HB 1276: Plant Outbreak Bill Orders A Report, Then Expires In 2027

Caption

relating to a study of this state's response to plant disease or pest outbreaks.

Summary

AgriLife writes a report by December 1, 2026. Nothing changes until lawmakers act on it.

The bill orders the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to study how Texas responds to plant disease and pest outbreaks, including how outbreaks are spotted and contained. It touches AgriLife, which must send a report with recommendations to state leaders, every legislator and the agriculture commissioner by December 1, 2026. Nothing changes on the ground until lawmakers act on that report, and the bill expires September 1, 2027.

Labels

Labels: ACROSS THE AISLE. Joint authors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrat. Party as the Legislative Reference Library lists it for the 89th Legislature.GOT HALFWAY. Passed the House on Apr 29, 2025. Died in the Senate: received, never referred to a committee.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB1276 · 2024-11-13

SOLD BY

Rep. Mary E. GonzálezDHouse 75

Rep. Stan KitzmanRHouse 85

Rep. Ken KingRHouse 88

+ 2 coauthors

ITEM

relating to a study of this state's response to plant disease or pest outbreaks.

WHAT IT DOES

AgriLife writes a report by December 1, 2026. Nothing changes until lawmakers act on it.

The bill orders the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to study how Texas responds to plant disease and pest outbreaks, including how outbreaks are spotted and contained. It touches AgriLife, which must send a report with recommendations to state leaders, every legislator and the agriculture commissioner by December 1, 2026. Nothing changes on the ground until lawmakers act on that report, and the bill expires September 1, 2027.

CHARGES

[x] STUDY, TASK FORCE, COMMISSION, REPORTanalysis confidence 80%

THE TEXT

…“shall conduct a study to evaluate this state's response to plant”…

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The only operative duty is a study and a report due later, so any real change to outbreak response waits on future action. The caption honestly says this is a study.

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 17, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

Nov 13, 2024Filed
Mar 10, 2025Read first time
Mar 10, 2025Referred to Agriculture & Livestock
Mar 18, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Mar 18, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 18, 2025Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
Mar 18, 2025Left pending in committee
Apr 9, 2025Considered in formal meeting
Apr 9, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
Apr 14, 2025Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
Apr 14, 2025Committee report distributed
Apr 15, 2025Committee report sent to Calendars
Apr 22, 2025Considered in Calendars
Apr 25, 2025Placed on General State Calendar
Apr 28, 2025Read 2nd time
Apr 28, 2025Passed to engrossment
Apr 28, 2025Record vote RV#638
Apr 28, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
Apr 29, 2025Read 3rd time
Apr 29, 2025Passed
Apr 29, 2025Record vote RV#738
Apr 29, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
Apr 29, 2025Reported engrossed
Apr 29, 2025Received from the House

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 99 yea · 47 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · Apr 29, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

Smells

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Mary E. González

Donors

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$10K Coalition for Working Families PAC$10K Texas Sands PAC$8K

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Jul 16, 2024 to Jun 13, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$10,000.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$10,000.00

Cash: $10,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $10,000.00

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 11, 2024 to Mar 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985912, 101032788, 101058648.

Coalition for Working Families PAC$10,000.00

Coalition for Working Families PAC

$10,000.00

Cash: $10,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $10,000.00

Also funds 24 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 25, 2025 to Oct 15, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Jan 5, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101058648.

Texas Sands PAC$8,000.00

Texas Sands PAC

$8,000.00

Cash: $8,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $8,000.00

Also funds 121 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 3, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jul 22, 2024 to Dec 9, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985912.

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$10,000.00

Cash: $10,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $10,000.00

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 11, 2024 to Mar 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985912, 101032788, 101058648.

×

Coalition for Working Families PAC

$10,000.00

Cash: $10,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $10,000.00

Also funds 24 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 25, 2025 to Oct 15, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Jan 5, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101058648.

×

Texas Sands PAC

$8,000.00

Cash: $8,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $8,000.00

Also funds 121 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 3, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jul 22, 2024 to Dec 9, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985912.

Votes2

House Apr 29, 2025

Yea: 99
Nay: 47
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 2
Excused: 1

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 738

HB 1276 was passed by (Record 738): 99 Yeas, 47 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 99 (published)
Nay: 47 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 2 (derived from named list)
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House Apr 28, 2025

Yea: 94
Nay: 53
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 1
Excused: 1

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 638

HB 1276 was passed to engrossment by (Record 638): 94 Yeas, 53 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 94 (published)
Nay: 53 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 1 (derived from named list)
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Witnesses5

For: 4
Against: 0
On: 1

Names

For

Self1 registration
Texas Farm Bureau1 registration
Texas Nursery and Landscape Association1 registration
Texas Pest Control Association1 registration

On

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension1 registration

Sources

5 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

House witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 17, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas House · Filed Nov 13, 2024

04/29/2025 S Received from the House

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report · Engrossed

Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 3:09 PM CST. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors

Salman BhojaniDHouse 92

Penny Morales ShawDHouse 148

House committee · Agriculture & Livestock · Committee vote 5 aye, 2 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Agriculture

Interim Studies

TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE EXTENSION SERVICE

Text

The text as introduced · 233 words

89R4227 MP-D

By: González of El Paso
H.B. No. 1276

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a study of this state's response to plant disease or

pest outbreaks.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. STUDY. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

shall conduct a study to evaluate this state's response to plant

disease or pest outbreaks, including how this state identifies or

is notified of an outbreak and this state's capabilities for

handling and containing an outbreak.

SECTION 2. REPORT. Not later than December 1, 2026, the

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service shall submit a report on the

results of the study required to be conducted under this Act to the

governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of

representatives, each member of the legislature, and the

commissioner of agriculture. The report must include

recommendations for improving this state's current system of

identifying and reporting plant disease or pest outbreaks and this

state's response to plant disease or pest outbreaks.

SECTION 3. EXPIRATION. This Act expires September 1, 2027.

SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect

immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members

elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas

Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for

immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Verdict: Smells

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

Coalition for Working Families PAC

Texas Sands PAC

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

Coalition for Working Families PAC

Texas Sands PAC

House Apr 29, 2025

House Apr 28, 2025

For

On