Monitoring the Session

HB 3699

bill redefining “last work” for unemployment claims

Became law, effective Jan 1, 2026

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Rep. Hubert VoDHouse 149

Initial review · graded Oct 20, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to initial claims under the unemployment compensation system.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Points at the claimant’s last employer.

The bill rewrites the definition of "last work" used when a laid-off worker files a first claim for unemployment benefits, pointing it at the claimant's last employer as defined in unemployment law, unless other state or federal law requires otherwise. It touches people filing new unemployment claims, the employers who get notice of those claims, and the Texas Workforce Commission, which must mail that notice. Starting with claims filed on or after January 1, 2026, the commission will identify and notify the last employer under this rewritten definition instead of the old rule.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB3699 · 2025-03-04

SOLD BY

Rep. Hubert VoDHouse 149

ITEM

relating to initial claims under the unemployment compensation system.

WHAT IT DOES

Points at the claimant’s last employer.

The bill rewrites the definition of "last work" used when a laid-off worker files a first claim for unemployment benefits, pointing it at the claimant's last employer as defined in unemployment law, unless other state or federal law requires otherwise. It touches people filing new unemployment claims, the employers who get notice of those claims, and the Texas Workforce Commission, which must mail that notice. Starting with claims filed on or after January 1, 2026, the commission will identify and notify the last employer under this rewritten definition instead of the old rule.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 2, 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 Trade, Workforce & Economic Development
  4. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  5. Considered in public hearing
  6. Committee substitute considered in committee
  7. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  8. Left pending in committee
  9. Considered in public hearing
  10. Committee substitute considered in committee
  11. Reported favorably as substituted
  12. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  13. Committee report distributed
  14. Committee report sent to Calendars
  15. Considered in Calendars
  16. Placed on General State Calendar
  17. Read 2nd time
  18. Passed to engrossment
  19. Record vote RV#868
  20. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  21. Read 3rd time
  22. Passed
  23. Record vote RV#1013
  24. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  25. Reported engrossed
  26. Received from the House
  27. Read first time
  28. Referred to Economic Development
  29. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  30. Considered in public hearing
  31. Testimony taken in committee
  32. Left pending in committee
  33. Considered in public hearing
  34. Vote taken in committee
  35. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  36. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  37. Committee report printed and distributed
  38. Placed on intent calendar
  39. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  40. Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
  41. Vote recorded in Journal
  42. Three day rule suspended
  43. Record vote
  44. Read 3rd time
  45. Passed
  46. Record vote
  47. Senate passage reported
  48. Reported enrolled
  49. Signed in the House
  50. Signed in the Senate
  51. Sent to the Governor
  52. Signed by the Governor
  53. Effective on 1/1/26
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 142 yea · 0 nay

Senate · 31 yea · 0 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · Apr 30, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

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

All floor motions and other positions below.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Hubert Vo

Donors

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$25KTexas Society Of Anesthesiologists Political Action Committee$4KInsuring America PAC$3K

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 29, 2024 to Aug 25, 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$25,000.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$25,000.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$25,000.00

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 · Nov 19, 2024 to Jan 12, 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: 100988292, 101010418, 101037041.

Texas Society Of Anesthesiologists Political Action Committee$4,000.00

Texas Society Of Anesthesiologists Political Action Committee

$4,000.00

Cash
$4,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$4,000.00

Also funds 64 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Aug 14, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Jul 23, 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: 101034015.

Insuring America PAC$3,000.00

Insuring America PAC

$3,000.00

Cash
$3,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$3,000.00

Also funds 3 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Nov 8, 2024 to Jul 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

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

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Feb 9, 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: 101040382.

Money

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

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$25,000.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$25,000.00

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 · Nov 19, 2024 to Jan 12, 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: 100988292, 101010418, 101037041.

×

Texas Society Of Anesthesiologists Political Action Committee

$4,000.00

Cash
$4,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$4,000.00

Also funds 64 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Aug 14, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Jul 23, 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: 101034015.

×

Insuring America PAC

$3,000.00

Cash
$3,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$3,000.00

Also funds 3 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Nov 8, 2024 to Jul 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

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

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Feb 9, 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: 101040382.

Votes5

Senate May 19, 2025

Yea
31
Nay
0
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
Not printed
Names

Senate journal

Names were not printed. No individual positions are inferred.

Sources

Senator Alvarado moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that HB 3699 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

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

  • Yea: 31 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: Not printed

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

Senate May 19, 2025

Yea
31
Nay
0
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
Not printed
Names

Senate journal

Names were not printed. No individual positions are inferred.

Sources

Senator Alvarado moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that HB 3699 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

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

  • Yea: 31 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: Not printed

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

Senate May 19, 2025

Yea
Not printed
Nay
Not printed
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
Not printed
Names

Senate journal

Names were not printed. No individual positions are inferred.

Voice vote. No numeric tally or individual yeas are inferred.

Sources

The bill was read second time and was passed to third reading by a viva voce vote.

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

  • Yea: Not printed
  • Nay: Not printed
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: Not printed

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

House Apr 30, 2025

Yea
142
Nay
0
Present, not voting
1
Absent
2
Excused
5
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 1013

HB 3699 was passed by (Record 1013): 142 Yeas, 0 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 142 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 1 (published)
  • Absent: 2 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 5 (derived from named list)

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

House Apr 29, 2025

Yea
146
Nay
0
Present, not voting
1
Absent
3
Excused
0
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 868

CSHB 3699 was passed to engrossment by (Record 868): 146 Yeas, 0 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 146 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 1 (published)
  • Absent: 3 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

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

Witnesses2
For
0
Against
0
On
2
Names

On

  • Texas Workforce Commission1 registration
  • The Texas Workforce Commission1 registration
Sources

2 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.

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

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 2, 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 Mar 4, 2025

06/20/2025 E Effective on 1/1/26

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report · Engrossed · Senate Committee Report · Enrolled

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Sponsors
Carol AlvaradoDSenate 6

House committee · Trade, Workforce & Economic Development · Committee vote 10 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Senate committee · Economic Development · Committee vote 5 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Subjects

Labor--Unemployment

WORKFORCE COMMISSION, TEXAS

Text

The text as introduced · 314 words

By: Vo
H.B. No. 3699

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to initial claims under the unemployment compensation

system.

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

SECTION 1. Section 208.002(a), Labor Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 208.002. INITIAL CLAIM; LAST WORK. (a) When used in

connection with an initial claim, "last work" and "person for whom

the claimant last worked refer s to :

(1) the last person for whom the claimant actually

worked, if the claimant worked for that person for at least 30 hours

during a week; or

(2) the employer, as defined by Subchapter C, Chapter

201, or by the unemployment law of any other state, for whom the

claimant last worked . , unless otherwise required by state or

federal law.

(b) The commission shall mail a notice of the filing of an

initial claim to the person for whom the claimant last worked before

the effective date of the initial claim. If the person for whom the

claimant last worked has more than one branch or division operating

at different locations, the commission shall mail the notice to the

branch or division at which the claimant last worked.

(c) Mailing of a notice under this section to the correct

address of the person, branch, or division for which the claimant

last worked constitutes notice of the claim to the person.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only

to a claim for unemployment compensation benefits that is filed

with the Texas Workforce Commission on or after the effective date

of this Act. A claim filed before the effective date of this Act is

governed by the law in effect on the date the claim was filed, and

the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026.