Monitoring the Session

HB 4506

bill letting cities email or text zoning notices

Became law

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Rep. Greg BonnenRHouse 24

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 electronic delivery of notice for certain municipal zoning changes.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

U.S. mail is no longer the only option.

The bill lets Texas cities send certain zoning hearing notices by e-mail or text instead of only by U.S. mail. It touches property owners, occupants, nearby owners within 200 feet, and school districts who get notice of zoning changes, plus the cities that send those notices. A city can only send notice electronically to people who opt in through an online portal the city must set up first, so everyone else still gets mailed notice.

Labels

Labels: INSTANT LAW. Took effect immediately, on Jun 20, 2025. 833 of the 1,185 graded 89R laws took effect Sep 1, 2025 (derived from the bill histories, snapshot Oct 19, 2026).

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB4506 · 2025-03-12

SOLD BY

ITEM

relating to electronic delivery of notice for certain municipal zoning changes.

WHAT IT DOES

U.S. mail is no longer the only option.

The bill lets Texas cities send certain zoning hearing notices by e-mail or text instead of only by U.S. mail. It touches property owners, occupants, nearby owners within 200 feet, and school districts who get notice of zoning changes, plus the cities that send those notices. A city can only send notice electronically to people who opt in through an online portal the city must set up first, so everyone else still gets mailed notice.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 14, 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 Land & Resource Management
  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
  13. Considered in Calendars
  14. Placed on General State Calendar
  15. Read 2nd time
  16. Postponed 5/7/25 5:30 PM
  17. Laid out as postponed business
  18. Postponed 5/9/25 10:00 AM
  19. Laid out as postponed business
  20. Postponed 5/9/25 5:00 PM
  21. Laid out as postponed business
  22. Postponed 5/9/25 6:15 PM
  23. Laid out as postponed business
  24. Postponed 5/10/25 9:00 AM
  25. Laid out as postponed business
  26. Amended 1-Romero
  27. Record vote RV#2077
  28. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  29. Passed to engrossment as amended
  30. Record vote RV#2078
  31. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  32. Read 3rd time
  33. Passed
  34. Record vote RV#2127
  35. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  36. Reported engrossed
  37. Received from the House
  38. Read first time
  39. Referred to Local Government
  40. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  41. Considered in public hearing
  42. Vote taken in committee
  43. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  44. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  45. Committee report printed and distributed
  46. Placed on intent calendar
  47. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  48. Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
  49. Vote recorded in Journal
  50. Three day rule suspended
  51. Record vote
  52. Read 3rd time
  53. Passed
  54. Record vote
  55. Senate passage reported
  56. Reported enrolled
  57. Signed in the House
  58. Signed in the Senate
  59. Sent to the Governor
  60. Signed by the Governor
  61. Effective immediately
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 139 yea · 0 nay

Senate · 31 yea · 0 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 12, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · May 20, 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

Donors

Donors report through Friends of Dr. Greg Bonnen.

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 1, 2024 to Oct 24, 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.

Money

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

Votes6

Senate May 20, 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 Hagenbuch moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that HB 4506 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 20, 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 Hagenbuch moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that HB 4506 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 20, 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 May 12, 2025

Yea
139
Nay
0
Present, not voting
1
Absent
7
Excused
3
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 2127

HB 4506 was passed by (Record 2127): 139 Yeas, 0 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 139 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 1 (published)
  • Absent: 7 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 3 (derived from named list)

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

House May 10, 2025

Yea
120
Nay
0
Present, not voting
2
Absent
2
Excused
26
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 2078

HB 4506, as amended, was passed to engrossment by (Record 2078): 120 Yeas, 0 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 120 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 2 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 26 (derived from named list)

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

House May 10, 2025

Yea
117
Nay
0
Present, not voting
2
Absent
5
Excused
26
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 2077

Amendment No. 1 was adopted by (Record 2077): 117 Yeas, 0 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 117 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 5 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 26 (derived from named list)

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

Witnesses7
For
7
Against
0
On
0
Names

For

  • American Planning Association Texas Chapter1 registration
  • City of Fort Worth1 registration
  • City of Houston2 registrations
  • City of San Antonio2 registrations
  • Self1 registration
Sources

7 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 fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 14, 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 12, 2025

06/20/2025 E Effective immediately

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

House committee · Land & Resource Management · Committee vote 6 aye, 0 nay, 3 absent · Out of committee

Senate committee · Local Government · Committee vote 7 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Subjects

City Government--Land Use & Zoning

County Government--Land Use & Zoning

Electronic Information Systems

PUBLIC NOTICE

Text

The text as introduced · 607 words

89R13083 DNC-F

By: Bonnen
H.B. No. 4506

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to electronic delivery of notice for certain municipal

zoning changes.

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

SECTION 1. Section 211.006(a-1), Local Government Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(a-1) In addition to any notice required by this section or

Section 211.007, the governing body of a municipality or a zoning

commission, as applicable, shall provide written notice of each

public hearing regarding any proposed adoption of or change to a

zoning regulation or boundary under which a current conforming use

of a property is a nonconforming use if the regulation or boundary

is adopted or changed. The notice must:

(1) be mailed by United States mail or delivered

electronically to each owner of real or business personal property

where the proposed nonconforming use is located as indicated by the

most recently approved municipal tax roll and each occupant of the

property not later than the 10th day before the hearing date;

(2) contain the time and place of the hearing; and

(3) include the following text in bold 14-point type

or larger:

"THE [MUNICIPALITY NAME] IS HOLDING A HEARING THAT WILL

DETERMINE WHETHER YOU MAY LOSE THE RIGHT TO CONTINUE USING YOUR

PROPERTY FOR ITS CURRENT USE. PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY."

SECTION 2. Sections 211.007(c) and (c-1), Local Government

Code, are amended to read as follows:

(c) Before the 10th day before the hearing date, written

notice of each public hearing before the zoning commission on a

proposed change in a zoning classification shall be sent to each

owner, as indicated by the most recently approved municipal tax

roll, of real property within 200 feet of the property on which the

change in classification is proposed. The notice may be served by

its deposit in the municipality, properly addressed with postage

paid, in the United States mail or by electronic delivery . If the

property within 200 feet of the property on which the change is

proposed is located in territory annexed to the municipality and is

not included on the most recently approved municipal tax roll, the

notice shall be given in the manner provided by Section 211.006(a).

(c-1) Before the 10th day before the hearing date, written

notice of each public hearing before the zoning commission on a

proposed change in a zoning classification affecting residential or

multifamily zoning shall be sent to each school district in which

the property for which the change in classification is proposed is

located. The notice may be served by its deposit in the

municipality, properly addressed with postage paid, in the United

States mail or by electronic delivery .

SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 211, Local Government

Code, is amended by adding Section 211.020 to read as follows:

Sec. 211.020. ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF NOTICE. (a) A

municipality may deliver notice electronically under this chapter

only if the recipient elects to receive notice electronically under

Subsection (b).

(b) A municipality that intends to deliver notice

electronically under this chapter shall establish an online portal

on the municipality's Internet website through which a notice

recipient may:

(1) elect to receive notice electronically under this

chapter; and

(2) manage preferences for receiving notice

electronically under this chapter.

(c) A municipality may deliver notice electronically by

e-mail or text message.

SECTION 4. 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.