highway Loop 88 in Lubbock County (under construction as of September 1, 2025) as the "First Responders Memorial Loop." The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation to install markers along this highway segment identifying the memorial name and relevant information. This is a naming designation only, with no new funding or policy changes, effective September 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 139 creates a new category of employer-sponsored health benefit plans that may exclude certain state-mandated health benefits, while still requiring coverage for federal essential health benefits. It requires health benefit plan issuers to offer these "employer choice of benefits plans" and mandates clear written notice to enrollees at the start of enrollment documents. The notice must explicitly state that the plan may exclude standard Texas-mandated benefits and provide fewer benefits than typical plans, with bold text highlighting this choice. The bill establishes definitions and rules for these plans under Texas Insurance Code Chapter 1506. This directly affects employers offering health benefits and employees choosing their coverage options.

Maddy summaryHB 2149 amends Texas Local Government Code Section 211.019 to require municipalities to negotiate agreements with property owners before forcing them to stop nonconforming land uses (uses that don't comply with current zoning after a regulation change). The bill mandates that agreements must specify either a payment covering relocation costs and market value loss, or a period allowing continued use to recover costs through business operations. This directly affects property owners with existing nonconforming uses and municipalities enforcing zoning changes. The key change shifts enforcement from unilateral municipal orders to a negotiated process with defined compensation or transition periods.

Maddy summaryHB 638 requires certain water districts (under Water Code Chapters 36, 49, or 60) to record audio and video of their regular open meetings and specific work sessions or special meetings where voting occurs or public comment is taken. These recordings must be made available online in an archived format. The law applies only to meetings held on or after September 1, 2025, and does not affect meetings held before that date. This bill directly impacts larger water districts by mandating public access to their meeting recordings online.

Maddy summaryHB 370 amends Texas law to restrict eligibility for funding from the Events Trust Fund. It prohibits funding for events that allow biological males to compete in sports designated for female athletes. The bill defines "biological male" using official birth certificates or government records stating biological sex, requiring statements entered near birth or corrected for clerical errors. This applies only to events seeking trust fund support and does not affect biological males serving as coaches or support staff. The policy change directly affects sports events applying for state funding under the Events Trust Fund.

Maddy summarySB 2230 requires Texas municipalities and county commissioners courts to mandate evacuations of unauthorized people from hazard zones calculated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during space flight activities. Violating these evacuation orders would be a Class B misdemeanor (Class A for repeat offenses). The bill’s effective date depends on another related bill (S.B. 2188) also passing into law. It creates a legal mechanism to enforce safety zones around space launch sites without specifying new safety protocols or altering FAA regulations.