Monitoring the Session

SB 1242

TSTC land buys skip Coordinating Board review

Became law

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Brian BirdwellRSenate 22

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 the acquisition of land and facilities by the Texas State Technical College System.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

The $300,000 review rule is struck.

The bill strikes the rule that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board must review and approve land and facility acquisitions by the Texas State Technical College System. Under current law, that review applies when the property is worth more than $300,000 and is being added to the system's educational buildings inventory. After the change, the system's board of regents can accept or buy land and facilities in its campus counties without that outside sign-off.

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-SB1242 · 2025-02-12

SOLD BY

Sen. Brian BirdwellRSenate 22

ITEM

relating to the acquisition of land and facilities by the Texas State Technical College System.

WHAT IT DOES

The $300,000 review rule is struck.

The bill strikes the rule that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board must review and approve land and facility acquisitions by the Texas State Technical College System. Under current law, that review applies when the property is worth more than $300,000 and is being added to the system's educational buildings inventory. After the change, the system's board of regents can accept or buy land and facilities in its campus counties without that outside sign-off.

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 2, 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. Received by the Secretary of the Senate
  2. Filed
  3. Read first time
  4. Referred to Education K-16
  5. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  6. Considered in public hearing
  7. Left pending in committee
  8. Considered in public hearing
  9. Vote taken in committee
  10. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  11. Committee report printed and distributed
  12. Placed on intent calendar
  13. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  14. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  15. Vote recorded in Journal
  16. Three day rule suspended
  17. Record vote
  18. Read 3rd time
  19. Passed
  20. Record vote
  21. Reported engrossed
  22. Received from the Senate
  23. Read first time
  24. Referred to Higher Education
  25. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  26. Considered in public hearing
  27. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  28. Left pending in committee
  29. Considered in formal meeting
  30. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  31. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  32. Committee report distributed
  33. Committee report sent to Calendars
  34. Considered in Calendars
  35. Placed on General State Calendar
  36. Read 2nd time
  37. Passed to 3rd reading
  38. Read 3rd time
  39. Passed
  40. Record vote RV#3677
  41. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  42. House passage reported
  43. Reported enrolled
  44. Signed in the Senate
  45. Signed in the House
  46. Sent to the Governor
  47. Signed by the Governor
  48. Effective immediately
ALSO NOTED · NOT CHARGED (1)

CAPTION MISMATCH · analysis confidence 35%

THE TEXT

…“The coordinating board must review and approve the acceptance or acquisition of any”…

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The caption says only 'relating to the acquisition of land and facilities' and does not say the bill removes state coordinating board oversight of purchases over $300,000. That deletion is the whole operative change, and it sits behind a neutral caption.

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 140 yea · 1 nay

Senate · 31 yea · 0 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 27, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · May 5, 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

Brian Birdwell

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC Austin TX$30,000
Good Government Fund Fort Worth TX$10,000
Texas Oil & Gas Assn. Good Govt. Cmte Austin TX$10,000

Derived from itemized gifts, Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

$353,800 raised since Jul 1, 2024. Derived sum of published report totals. blank in the state's data, consistent with zero. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026. 4 of 4 filed reports carry a published figure.

$502,039 spent since Jul 1, 2024. Derived sum of published report totals. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026. 4 of 4 filed reports carry a published figure.

$731,044 cash on hand. Published report total. Stock, as of Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.

$0 loans outstanding. Published report total. Stock, as of Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived sum of itemized contributions in regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Unitemized contributions are not included. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Money

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

Votes4

House May 27, 2025

Yea
140
Nay
1
Present, not voting
2
Absent
4
Excused
3
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 3677

SB 1242 was passed by (Record 3677): 140 Yeas, 1 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 140 (published)
  • Nay: 1 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 4 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 3 (derived from named list)

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

Senate May 5, 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 Birdwell moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 1242 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 5, 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 Birdwell moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 1242 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 5, 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 engrossment 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.

Witnesses12
For
11
Against
0
On
1
Names

For

  • AGC-Texas Building Branch1 registration
  • Samsung1 registration
  • Samsung Austin Semiconductor, LLC.1 registration
  • Self1 registration
  • Self; Opportunity austin1 registration
  • Self; Texas Association of Manufacturers and Texas Association of Builders1 registration
  • Texas Association of Builders2 registrations
  • Texas Association of Manufacturers1 registration
  • Texas Construction Association1 registration
  • Texas Economic Development Council1 registration

On

  • Texas State Technical College System1 registration
Sources

12 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 I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 2, 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 Senate · Filed Feb 12, 2025

06/20/2025 E Effective immediately

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed · House Committee Report · Enrolled

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

Sponsors
Terry M. WilsonRHouse 20

House committee · Higher Education · Committee vote 11 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Senate committee · Education K-16 · Committee vote 10 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Education--Higher--Institutions & Programs

Education--Higher--State Coordination

Property Interests--Real Property

Public Lands, Buildings & Resources

TEXAS STATE TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM

Text

The text as introduced · 214 words

89R10448 CMO-F

By: Birdwell
S.B. No. 1242

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the acquisition of land and facilities by the Texas

State Technical College System.

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

SECTION 1. Section 135.02(c), Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(c) The board may accept or acquire by purchase in the name

of the State of Texas land and facilities in any of the counties in

which a campus or extension center is located. [ The coordinating

board must review and approve the acceptance or acquisition of any

land and facilities if:

[ (1) the board of regents requests to place the land

and facilities on its educational and general buildings and

facilities inventory; and

[ (2) the combined value of the land and facilities is

more than $300,000 at the time the board of regents requests the

property to be added to the educational and general buildings and

facilities inventory. ]

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.