by Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van/Rep. Joe Heflin, R-Cosbyton
  County and municipal governments are already required to post notice of competitive bidding when the potential contract exceeds $25,000. This bill would raise the monetary threshold to $50,000.

See full text of bill

HB 133 - Sales Price Disclosure

by Rep. Mike Villareal, D-San Antonio

  This bill would amend Property Code by adding Chapter 12A, Mandatory Sales Price Disclosure. Contains list of exemptions from disclosure, including sales of property from one governmental body to another governmental body. Note: SB 444 by Wentworth would amend Chapter 12A by making sales price disclosure mandatory and with no exemptions.

See full text of bill

Status

HB 210 – Name and Address Information

by Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen
  This proposal would amend Public Information Act, Government Code 552.1375 so that the name and address of anyone who provided information as part of a communication with a government agency, and who sought a reply by that agency, would be confidential. The information could be disclosed if requestor consents. As of Feb. 17, the author said he would not push this bill any further.

Status

Status

HB 293 - Automatic Expunction of Criminal Records

by Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston

  This bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure Art.55 so that certain criminal records would be expunged automatically under certain conditions.

Status

HB 314 - Criminal Records

by Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo

  This bill would amend Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 62 [sex offender registration program] and Government Code Chapter 411 [Department of Public Safety] so that criminal history record information that concerns a person ’s conviction for an offense under Penal Code Sec. 49.04 [driving with intoxicate] Sec. 49.045 [driving while intoxicated with a child passenger] Sec. 49.07 [intoxication assault] or Sec. 49.08 [intoxication manslaughter] is public information, with the exception of any information regarding the person’s SSN, DL or telephone number; and any information that would identify the victim of the offense.

See full text of bill

Status

HB 398 - Subcommittee Meetings

by Rep. Soloman Ortiz, Jr., D-Corpus Christi  

 This bill would amend Title 12, Local Government Code, by adding Subtitle D, Special Event Trust Funds. See Sec. 521.005 regarding application of open meetings and open records laws. Strike through language would make a meeting of a subcommittee of the governing body of a local organizing committee subject to the Open Meetings Act.

See full text of bill

Status

HB 402 - Eminent Domain Authority

by Rep. Beverly Wooley, R-Houston

  This bill would amend Government Code Chapter 2206, Eminent Domain. See SUBCHAPTER C. PROCEDURES REQUIRED TO INITIATE EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS. And see Sec. 2206.103, VOTE ON USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN. (a) Before a governmental entity initiates a condemnation proceeding by filing a petition under Section 21.012, Property Code, the governmental entity must authorize the initiation of the condemnation proceedings at a public meeting by a record vote. Also See paragraph (g), which says: An ordinance, resolution, or order adopted under Subsection (f) is not required to identify specific properties that the governmental entity will acquire. The ordinance, resolution, or order must identify the general area to be covered by the project or the general route that will be used by the governmental entity for the project in a way that provides property owners in and around the area or along the route reasonable notice that the owners’ properties may be subject to condemnation proceedings during the planning or construction of the project. Also, repeals Public Information Act 552.0037, titled "Certain Entities Authorized to Take Property Through Eminent Domain." This section currently makes entities that are not governmental bodies subject to the Public Information Act if information they have collected, assembled or maintained relates to the taking of private property through the use of eminent domain.

HB 478 - Campaign Literature

by Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth  

 This bill would make it punishable by a $4,000 fine to "knowingly publish, broadcast, distribute, or contract for the publication, broadcast, or distribution of political advertising that contains a photograph of [a] candidate's opponent or of a candidate [a] committee opposes that has been altered or distorted in a manner that a reasonable person would find to be unflattering or uncomplimentary." This bill could have serious consequences for political speech and, as a result, the free flow of information to the public.

HB 481 - Open Format for Electronic State Documents

by Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth  

 This bill would amend Government Code 2054, Information Resources. It requires that state agencies consider the need for public access to electronic documents. It also requires that documents may not be changed to a format "used by only one vendor."

HB 547 - Anti-SLAPP Lawsuits

by Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo 

 A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) s a civil lawsuit used to silence whistleblowers by tying them up in court and burdening them financially with legal defense costs. This bill creates a means to fight such lawsuits but doesn't go as far as HB 1338 by Rep. David McQuade-Leibowitz.

HB 557 - Air Pollution Watch List

by Rep. Ana Hernandez, D-Houston  

 See Section 2, proposing to amend the Health and Safety Code by creating an air pollutant watch list. Paragraph (b) says the TCEQ shall publish notice of and allow public comment on: (1) an addition of an air contaminant to or removal of an air contaminant from the air pollutant watch list; or (2) an addition of an area to or removal of an area from the air pollutant watch list.

HB 628 - Human Trafficking Victim Database and Task Force

by Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas  

 This bill would amend Government Code by adding Sec. 402.0282, TRAFFICKING VICTIM DATABASE. It would requires attorney general to produce a biennial statistical report and post it to the AG Web site.

HB 640 - Personnel Records of Sheriffs

by Rep. John Zerwas, R-Houston  

 This bill would amend Local Government Code by adding Section 157.905, PERSONNEL RECORDS OF DEPUTY SHERIFF IN CERTAIN COUNTIES. Says "Notwithstanding Chapter 552, Government Code, the personnel records of a sheriff’s deputy appointed under Section 85.003 may not be disclosed or otherwise made available to the public, except the sheriff’s department shall release [list of releasable information]." Applies only to a sheriff’s department in a county with a population of 300,000 or more.

HB 649 - Online Tax Records

by Rep. Yvonne Davis, D-Dallas  

 This bill would amend Tax Code by adding Sec. 25.028, AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT POSTING OF CERTAIN APPRAISAL RECORD INFORMATION ON INTERNET. It would allow a property owner to opt out of online disclosure of their name.

HB 670 - Free Flow of Information Act

by Rep. Tony Martinez-Fischer, D-San Antonio

Same as Senate Bill 915 by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston and Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock  

 This important bill would do several things to ensure legal protection for Texas' journalists that, unfortunately, is sorely lacking. It would accomplish this several ways, including:

-Requiring a judge to decide whether disclosure of a reporter's information is essential to a criminal or civil case, could be obtained otherwise and will serve the public interest.

-Providing a framework for that judge to use - something judges have asked for in Texas case rulings since the early 1990's

-Requiring journalists to testify at the request of criminal prosecutors, criminal defendants and civil litigants using balancing tests that are based on existing case law and the U.S. Department of Justice's guidelines for subpoenaing reporters that have been in place for more than 30 years.

-Establishing that journalists must divulge information in situations where the journalist is an eyewitness to a crime or in instances where someone's life depends on confidential source information.

-The law would provide a qualified privilege — rather than an absolute privilege — regarding confidential sources and is the more moderate approach taken by the majority of the 36 states that have Free Flow of Information laws.

   Law enforcement officials and litigation adversaries often first subpoena reporters' notes, video outtakes or other unpublished information before conducting their own investigations. This practice essentially turns the news media into a de facto investigative arm of law enforcement or litigators. Allowing this practice to continue erodes the independence of the media and the public's trust in the media as impartial providers of news.

 Texas has no statute prohibiting this practice. Court rulings have found that the First Amendment does not provide protections against this practice, but the U.S. Supreme Court has pointedly ruled in a key case that Congress and the states could enact measures to create protections for reporters' confidential sources. To date, 36 states and the District of Columbia have enacted such protection.

HB 757 - Public Access to Health Care Information

by Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer, D-San Antonio  

 This bill would repeal various health care profession confidentiality provisions in the Occupations Code and would give the public access to hospital complaint information.

Status

HB 778 - Campaign Finance Offences

by Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville  

 This bill would amend Government Code Chapter 402, PROSECUTION OF CERTAIN CAMPAIGN FINANCE OFFENSES. See (b) under 402.103, COOPERATION OF STATE AGENCIES AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, which says "information disclosed under this section is confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552."

HB 987 - Public Contracts

by Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe

Same as SB 624 by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas  

 This bill would amend the state's Education Code so that any changes in contracts with public school districts under $50,000 would not require the school board's approval. While this bill is purportedly an effort to "streamline" the process, it comes at the expense of open government, as the bill would limit public knowledge of these contract changes under the Texas Open Meetings Act.

HB 1168 - Discovery in Criminal Case

by Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston

 Under this bill, neither the attorney representing the state nor the attorney representing the defendant may disclose, without obtaining approval of the trial court, information or witness statements received from the opposing party to any third party, including the defendant, other than to an investigator, expert, or other agent for the attorney representing the state or the attorney representing the defendant, as applicable. Information or witness statements received under this article may not be made available to the public. Also, Section 13, Conflict of Law, says "To the extent of any conflict, this article prevails over Chapter 552, Government Code."

HB 1314 - School District Financial Information

by Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin  

 This bill would amend Education Code by adding Sec. 12.1191, POSTING OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. Says an open-enrollment charter school shall comply with Sec. 44.0035. It would also amend Education Code Chapter 44 by adding Section 44.0035, POSTING OF DISTRICT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, making school districts shall post on the districts' Web site the districts' quarterly financial statements.

HB 1338 - Anti-SLAPP Lawsuits

by Rep. David Leibowitz, D-San Antonio 

A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) is a civil lawsuit often brought by corporations, real estate developers, or government officials and entities against whistleblowers who oppose them on public issues. SLAPPs use ordinary civil tort claims such as defamation, conspiracy, and interference with prospective economic advantage to effectively achieve their goal: chilling public debate on an issue. How? Defending a SLAPP requires substantial money and time, something whistleblowers oftentimes don't have. SLAPP lawsuits have also been used against media outlets because media entities can be named in the same suit with the whistleblower. Leibowitz's legislation would help protect whistleblowers in Texas by establishing a means to fight such lawsuits. Other states' anti-SLAPP statutes also include protections for media outlets. Although Leibowitz's bill does not have such protection in its current form, it is a very good step forward to protecting the right of the public to speak out.

HB 1360 - Public Information Act

by Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas 

 This bill would allow an attorney representing the state to release information to defense counsel regarding a pending or reasonably anticipated criminal case without waiving the right to assert that the information is excepted from disclosure under the Public Information Act in the future.

HB 1383 - Public Employees' Information

by Rep. Yvonne Davis, D-Dallas  

 Same as SB 331 by Carona. This bill would amend Public Information Act, Government Code 552.024 and replaces current opt-out language with language that makes public officers' and employees' personal information automatically confidential. Also would add Sec. 552.150, creating a new exception titled, "Information That Could Compromise Safety of Public Officer or Employee."

HB 1390 - Electric Cooperatives

by Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs
Same as SB 921 by Sen. Fraser, R-Marble Falls 

 This bill would amend Utilities Code in various ways to increase the transparency of electric co-op open meetings and public information.

HB 1411 - Complaint Confidentiality

by Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock  

 This bill would amend Occupations Code so that "For any complaint determined to be frivolous or without merit, the complaint and other enforcement case information related to that complaint are confidential. The information may be used only by the board or by its employees or agents directly involved in the enforcement process for that complaint. The information is not subject to discovery, subpoena, or other disclosure." Current language says "A frivolous complaint is public information, except that the license holder's name and other personal information shall be redacted."

HB 1450 - Coal Plant Waste Information

by Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin  

 This bill would amend Health & Safety Code by adding reporting requirements. Paragraph (b) says "Information related to groundwater and soil monitoring of sites containing coal combustion waste, as that term is defined by Section 361.0236, Health and Safety Code, is not confidential and must be made public under this section."

HB 1634 - Accident Report Information

by Rep. Todd Smith R-Bedford  

 This bill would amend Health & Safety Code by adding reporting requirements. Paragraph (b) says "Information related to groundwater and soil monitoring of sites containing coal combustion waste, as that term is defined by Section 361.0236, Health and Safety Code, is not confidential and must be made public under this section."

HB 1707 - Public Employee Pension Systems
by by Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth
Same as SB 1071 by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio  

 Currently, the Government Code contains certain statutes that have been construed to except certain information concerning an employee or trustee of a public employee pension system, such as income, salary, benefits, and bonuses received from the pension system, from release under the Texas Public Information Act. These bills say this type of information is public.

HB 1773 - AG's Office Home Addresses
by Rep. Allen Fletcher, R-Tomball  

 This bill amends the Texas Public Information Act and the Tax Code to add current and former personnel from the law enforcement division of the AG's office to the list of individuals for whom information identifying the individual's home address, home telephone number, social security number, or identifying whether the individual has family members, is excepted from public availability under the TPIA. It is an automatic exception, not one that the employee has to exercise.

HB 1783 - Utilities Meetings

by Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton  

 This bill would require the PUC and ERCOT to make publicly accessible without charge live Internet video of all public hearings and meetings. ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, operates the electric grid and manages the deregulated market for 75 percent of the state.

HB 1826 - TxDOT Accident Report Information
By Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless

Sames as SB 375 by John Carona, R-Dallas  

 This bill would amend Transportation Code 550.065 by amending subsections (a), (b) and (d) and adding subsections (e) and (f). Under (e), see "The [DPS] may not release under this subsection information that: (1) is personal information, as defined by Section 730.003; or (2) identifies a specific accident." [Transportation Code 730 is the Motor Vehicle Records Disclosure Act.] 730.003 (6): "Personal information" means information that identifies a person, including an individual’s photograph or computerized image, social security number, driver identification number, name, address, but not the zip code, telephone number and medical or disability information."

HB 2491 - School District Employee Informamtion

by Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington  

 This bill would only allow public access to school district employees' information if the individual employee has "provide[d] written notice to the district, school, or shared services arrangement of the applicant's or\employee's election to authorize public access to the information.

HB 2822 - Regional Mobility Authorities

by Rep. Ismael "Kino" Flores, D- Mission 

 HB 2822 amends the Government Code to require a regional mobility authority to post the full agenda packet for a meeting of the board of directors concurrently with posting notice on its Internet website. The bill clarifies that the full agenda packet includes all correspondence, contracts, documents, analyses, maps, minutes, and other documents provided to the members of the board of directors to allow the members to prepare for the meeting.

HB 3369 - Polling Place Conduct

by Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Srpings  

  Currently any "wireless communication device" is not allowed within 100 feet of a polling place with the exception of the election officers and the necessary election equipment

  This bill would add a third group to the list: representatives of the news media who are conducting news-gathering activities. This measure would help encourage and educate the public about the right to vote and would enable lawmakers to be seen voting so as to encourage their constituency to exercise their constitutional right as well.

HB 3419 - Public School Employee Criminal History Information
by Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington 
Same as SB 1858 by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas
 These bills would shut off access to a public school employee's criminal history information collected by school districts when considering hiring applicants.

HB 3522 - Public Information Act

by Rep. Soloman Ortiz, Jr., D-Corpus Christi 

 This bill would require a governmenetal body to send a copy of any written comments submitted to the attorney general to an open records requestor within 15 business days of the request.

HB 3596 - Tax Records

by Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound 

  Similar to HB 649, this bill would allow a property owner to request that his or her name be held confidential by the appraisal district. While HB 649 deals just with publishing the owner’s name on the Internet, this bill would make the information confidential regardless of the way in which it was accessed.

HB 3601 - Posting Public Notice

by Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney 

 This bill amends the Local Government Code to authorize a county clerk to post an official and legal notice by electronic display instead of posting a physical document in a government building. The bill requires an electronic display of information posted by the use of an electronic kiosk, electronic bulletin board, or other similar device designed to provide readily accessible information to meet the location, time, and accessibility requirements provided by law for the posting of the notice. The bill requires an electronic display of posted information on a county's Web site to meet the time requirements provided by law for the posting of the notice. The bill defines "electronic display" to include a display by the use of an electronic kiosk, electronic bulletin board, or other similar device designed to provide readily accessible information or on a county's public Web site.

HB 3641 - Abusive Requestors

by Rep. Doug Miller, R-New Braunfels 

 This bill allows a governmental body to declare an FOI requestor "abusive," after making "at least five" requests that have been rejected by the attorney general as seeking predominantly confidential information or for several other listed reasons. Also, this bill doesn't take into account whether or not the requestor intended to harass the governmental body.
  Virtually every Texas daily newspaper and most TV stations would qualify under one or more of the criteria to be found an abusive requestor in section 552.405. Plus, the bill provides for an automatic injunction against the requestor merely upon the filing of the suit.

HB 3886 - Affidavits

by Rep. Allen Vaught, D-Dallas  

 This bill requires that affidavits only be made public if they were presented in support for an arrest warrant for more than one person. Currently, affidavits are considered public information without this stipulation.

Status

HB 3904 - Information Access

by Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney 

 This bill requires that a state government employee that has special access to "personal confidential information" must provide satisfactory evidence to the public information officer. "Personal confidential information" includes photographs, home addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, medical or disability information and "similar information."

Status

HB 3919 - Civil Case Reporter Privilege

by Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City 

 This bill would create a qualified privilege for protecting confidential sources and journalist work product in civil cases only. It does not provide any protections in criminal cases.

Status

HB 3943 - City Council Meetings

by Rep. Charlie Howard, R-Sugar Land  

 This bill would allow a quorum of the city council to receive from municipal staff, and a member of the governing body may make a report regarding, items of community interest during a council meeting without having given notice of the subject of the report, provided no action is taken or discussed.

HB 4037 - Handgun Instructor Information

by Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview  

 This bill would allow handgun instructors to remove all or part of their personal information from public records as per a written request.

HB 4140 - Bulk Data Request

by Rep. Mark Homer, D-Paris  

 This bill would allow a governmental agency to only provide "bulk data" (over 100 pages) in the medium in which it is maintained. Aside from having inconsistent wording within the bill itself, this bill is very vague as to what "medium" constitutes.

Status

HB 4147 - Cost of Information

by Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs

Same as SB 1629 by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio

 Last session, section 552.275 of the Government Code was amended so that a governmental body may establish a reasonable time limit and charge a fee if the time limit required for responding to public information requests from repeat requesters is exceeded.

 This bill amends that subsection by expanding the definition of one of the groups and adding a third group to the list of exempted parties. The definition of newspaper would be expanded to include newspapers of general circulation that are published on the Internet, and magazines that are engaged in disseminating news or information to the general public would be incorporated in the list of exceptions. This measure would help provide information to the general public.

HB 4191 - Superintendent Hiring Process

by Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs

See SB 503 by Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler

  Currently, Section 552.126, Government Code, requires school districts to disclose the name or names of finalists for the position of superintendent at least 21 days prior to the school board's final vote. However, the law does not define who is considered a finalist for purposes of disclosure, and frequently a school district announces its intention to hire a "lone finalist," rather than announcing the list of finalists being considered. Consequently, the process by which a superintendent is selected frequently lacks transparency and limits community input.

  As proposed, HB 4191 amends the Government and Education Code in two ways: (1) to require that a school district of a certain size interview a certain number of finalists for the position of superintendent of a public school district, and (2) to require the public notice of the names of a certain number of finalists for that same position.

HB 4207 - Government Employee DOB's

By Rep. Helen Giddings, D-De Soto
Sameas SB 1912 by Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock
This bill stems from a Dallas Morning News Public Information Act request for dates of birth (DOB's) for public employees. The News' case is pending with the Texas Supreme Court.
The bill closes off a number of types of public employees' personal information including DOB's. Newsrooms often use DOB's in research to verify which individuals are the subject of reporting, but DOB's typically do not appear in such reporting. A recent example is the recent Corpus Christi Caller-Times piece on the criminal history records of some of the state employees involved in the "fight club" controversy at the Corpus Christi State School.
The Texas Comptroller's Office went to court to prevent release of DOB's in the Morning News case claiming that release would encourage identity theft. Not a single case of identity theft related to a TPIA request was cited in the lawsuit or in committee testimony on HB 4207 this past

Status

HB 4237 - Blogger Libel Protection

by Rep. Aaron Pena, D-Edinburg 

 This bill would create limited libel protection for "citizen" bloggers.

Status

HB 4302 - School Employee Criminal History Data
By Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston
SB 9, passed by the 80th Legislature, established a requirement for criminal history background checks of all current and prospective public school employees. The DPS is responsible for creating and maintaining a database of criminal history record information, which is composed, in part, of information that DPS receives from the FBI, which school districts access in order to comply with the law. That information is confidential by law. School districts performing the required criminal history background checks must assemble, audit, and review this confidential criminal history record information.
The AG has ruled, however, that if a school district creates a document that combines this confidential criminal history information with other, nonconfidential employee information, such as hire date and campus position, the school district must release the nonconfidential employee information in the document in response to a request under state public information law, even if the release has the effect of revealing the identities of individuals who have a criminal history record. School officials say sometimes the confidential information is erroneous and could be injurious to an individual if released. Unfortunately, as crafted the bill essentially prohibits schools from confirming or denying that a current or prospective employee has a criminal history.