Monitoring the Session

SB 2055

bill opening the Texas Leadership Scholars Program to all universities

Became law

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Royce WestDSenate 23

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 participation in the Texas Leadership Scholars Program.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Every general academic teaching institution can take part.

The bill changes the rules for the Texas Leadership Scholars Program so that every general academic teaching institution can take part. It touches the state higher education coordinating board, public universities, and the students who get these scholarships. Each eligible university must get at least one research scholarship, the rest are split partly by research doctoral degrees awarded, and the board may not limit which universities take part or favor students at certain schools.

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-SB2055 · 2025-03-07

SOLD BY

Sen. Royce WestDSenate 23

+ 2 coauthors

ITEM

relating to participation in the Texas Leadership Scholars Program.

WHAT IT DOES

Every general academic teaching institution can take part.

The bill changes the rules for the Texas Leadership Scholars Program so that every general academic teaching institution can take part. It touches the state higher education coordinating board, public universities, and the students who get these scholarships. Each eligible university must get at least one research scholarship, the rest are split partly by research doctoral degrees awarded, and the board may not limit which universities take part or favor students at certain schools.

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 15, 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. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  9. Considered in public hearing
  10. Vote taken in committee
  11. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  12. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  13. Committee report printed and distributed
  14. Co-author authorized
  15. Placed on intent calendar
  16. Co-author authorized
  17. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  18. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  19. Vote recorded in Journal
  20. Three day rule suspended
  21. Record vote
  22. Read 3rd time
  23. Passed
  24. Record vote
  25. Reported engrossed
  26. Received from the Senate
  27. Read first time
  28. Referred to Higher Education
  29. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  30. Considered in public hearing
  31. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  32. Left pending in committee
  33. Considered in formal meeting
  34. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  35. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  36. Committee report distributed
  37. Committee report sent to Calendars
  38. Considered in Calendars
  39. Placed on General State Calendar
  40. Read 2nd time
  41. Passed to 3rd reading
  42. Read 3rd time
  43. Passed
  44. Record vote RV#3652
  45. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  46. House passage reported
  47. Reported enrolled
  48. Signed in the Senate
  49. Signed in the House
  50. Sent to the Governor
  51. Signed by the Governor
  52. Effective immediately
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 129 yea · 11 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 1, 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

Royce West

Donors

Skyview Development LLC$36KTexas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$20KErle Allen Nye Jr.$15,000

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 · Jul 1, 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.

Skyview Development LLC$36,332.00

Skyview Development LLC

$36,332.00

Cash
$0.00
Paid by others
$36,332.00
Total
$36,332.00
Other filed descriptions $32,032.00fundraiser $4,300.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 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 Jun 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: 100987569, 101009506, 101058878, 101063137.

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$20,000.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$20,000.00

Cash
$20,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$20,000.00

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 11, 2024 to Oct 10, 2025. 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: 100987569, 101063137.

Erle Allen Nye Jr.$15,000.00
Money

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

×

Skyview Development LLC

$36,332.00

Cash
$0.00
Paid by others
$36,332.00
Total
$36,332.00
Other filed descriptions $32,032.00fundraiser $4,300.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 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 Jun 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: 100987569, 101009506, 101058878, 101063137.

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$20,000.00

Cash
$20,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$20,000.00

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 11, 2024 to Oct 10, 2025. 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: 100987569, 101063137.

Votes4

House May 27, 2025

Yea
129
Nay
11
Present, not voting
2
Absent
5
Excused
3
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 3652

SB 2055 was passed by (Record 3652): 129 Yeas, 11 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 129 (published)
  • Nay: 11 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 5 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 3 (derived from named list)

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

Senate May 1, 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 West moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 2055 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 1, 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 West moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 2055 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 1, 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.

Witnesses8
For
6
Against
0
On
2
Names

For

  • Self4 registrations
  • Texas Business Leadership Council2 registrations

On

  • Texas higher education coordinating board1 registration
  • THECB1 registration
Sources

8 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 15, 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 Mar 7, 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.

Coauthors
César BlancoDSenate 29 Angela PaxtonRSenate 8
Sponsors
Suleman LalaniDHouse 76
Cosponsors
Vincent PerezDHouse 77

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--Student Financial Aid

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

SCHOLARSHIPS

HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD, TEXAS

Text

The text as introduced · 330 words

2025S0194-1 03/07/25

By: West
S.B. No. 2055

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to participation in the Texas Leadership Scholars Program.

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

SECTION 1. Section 61.891, Education Code, is amended by

adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:

(4) "Eligible institution" means a general academic

teaching institution as defined by Section 61.003.

SECTION 2. Section 61.897, Education Code, is amended by

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

follows:

(a) The board, in consultation with general academic

teaching institutions, shall adopt rules for the administration of

the program, including rules providing for the amount and

permissible uses of a scholarship awarded under the program. The

rules must provide that:

(1) the amount of a research scholarship is at least

150 percent of the amount of a leadership scholarship; [ and ]

(2) a student may not receive a scholarship under

either the leadership or research scholarship program for more than

four years per student per program; and

(3) each eligible institution receives at least one

research scholarship award with remaining research scholarships

awarded to eligible institutions based, in part, on the number of

research doctoral degrees awarded by each institution .

(a-1) In adopting rules under this subchapter, the board may

not adopt a rule that:

(1) limits the general academic teaching institutions

that may participate in the program; or

(2) gives preference to students enrolled in certain

general academic teaching institutions.

SECTION 3. As soon as practicable after the effective date

of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall

adopt rules to implement Section 61.897, Education Code, as

amended by this Act.

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.