Monitoring the Session

SB 2705

bill exempting small farm trailers from registration

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Brent HagenbuchRSenate 30

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 fees for the issuance of certain specialty license plates and an exemption from vehicle registration for certain trailers, semitrailers, tractors, and implements of husbandry.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

4,000 pounds or less skips registration. Some specialty plate fees drop.

The bill lets owners skip registering small farm trailers and semitrailers of 4,000 pounds or less, farm tractors, and farm implements that are only driven on highways temporarily, and it drops the issuance fee for several specialty license plates. It touches farm equipment owners, volunteer firefighters, fire protection personnel, holders of plates under the other listed specialty plate sections, and the state agency that issues plates. On the ground, those farm owners no longer need to register that equipment, the listed plate holders get their plates free, and plates under Section 504.319 come without the usual registration fee, starting September 1, 2025.

Labels

Labels: CROSS-PARTY HANDOFF. Lead author Brent Hagenbuch (R) in the Senate. Lead sponsor Mary Ann Perez (D) in the House. Party as the Legislative Reference Library lists it for the 89th Legislature.GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on Apr 24, 2025. Died in the House: voted out of the Transportation committee 11-0, no floor vote.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB2705 · 2025-03-13

SOLD BY

Sen. Brent HagenbuchRSenate 30

ITEM

relating to fees for the issuance of certain specialty license plates and an exemption from vehicle registration for certain trailers, semitrailers, tractors, and implements of husbandry.

WHAT IT DOES

4,000 pounds or less skips registration. Some specialty plate fees drop.

The bill lets owners skip registering small farm trailers and semitrailers of 4,000 pounds or less, farm tractors, and farm implements that are only driven on highways temporarily, and it drops the issuance fee for several specialty license plates. It touches farm equipment owners, volunteer firefighters, fire protection personnel, holders of plates under the other listed specialty plate sections, and the state agency that issues plates. On the ground, those farm owners no longer need to register that equipment, the listed plate holders get their plates free, and plates under Section 504.319 come without the usual registration fee, starting September 1, 2025.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 14, 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 Transportation
  5. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  6. Considered in public hearing
  7. Vote taken in committee
  8. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  9. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  10. Committee report printed and distributed
  11. Placed on intent calendar
  12. Placed on local & uncontested calendar
  13. Laid before the Senate
  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 Transportation
  25. Considered in formal meeting
  26. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  27. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  28. Committee report distributed
  29. Committee report sent to Calendars
  30. Considered in Calendars
  31. Placed on General State Calendar
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 31 yea · 0 nay

Sources

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.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Brent Hagenbuch

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$50KDenton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC$25KJohn Kleinheinz$25,000

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 · Oct 27, 2024 to Jun 15, 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.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$50,000.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$50,000.00

Cash
$50,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$50,000.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 23, 2025 to Sep 8, 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: 101010787, 101032653.

Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC$25,000.00

Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC

$25,000.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$25,000.00

Also funds 1 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Apr 8, 2026 to Apr 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

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

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Apr 21, 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: 101058859.

John Kleinheinz$25,000.00
Money

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

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$50,000.00

Cash
$50,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$50,000.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 23, 2025 to Sep 8, 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: 101010787, 101032653.

×

Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC

$25,000.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$25,000.00

Also funds 1 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Apr 8, 2026 to Apr 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

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

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Apr 21, 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: 101058859.

Votes3

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

SB 2705 (Hagenbuch) Relating to fees for the issuance of certain specialty license plates and an exemption from vehicle registration for certain trailers, semitrailers, tractors, and implements of husbandry. (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

SB 2705 (Hagenbuch) Relating to fees for the issuance of certain specialty license plates and an exemption from vehicle registration for certain trailers, semitrailers, tractors, and implements of husbandry. (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

SB 2705 (Hagenbuch) Relating to fees for the issuance of certain specialty license plates and an exemption from vehicle registration for certain trailers, semitrailers, tractors, and implements of husbandry. (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.

Witnesses3
For
2
Against
0
On
1
Names

For

  • Texas Farm Bureau1 registration
  • Texas Trucking Association1 registration

On

  • Texas Department of Motor Vehicles1 registration
Sources

3 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 fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 14, 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 13, 2025

05/26/2025 H Placed on General State Calendar

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

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

Sponsors
Mary Ann PerezDHouse 144

House committee · Transportation · Committee vote 11 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

Senate committee · Transportation · Committee vote 8 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Agriculture

Fire Fighters & Police--General

Vehicles & Traffic--Vehicle Registration

LICENSE PLATES

TRAILERS

Text

The text as introduced · 361 words

89R8975 CXP-D

By: Hagenbuch
S.B. No. 2705

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to fees for the issuance of certain specialty license

plates and an exemption from vehicle registration for certain

trailers, semitrailers, tractors, and implements of husbandry.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,

is amended by adding Section 502.147 to read as follows:

Sec. 502.147. CERTAIN FARM TRAILERS, FARM SEMITRAILERS,

FARM TRACTORS, AND IMPLEMENTS OF HUSBANDRY. An owner is not

required to register a farm trailer or farm semitrailer with a gross

weight of 4,000 pounds or less or a farm tractor or an implement of

husbandry if the trailer, semitrailer, tractor, or implement is

operated only temporarily on the highways.

SECTION 2. Section 504.3015(a), Transportation Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(a) A person applying for a set of license plates under this

subchapter shall pay the registration fee required under Chapter

502 and the applicable special plate fee required under this

section, except that one set of license plates shall be issued

without the payment of the registration fee under:

(1) Section 504.308;

(2) Section 504.310(b);

(3) Section 504.315, other than Subsections (c) and

(q) of that section; [ and ]

(4) Section 504.316; and

(5) Section 504.319.

SECTION 3. Section 504.512, Transportation Code, is amended

by adding Subsection (b) to read as follows:

(b) There is no fee for issuance of the license plates.

SECTION 4. Section 504.513, Transportation Code, is amended

by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as

follows:

(a) The department shall issue specialty license plates

for:

(1) volunteer firefighters certified by:

(A) the Texas Commission on Fire Protection; or

(B) the State Firefighters' [ Firemen's ] and Fire

Marshals' Association of Texas; and

(2) fire protection personnel as that term is defined

by Section 419.021, Government Code.

(c) There is no fee for issuance of the license plates.

SECTION 5. Section 504.516, Transportation Code, is amended

by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) There is no fee for issuance of the license plates.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.