Monitoring the Session

SB 1434

Bettencourt Polling Place Bill Exempts Any ‘School-Sponsored Activity’

Did not pass

Verdict: Smells

SmellsInitial review
Sen. Paul BettencourtRSenate 7
Why it's charged
The hole

THE TEXT

“Subsection (a) does not apply to the transportation of students to or from the students' campus of regular attendance or a school-sponsored activity.”

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The ban targets district-paid rides to the polls, but the text does not define "school-sponsored activity." A district could label a student trip to a polling place as such an activity and pay for it anyway; employee rides stay banned.

The hole

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 a prohibition on the use of public money by a school district to transport district students or employees to or from a polling place.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

The bill never defines “school-sponsored activity.” Call a student poll trip one, and the district can pay.

The bill bars school boards from spending public money to carry students or employees to or from a polling place on election day or during early voting. It touches Texas school districts, their boards, staff and students. Rides to a student's own campus or to a school-sponsored activity stay allowed even if that location is also a polling place, and the rule starts September 1, 2025.

Labels

Labels: STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the Senate State Affairs committee 10-0 on Mar 20, 2025. Placed on the intent calendar on May 1, 2025. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB1434 · 2025-02-19

SOLD BY

Sen. Paul BettencourtRSenate 7

ITEM

relating to a prohibition on the use of public money by a school district to transport district students or employees to or from a polling place.

WHAT IT DOES

The bill never defines “school-sponsored activity.” Call a student poll trip one, and the district can pay.

The bill bars school boards from spending public money to carry students or employees to or from a polling place on election day or during early voting. It touches Texas school districts, their boards, staff and students. Rides to a student's own campus or to a school-sponsored activity stay allowed even if that location is also a polling place, and the rule starts September 1, 2025.

CHARGES

[x] THE HOLEanalysis confidence 40%

THE TEXT

“Subsection (a) does not apply to the transportation of students to or from the students' campus of regular attendance or a school-sponsored activity.”

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The ban targets district-paid rides to the polls, but the text does not define "school-sponsored activity." A district could label a student trip to a polling place as such an activity and pay for it anyway; employee rides stay banned.

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 11, 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 State Affairs
  5. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  6. Considered in public hearing
  7. Testimony taken in committee
  8. Left pending in committee
  9. Considered in public hearing
  10. Vote taken in committee
  11. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  12. Committee report printed and distributed
  13. Placed on intent calendar
  14. Not again placed on intent calendar
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

Smells

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Paul Bettencourt

Donors

Donors report through Friends of Paul Bettencourt.

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 Jun 30, 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.

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Witnesses14
For
7
Against
7
On
0
Names

For

  • Self6 registrations
  • Texas public policy foundation1 registration

Against

  • ACLU of Texas1 registration
  • Common Cause Texas1 registration
  • Common cause texas1 registration
  • Every Texan1 registration
  • Self1 registration
  • Self; NAKASEC ACTION FUND TEXAS1 registration
  • Self; Texas Democratic Party1 registration
Sources

14 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

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 · March 11, 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 19, 2025

05/05/2025 S Not again placed on intent calendar

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report

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

Senate committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 10 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Education--Primary & Secondary--Finance

Education--Primary & Secondary--Other School Personnel

Education--Primary & Secondary--Teachers

Elections--General

Elections--Registration & Suffrage

Transportation--Miscellaneous

Text

The text as introduced · 171 words

89R7313 TSS-D

By: Bettencourt
S.B. No. 1434

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a prohibition on the use of public money by a school

district to transport district students or employees to or from a

polling place.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 11, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 11.1691 to read as follows:

Sec. 11.1691. USE OF PUBLIC MONEY FOR TRANSPORTATION TO OR

FROM POLLING PLACE PROHIBITED. (a) Except as provided by

Subsection (b), the board of trustees of a school district may not

use public money to transport district students or employees to or

from a building or location selected as a polling place under the

Election Code on the day of an election or while early voting is in

progress.

(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to the transportation of

students to or from the students' campus of regular attendance or a

school-sponsored activity.

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