Monitoring the Session

HB 3713

Ending a phone subsidy rule tied to federal changes

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 of maintenance of rates and expansion of funds for certain companies.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Drops the required replacement of revenue changed by federal communications orders.

The bill strikes the rule that makes the Public Utility Commission replace revenue that small local phone companies and cooperatives lose when a Federal Communications Commission order, rule, or policy changes their federal support or costs. It touches small rural phone companies and cooperatives with 31,000 or fewer access lines that draw from the state universal service fund. Other replacement mechanisms stay in place, so the only change is that federal-driven revenue losses will no longer be automatically backfilled from the state fund or through rate increases.

Labels

Labels: ACROSS THE AISLE. Joint authors: 1 Republican, 1 Democrat. Party as the Legislative Reference Library lists it for the 89th Legislature.STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the House State Affairs committee 14-1 on Apr 23, 2025. Never placed on a calendar. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB3713 · 2025-03-04

SOLD BY

Rep. Giovanni CapriglioneRHouse 98 Rep. Rafael AnchíaDHouse 103

ITEM

relating of maintenance of rates and expansion of funds for certain companies.

WHAT IT DOES

Drops the required replacement of revenue changed by federal communications orders.

The bill strikes the rule that makes the Public Utility Commission replace revenue that small local phone companies and cooperatives lose when a Federal Communications Commission order, rule, or policy changes their federal support or costs. It touches small rural phone companies and cooperatives with 31,000 or fewer access lines that draw from the state universal service fund. Other replacement mechanisms stay in place, so the only change is that federal-driven revenue losses will no longer be automatically backfilled from the state fund or through rate increases.

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 11, 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 s/c on Telecommunications & Broadband by Speaker
  4. Scheduled for public hearing in s/c on . . .
  5. Considered by s/c in public hearing
  6. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in subcommittee
  7. Left pending in subcommittee
  8. Recalled from subcommittee
  9. Considered in public hearing
  10. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  11. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  12. Committee report distributed
  13. Committee report sent to Calendars
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

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.

Witnesses6
For
3
Against
1
On
2
Names

For

  • Comcast1 registration
  • T-Mobile1 registration
  • Verizon Communications1 registration

Against

  • Texas Rural Broadband Association1 registration

On

  • Public Utility Commission of Texas1 registration
  • Texas Telephone Association1 registration
Sources

6 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 11, 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

04/28/2025 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.

House committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 14 aye, 1 nay · Out of committee

Subjects

Utilities--Telecommunications

PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION

Text

The text as introduced · 475 words

By: Capriglione
H.B. No. 3713

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating of maintenance of rates and expansion of funds for certain

companies.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 56, Utilities Code, is

amended to read as follows:

Sec. 56.025 MAINTENANCE OF RATES AND EXPANSION OF FUND FOR

CERTAIN COMPANIES. (a) In addition to the authority provided by

Section 56.021:

(1) for each local exchange company that serves fewer

than 31,000 access lines and each cooperative, the commission may

adopt a mechanism necessary to maintain reasonable rates for local

exchange telephone service; and

(2) for each local exchange and each cooperative that

serves 31,000 or fewer access lines and that on June 1, 2013, is not

an electing company under Chapter 58 or 59, the commission shall

adopt rules to expand the universal service fund in the

circumstances prescribed by this section.

(b) The commission shall implement a mechanism through the

universal service fund to replace the reasonably projected

reduction in high cost assistance revenue caused by a commission

order, rule, or policy. This subsection does not apply to an order

entered in a proceeding related to an individual company’s revenue

requirements.

[ (c) The commission shall implement a mechanism to replace

the reasonably projected change in revenue caused by a Federal

Communications Commission order, rule, or policy that changes:

(1) the federal universal service fund revenue of a

local exchange company; or

(2) costs or revenue assigned to the intrastate

jurisdiction. ]

(c) [ (d) ] The commission shall implement a mechanism to

replace the reasonably projected reduction in contribution caused

by a change of commission policy regarding intraLATA “1-plus”

dialing access. In this subsection, “contribution” means the

average intraLATA long distance message telecommunications service

revenue per minute, including intraLATA toll pooling and associated

impacts, less the average message telecommunications service cost

per minute less the average contribution from switched access

multiplied by the projected change in intraLATA “1-plus”minutes.

(d) [ (e) ] The commission shall implement a mechanism to

replace the reasonably projected increase in costs or decrease in

revenue of the intrastate jurisdiction caused by another

governmental agency’s order, rule, or policy.

(e) [ (f) ] A mechanism implemented under Subsection (c),

(d)[ , or (e) ] must be through:

(1) an increase in rates, if the increase would not

adversely affect universal service; or

(2) the universal service fund.

(f) [ (g) ] Not withstanding any other provision of this

section, after December 31, 2013, the commission may not distribute

support granted under this section, including any support granted

before that date, to a local exchange company or cooperative that

serves greater than 31,000 access lines or that is an electing

company under Chapter 58 or 59 on June 1, 2013.

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