Monitoring the Session

SB 2068

Bettencourt Property Tax Bill Shields Kids’ Info On Exemption Forms

Became law, effective Sep 1, 2025

Verdict: Smells

SmellsNeeds review
Sen. Paul BettencourtRSenate 7
Why it's charged
Caption mismatch

THE TEXT

…“the name, age, home address, or home telephone number of”…

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The caption says the bill is about property tax protests and appeals. The only operative change is a confidentiality rule for exemption applications, and the text never mentions protests or appeals.

Caption mismatch

Needs review · Nov 1, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

Relating to the tax administration for property tax protests and appeals

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Caption: protests and appeals. Bill: exemption forms only, and neither word appears!

The bill rewrites one Tax Code section to keep a child's name, age, home address, and home phone number in a property tax exemption application confidential, alongside driver's license, ID, and Social Security numbers. It touches homeowners who file exemption applications and the appraisal districts that hold those records. Only appraisal district employees or agents who do appraisal work can see the information, except as another subsection allows, starting September 1, 2025.

Labels

Labels: QUICK READ: 143 WORDS. The bill as filed runs 143 words, counting the existing law it amends and the text it strikes. The median 89R bill as filed runs 441 words (derived, 8,702 graded bills, snapshot Oct 19, 2026).

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB2068 · 2025-03-07

SOLD BY

Sen. Paul BettencourtRSenate 7

ITEM

Relating to the tax administration for property tax protests and appeals

WHAT IT DOES

Caption: protests and appeals. Bill: exemption forms only, and neither word appears!

The bill rewrites one Tax Code section to keep a child's name, age, home address, and home phone number in a property tax exemption application confidential, alongside driver's license, ID, and Social Security numbers. It touches homeowners who file exemption applications and the appraisal districts that hold those records. Only appraisal district employees or agents who do appraisal work can see the information, except as another subsection allows, starting September 1, 2025.

CHARGES

[x] CAPTION MISMATCHanalysis confidence 60%

THE TEXT

…“the name, age, home address, or home telephone number of”…

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The caption says the bill is about property tax protests and appeals. The only operative change is a confidentiality rule for exemption applications, and the text never mentions protests or appeals.

TOTAL

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · April 29, 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 Local Government
  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 as substituted
  12. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  13. Committee report printed and distributed
  14. Placed on local & uncontested calendar
  15. Laid before the Senate
  16. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  17. Vote recorded in Journal
  18. Three day rule suspended
  19. Record vote
  20. Read 3rd time
  21. Passed
  22. Record vote
  23. Reported engrossed
  24. Received from the Senate
  25. Read first time
  26. Referred to s/c on Property Tax Appraisals by Speaker
  27. Posting rule suspended
  28. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  29. Considered by s/c in public hearing
  30. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in subcommittee
  31. Left pending in subcommittee
  32. Considered by s/c in formal meeting
  33. Reported from s/c favorably w/o amendment(s)
  34. Considered in formal meeting
  35. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  36. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  37. Committee report distributed
  38. Committee report sent to Calendars
  39. Considered in Calendars
  40. Placed on General State Calendar
  41. Rules suspended
  42. Additional sponsor(s) authorized
  43. Read 2nd time
  44. Passed to 3rd reading
  45. Record vote RV#3085
  46. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  47. Read 3rd time
  48. Passed
  49. Record vote RV#3138
  50. House passage reported
  51. Reported enrolled
  52. Signed in the Senate
  53. Signed in the House
  54. Sent to the Governor
  55. Signed by the Governor
  56. Effective on 9/1/25
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 145 yea · 0 nay

Senate · 31 yea · 0 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 21, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · Apr 24, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

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.

Votes5

House May 21, 2025

Yea
145
Nay
0
Present, not voting
2
Absent
2
Excused
1
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 3138

SB 2068 was passed by (Record 3138): 145 Yeas, 0 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 145 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 2 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

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

House May 20, 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 3085

SB 2068 was passed to third reading by (Record 3085): 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.

Senate Apr 24, 2025

Final passage

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.

The journal row lists three votes in order: passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day rule, and final passage. This entry records final passage. Repeated tallies belong to separate votes.

Sources

CSSB 2068 (Bettencourt) Relating to the duty of an appraisal district to keep confidential certain identifying information provided by a property owner. (viva voce vote) (31-0) (31-0)

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 Apr 24, 2025

Suspension of the three-day rule

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.

The journal row lists three votes in order: passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day rule, and final passage. This entry records suspension of the three-day rule. Repeated tallies belong to separate votes.

Sources

CSSB 2068 (Bettencourt) Relating to the duty of an appraisal district to keep confidential certain identifying information provided by a property owner. (viva voce vote) (31-0) (31-0)

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 Apr 24, 2025

Passage to engrossment

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.

The journal row lists three votes in order: passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day rule, and final passage. This entry records passage to engrossment. Repeated tallies belong to separate votes.

Voice vote. No numeric tally or individual yeas are inferred.

Sources

CSSB 2068 (Bettencourt) Relating to the duty of an appraisal district to keep confidential certain identifying information provided by a property owner. (viva voce vote) (31-0) (31-0)

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.

Witnesses5
For
4
Against
0
On
1
Names

For

  • HCAD and TAAD1 registration
  • Self2 registrations
  • Self; Texas Association of Appraisal Districts1 registration

On

  • Self1 registration
Sources

5 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 fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · April 29, 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 on 9/1/25

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

Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 2:10 PM CST. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Sponsors
Angie Chen ButtonRHouse 112 Ellen TroxclairRHouse 19

House committee · Ways & Means · Committee vote 11 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

Senate committee · Local Government · Committee vote 5 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Protection of Personal Information

Taxation--Property-Appeal of Tax Decisions

Taxation--Property-Appraisals & Appraisal Districts

Taxation--Property-Exemptions

Text

The text as introduced · 143 words

By: Bettencourt
S.B. No. 2068

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

Relating to the tax administration for property tax protests and

appeals

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

SECTION 1. Section 11.48(a), Tax Code, is amended by

amending subsection 11.48(a) to read as follows:

Sec. 11.48(a) A driver's license number, personal

identification certificate number, or social security account

number , or the name, age, home address, or home telephone number of

a child provided in an application for an exemption filed with a

chief appraiser is confidential and not open to public inspection.

The information may not be disclosed to anyone other than an

employee or agent of the appraisal district who appraises property

or performs appraisal services for the appraisal district, except

as authorized by Subsection (b).

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