Monitoring the Session

HB 391

Bell Bill Lets Rural Water Boards Meet Locally By Phone

Did not pass

Verdict: Smells

SmellsReviewed
Rep. Keith BellRHouse 4
Why it's charged
The hole

THE TEXT

…“a rural area district may satisfy the requirements of Subsection (b-2) by conducting quarterly meetings by telephone conference call or video conference call”

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The bill keeps a quarterly in-district or nearby meeting requirement, then lets most of those meetings happen by phone or video. That means residents may never get an in-person local meeting except on the tax rate.

The hole

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 board of directors meeting locations of certain rural area water districts.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

A phone call satisfies the quarterly local meeting. Only tax rate meetings stay in person.

The bill changes the rules for where certain rural water and sewer districts must hold their board meetings. It redefines a rural area district as one not located in any part of a county with 325,000 or more people, replacing the old test of 800,000 people as of the 2010 Census or bordering such a county. Those districts must still meet in or near the district at least once a quarter, but they may now meet that requirement by phone or video call, except that meetings about the tax rate must be held in person.

Labels

Labels: ACROSS THE AISLE. Joint authors: 4 Republicans, 1 Democrat. Party as the Legislative Reference Library lists it for the 89th Legislature.GOT HALFWAY. Passed the House on Apr 24, 2025. Died in the Senate: received, never referred to a committee.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB391 · 2024-11-12

SOLD BY

Rep. Keith BellRHouse 4 Rep. Stan GerdesRHouse 17 Rep. Candy NobleRHouse 89

+ 2 more authors, 1 coauthor

ITEM

relating to board of directors meeting locations of certain rural area water districts.

WHAT IT DOES

A phone call satisfies the quarterly local meeting. Only tax rate meetings stay in person.

The bill changes the rules for where certain rural water and sewer districts must hold their board meetings. It redefines a rural area district as one not located in any part of a county with 325,000 or more people, replacing the old test of 800,000 people as of the 2010 Census or bordering such a county. Those districts must still meet in or near the district at least once a quarter, but they may now meet that requirement by phone or video call, except that meetings about the tax rate must be held in person.

CHARGES

[x] THE HOLEanalysis confidence 40%

THE TEXT

…“a rural area district may satisfy the requirements of Subsection (b-2) by conducting quarterly meetings by telephone conference call or video conference call”

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The bill keeps a quarterly in-district or nearby meeting requirement, then lets most of those meetings happen by phone or video. That means residents may never get an in-person local meeting except on the tax rate.

TOTAL

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · March 28, 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 Natural Resources
  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. Committee substitute considered in committee
  10. Reported favorably as substituted
  11. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  12. Committee report distributed
  13. Committee report sent to Calendars
  14. Considered in Calendars
  15. Placed on General State Calendar
  16. Read 2nd time
  17. Passed to engrossment
  18. Record vote RV#437
  19. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  20. Read 3rd time
  21. Passed
  22. Record vote RV#481
  23. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  24. Reported engrossed
  25. Received from the House
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 146 yea · 0 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · Apr 24, 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

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Keith Bell

Donors

Josh Stevens$50,000Carla Enna$50,000Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$35K

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 23, 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.

Josh Stevens$50,000.00
Carla Enna$50,000.00
Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$35,000.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$35,000.00

Cash
$35,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$35,000.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 30, 2025 to Sep 4, 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: 101007782, 101027129, 101068150.

Money

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

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$35,000.00

Cash
$35,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$35,000.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 30, 2025 to Sep 4, 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: 101007782, 101027129, 101068150.

Votes2

House Apr 24, 2025

Yea
146
Nay
0
Present, not voting
2
Absent
1
Excused
1
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 481

HB 391 was passed by (Record 481): 146 Yeas, 0 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 146 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 1 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

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

House Apr 23, 2025

Yea
142
Nay
0
Present, not voting
1
Absent
7
Excused
0
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 437

CSHB 391 was passed to engrossment by (Record 437): 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: 7 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

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

Witnesses9
For
2
Against
7
On
0
Names

For

  • Kaufman County1 registration
  • Texas Rural Water Association1 registration

Against

  • Allen Boone Humphries Robinson LLP1 registration
  • Association of Water Board Directors1 registration
  • Coats Rose PC1 registration
  • Schwartz, Page & Harding, L.L.P.1 registration
  • Self2 registrations
  • Self; Association of Water Board Directors1 registration
Sources

9 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 fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · March 28, 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 12, 2024

04/24/2025 S Received from the House

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report · Engrossed

Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 3:08 PM CST. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors
Katrina PiersonRHouse 33

House committee · Natural Resources · Committee vote 10 aye, 0 nay, 3 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

KAUFMAN COUNTY

Open Meetings

Special Districts & Authorities--Water & Utility

Taxation--Property-Tax Rate

RURAL

TELECONFERENCING

VIDEOCONFERENCING

Text

The text as introduced · 473 words

89R1068 SCP-D

By: Bell of Kaufman
H.B. No. 391

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to board of directors meeting locations of certain rural

area water districts.

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

SECTION 1. Section 49.062, Water Code, is amended by

amending Subsections (b) and (b-1) and adding Subsections (b-2) and

(b-3) to read as follows:

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-2) [ (b-1) ], the

board shall designate one or more places inside or outside the

district for conducting the meetings of the board. The meeting

place may be a private residence or office, provided that the board,

in its order establishing the meeting place, declares the same to be

a public place and invites the public to attend any meeting of the

board. If the board establishes a meeting place or places outside

the district, it shall give notice of the location or locations by

filing a true copy of the resolution establishing the location or

locations of the meeting place or places and a justification of why

the meeting will not be held in the district or within 10 miles of

the boundary of the district, if applicable, with the commission

and also by publishing notice of the location or locations in a

newspaper of general circulation in the district. If the location

of any of the meeting places outside the district is changed, notice

of the change shall be given in the same manner.

(b-1) In Subsections (b-2) and (b-3) [ this subsection ],

"rural area district" means a district in which more than half of

the district's projected retail water or sewer connections are

active and that is not wholly or partly located in a county that has

[ as of the 2010 Census had ] a population of 325,000 [ 800,000 or

more or bordered a county with a population of 800,000 ] or more.

(b-2) Except as provided by Subsection (b-3), if [ If ] the

board of a rural area district conducts meetings at least

quarterly, the board shall conduct a meeting at a designated

meeting location inside the district or within 10 miles of the

boundary of the district at least once per quarter. If the board

determines that it is not practical to meet within 10 miles of the

boundary of the district, the district may conduct the quarterly

meeting at another designated meeting place in the county in which

the district is located.

(b-3) Notwithstanding Chapter 551, Government Code, and

except as provided by this subsection, a rural area district may

satisfy the requirements of Subsection (b-2) by conducting

quarterly meetings by telephone conference call or video conference

call. A meeting to discuss the tax rate of the district must be

conducted in person.

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