Monitoring the Session

HB 551

bill on addresses in online campaign finance reports

Became law, effective Sep 1, 2025

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Rep. Valoree SwansonRHouse 150

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 address information contained on reports of political contributions and expenditures made available on the Internet by the Texas Ethics Commission.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Changes how the Texas Ethics Commission posts them. That’s all we know.

The bill changes how the Texas Ethics Commission posts campaign finance reports online. Reports must include a box to mark whether an individual who was paid by a campaign gave a home address, and the Commission must strip that home address, except city, state and zip code, before posting the report on the internet, as it already does for donor addresses. The full address stays on the paper report at the Commission office but not on its electronic systems, starting with reports due on or after January 1, 2026.

Labels

Labels: DO-OVER. Reworked text of a bill filed before that died: 88R HB 854 (Did not pass). Filed in 2 sessions, counting this one. Checked against 88R only.TRY NO. 2. Filed in 2 sessions: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB551 · 2024-11-12

SOLD BY

Rep. Valoree SwansonRHouse 150

+ 1 coauthor

ITEM

relating to address information contained on reports of political contributions and expenditures made available on the Internet by the Texas Ethics Commission.

WHAT IT DOES

Changes how the Texas Ethics Commission posts them. That’s all we know.

The bill changes how the Texas Ethics Commission posts campaign finance reports online. Reports must include a box to mark whether an individual who was paid by a campaign gave a home address, and the Commission must strip that home address, except city, state and zip code, before posting the report on the internet, as it already does for donor addresses. The full address stays on the paper report at the Commission office but not on its electronic systems, starting with reports due on or after January 1, 2026.

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 16, 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 formal meeting
  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. Amended 1-Swanson
  17. Passed to engrossment as amended
  18. Record vote RV#2193
  19. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  20. Read 3rd time
  21. Passed
  22. Record vote RV#2265
  23. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  24. Reported engrossed
  25. Received from the House
  26. Read first time
  27. Referred to State Affairs
  28. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  29. Considered in public hearing
  30. Left pending in committee
  31. Considered in public hearing
  32. Vote taken in committee
  33. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  34. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  35. Committee report printed and distributed
  36. Placed on intent calendar
  37. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  38. Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
  39. Vote recorded in Journal
  40. Three day rule suspended
  41. Record vote
  42. Read 3rd time
  43. Passed
  44. Record vote
  45. Senate passage reported
  46. Reported enrolled
  47. Signed in the House
  48. Signed in the Senate
  49. Sent to the Governor
  50. Signed by the Governor
  51. Effective on 9/1/25
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 139 yea · 0 nay

Senate · 31 yea · 0 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 13, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · May 26, 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

Valoree Swanson

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$314KTexas Conservative Majority PAC$116KKathaleen Wall$11,000

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 27, 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.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$314,216.50

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$314,216.50

Cash
$35,000.00
Paid by others
$279,216.50
Total
$314,216.50
advertising $251,088.00polling $15,200.00mail $12,928.50

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 27, 2025 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.

Report IDs: 101029008, 101031437, 101068777, 101071636.

Texas Conservative Majority PAC$116,200.00

Texas Conservative Majority PAC

$116,200.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$91,200.00
Total
$116,200.00
canvassing $76,000.00polling $15,200.00

Also funds 42 other sitting lawmakers.

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

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Sep 18, 2026 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.

Report IDs: 101068777, 101071636.

Kathaleen Wall$11,000.00
Money

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

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$314,216.50

Cash
$35,000.00
Paid by others
$279,216.50
Total
$314,216.50
advertising $251,088.00polling $15,200.00mail $12,928.50

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 27, 2025 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.

Report IDs: 101029008, 101031437, 101068777, 101071636.

×

Texas Conservative Majority PAC

$116,200.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$91,200.00
Total
$116,200.00
canvassing $76,000.00polling $15,200.00

Also funds 42 other sitting lawmakers.

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

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Sep 18, 2026 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.

Report IDs: 101068777, 101071636.

Votes5

Senate May 26, 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 Bettencourt moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that HB 551 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 26, 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 Bettencourt moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that HB 551 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 26, 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 13, 2025

Yea
139
Nay
0
Present, not voting
2
Absent
5
Excused
4
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 2265

HB 551 was passed by (Record 2265): 139 Yeas, 0 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 139 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 5 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 4 (derived from named list)

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

House May 12, 2025

Yea
141
Nay
0
Present, not voting
2
Absent
3
Excused
4
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 2193

HB 551, as amended, was passed to engrossment by (Record 2193): 141 Yeas, 0 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 141 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 3 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 4 (derived from named list)

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

Witnesses10
For
9
Against
0
On
1
Names

For

  • Dallas Police Association1 registration
  • Harris County Deputies' Organization FOP #392 registrations
  • Self1 registration
  • Self; Harris county ballot security1 registration
  • Self; Houston Police Officers’ Union2 registrations
  • Texas Municipal Police Association1 registration
  • Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA)1 registration

On

  • Texas Ethics Commission1 registration
Sources

10 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 16, 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.

FILED BEFORE

Filed 2 times: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.

88R HB 854

by Rep. Swanson, same lead author · Did not pass · reworked

Introduced text

Last action, May 12, 2023: Corrected comm. rept. sent to Local & Consent

Relating to address information contained on reports of political contributions and expenditures made available on the Internet by the Texas Ethics Commission.

Caption, 88R bill history

Sources

Texas House · Filed Nov 12, 2024

06/20/2025 E Effective on 9/1/25

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.

Coauthors
Carrie IsaacRHouse 73
Sponsors
Paul BettencourtRSenate 7

House committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 15 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Senate committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 8 aye, 0 nay, 3 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Elections--Campaign Financing

Protection of Personal Information

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

ETHICS COMMISSION, TEXAS

Text

The text as introduced · 285 words

By: Swanson
H.B. No. 551

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to address information contained on reports of political

contributions and expenditures made available on the Internet by

the Texas Ethics Commission.

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

SECTION 1. Section 254.036, Election Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:

(b-1) In prescribing the format of a report filed with the

commission under Subsection (b), the commission shall ensure the

report includes a space to indicate whether the address of an

individual listed as having received a political expenditure is a

residence address.

SECTION 2. Section 254.0401, Election Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (e-1) to read as

follows:

(e) Before making a report filed under Section 254.036(b)

available on the Internet, the commission shall remove each

portion, other than city, state, and zip code, of :

(1) the address of a person listed as having made a

political contribution to the person filing the report ; and

(2) the residence address of an individual listed as

having received a political expenditure if the individual's address

is indicated in the space described by Section 254.036(b-1) as

being a residence address .

(e-1) The address information the commission removes under

Subsection (e) [ removed ] must remain available on the report

maintained in the commission's office but may not be available

electronically at that office.

SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

a report of political contributions and expenditures under Chapter

254, Election Code, that is required to be filed on or after January

1, 2026.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.