HB 5573

bill protecting whistleblowers who report waste and fraud

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review

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 fraud and waste.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Wasteful spending counts now, not only violations of law.

The bill widens the Texas whistleblower law so public employees are protected when they report wasteful or fraudulent spending, not only violations of law. It also protects employees who report law violations by an elected officer of their own government. State and local governments cannot fire, suspend or punish workers for good-faith reports of this kind made to an appropriate law enforcement authority.

Labels

Labels: ACROSS THE AISLE. Joint authors: 2 Republicans, 3 Democrats. Party as the Legislative Reference Library lists it for the 89th Legislature.STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the House State Affairs committee 12-0 on May 5, 2025. Taken up on the floor on May 15, 2025 and postponed. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB5573 · 2025-03-14

SOLD BY

Rep. Salman BhojaniDHouse 92

Rep. Giovanni CapriglioneRHouse 98

Rep. Dade PhelanRHouse 21

+ 2 more authors, 2 coauthors

ITEM

relating to fraud and waste.

WHAT IT DOES

Wasteful spending counts now, not only violations of law.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 6, 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

Mar 14, 2025Filed
Apr 7, 2025Read first time
Apr 7, 2025Referred to State Affairs
Apr 30, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Apr 30, 2025Considered in public hearing
Apr 30, 2025Committee substitute considered in committee
Apr 30, 2025Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
Apr 30, 2025Left pending in committee
May 5, 2025Considered in public hearing
May 5, 2025Committee substitute considered in committee
May 5, 2025Reported favorably as substituted
May 8, 2025Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
May 8, 2025Committee report distributed
May 9, 2025Committee report sent to Calendars
May 10, 2025Considered in Calendars
May 12, 2025Placed on General State Calendar
May 15, 2025Read 2nd time
May 15, 2025Postponed 2/18/26 10:00 AM

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Salman Bhojani

Donors

6301 ECC LLC$36KSam Mahrouq$25,000Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$21K

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.

6301 ECC LLC$36,400.00

6301 ECC LLC

$36,400.00

Cash: $0.00
Paid by others: $36,400.00
Total: $36,400.00

Other filed descriptions $36,400.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 1, 2024 to Oct 1, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

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

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jul 1, 2024 to Oct 1, 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: 100978329, 101005348, 101026340, 101056439, 101069774, 101071921.

Sam Mahrouq$25,000.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$21,000.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$21,000.00

Cash: $21,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $21,000.00

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 · Oct 4, 2024 to Oct 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: 100978329, 101026340, 101056439, 101071921.

Money

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

6301 ECC LLC

$36,400.00

Cash: $0.00
Paid by others: $36,400.00
Total: $36,400.00

Other filed descriptions $36,400.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 1, 2024 to Oct 1, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

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

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jul 1, 2024 to Oct 1, 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: 100978329, 101005348, 101026340, 101056439, 101069774, 101071921.

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$21,000.00

Cash: $21,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $21,000.00

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 · Oct 4, 2024 to Oct 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: 100978329, 101026340, 101056439, 101071921.

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Witnesses1

For: 1
Against: 0
On: 0

Names

For

Self1 registration

Sources

1 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 H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 6, 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 14, 2025

05/15/2025 H Postponed

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report

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

Coauthors

Charlie GerenRHouse 99

Penny Morales ShawDHouse 148

House committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 12 aye, 0 nay, 3 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

City Government--Employees/Officers

County Government--Employees/Officers

Crimes--Miscellaneous

Ethics

State Employees

FRAUD

WHISTLEBLOWERS

AUDITOR, STATE

Text

The text as introduced · 156 words

By: Bhojani
H.B. No. 5573

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to fraud and waste.

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

SECTION 1. Section 554.002(a), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) A state or local governmental entity may not suspend or

terminate the employment of, or take other adverse personnel action

against, a public employee who in good faith reports wasteful or

fraudulent spending or a violation of law by the employing

governmental entity, [ or ] another public employee , or an elected

officer of the employing governmental entity to an appropriate law

enforcement authority.

SECTION 2. 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.