Monitoring the Session

HB 1554

Public funding limits for immigration legal aid

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsReviewed
Rep. Giovanni CapriglioneRHouse 98

Editor's call: No flags. On Nov 1, 2026 the editor checked this charge against the bill's caption and removed it.

Corrected Nov 1, 2026

Corrected Nov 1, 2026 · We checked this summary against the bill text and fixed it.

Reviewed · Nov 1, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to a political subdivision's authority to use public money in the provision of legal services for individuals unlawfully present in the United States.

Caption from analyzed text · version H.

Summary

Covers people unlawfully present, with exceptions for constitutional requirements and appointed defense counsel.

The bill bars Texas state agencies, public universities, and local governments from paying anyone to provide legal help to people unlawfully present in the United States in deportation or other immigration civil cases, unless the U.S. Constitution requires it. It also bars them from asking the state to pay them back for such lawyers, while still allowing court-appointed lawyers for poor criminal defendants. Starting September 1, 2025, local immigrant legal aid funds paid with public money would have to stop.

Labels

Labels: STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the House State Affairs committee 10-5 on Apr 30, 2025. Never placed on a calendar. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB1554 · 2024-12-10

SOLD BY

Rep. Giovanni CapriglioneRHouse 98 Rep. Will MetcalfRHouse 16 Rep. Lacey HullRHouse 138

+ 2 more authors, 3 coauthors

ITEM

relating to a political subdivision's authority to use public money in the provision of legal services for individuals unlawfully present in the United States.

WHAT IT DOES

Covers people unlawfully present, with exceptions for constitutional requirements and appointed defense counsel.

The bill bars Texas state agencies, public universities, and local governments from paying anyone to provide legal help to people unlawfully present in the United States in deportation or other immigration civil cases, unless the U.S. Constitution requires it. It also bars them from asking the state to pay them back for such lawyers, while still allowing court-appointed lawyers for poor criminal defendants. Starting September 1, 2025, local immigrant legal aid funds paid with public money would have to stop.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 27, 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

  1. Filed
  2. Read first time
  3. Referred to State Affairs
  4. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  5. Considered in public hearing
  6. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  7. Left pending in committee
  8. Considered in public hearing
  9. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  10. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  11. Committee report distributed
  12. Committee report sent to Calendars
FILED UNDER

GIBS

THE TEXT

“provide public money, including a grant award, to”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill cuts off public money for immigration legal services for people unlawfully present, and its only exceptions are constitutional requirements and criminal defense for poor defendants.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Giovanni Capriglione

Donors

Capital One Financial Corporation Associates Political Fund$5KMurt Arnold$5,000Jason Itkin$5,000

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 · Oct 31, 2024 to Oct 29, 2025. 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.

Capital One Financial Corporation Associates Political Fund$5,000.00

Capital One Financial Corporation Associates Political Fund

$5,000.00

Cash
$5,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$5,000.00

Also funds 1 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 14, 2024 to Jul 14, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Jul 14, 2025. 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: 101030508.

Murt Arnold$5,000.00
Jason Itkin$5,000.00
Money

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

×

Capital One Financial Corporation Associates Political Fund

$5,000.00

Cash
$5,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$5,000.00

Also funds 1 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 14, 2024 to Jul 14, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Jul 14, 2025. 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: 101030508.

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Witnesses48
For
4
Against
44
On
0
Names

For

  • Self3 registrations
  • Self; State Republican Executive Committee1 registration

Against

  • Common Cause Texas1 registration
  • Every Texan1 registration
  • Harris County Commissioners Court1 registration
  • Self27 registrations
  • Self; Children's Defense Fund-Texas1 registration
  • Self; Tahirih Justice Center1 registration
  • Self; Texas Immigration Law Council1 registration
  • Self; Texas Immigration Law Council; American Immigration Lawyers Association- Texas Chapter1 registration
  • Self; Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry3 registrations
  • Self; Workers Defense Action Fund1 registration
  • Texas AFL-CIO1 registration
  • Texas AFT-AAUP1 registration
  • Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration
  • Texas Immigration Law Council1 registration
  • Texas Impact1 registration
  • Travis County Commissioners Court1 registration
Sources

48 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 · April 27, 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 H by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 22, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas House · Filed Dec 10, 2024

05/07/2025 H Committee report sent to Calendars

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report

Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 10:30 AM CST. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors
Mark DorazioRHouse 122 Cody HarrisRHouse 8 John LujanRHouse 118

House committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 10 aye, 5 nay · Out of committee

Companion

SB 1005 by Middleton (identical)

Subjects

Aliens

City Government--General

County Government--General

Political Subdivisions

State Agencies, Boards & Commissions

State Finances--Appropriations

Text

The text as introduced · 259 words

89R5604 SCF-D

By: Capriglione
H.B. No. 1554

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a political subdivision's authority to use public money

in the provision of legal services for individuals unlawfully

present in the United States.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 752, Government Code, is amended by

adding Subchapter D to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER D. PROHIBITED IMMIGRATION ASSISTANCE

Sec. 752.101. DEFINITION. In this subchapter,

"governmental entity" means:

(1) a board, commission, council, department, or other

agency in the executive branch of state government that is created

by constitution or statute, including an institution of higher

education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code; or

(2) a political subdivision of this state.

Sec. 752.102. PROHIBITION ON USE OF PUBLIC MONEY TO PROVIDE

LEGAL SERVICES FOR UNLAWFULLY PRESENT INDIVIDUALS. (a) Unless

required by the United States Constitution, a governmental entity

may not:

(1) provide public money, including a grant award, to

any person for the provision of legal services in a removal or other

immigration-related civil proceeding regarding an individual who

is unlawfully present in the United States according to the terms of

the federal Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1101

et seq.); or

(2) seek reimbursement from this state for an attorney

provided for a purpose described by Subdivision (1).

(b) This section does not prohibit a governmental entity

from providing an attorney to an indigent defendant entitled to

representation under Article 1.051, Code of Criminal Procedure.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.