SB 35: bill raising TxDOT’s design-build contract cap

Caption

relating to design build contracts.

Summary

Apparently from two to six per two-year budget cycle.

The bill changes the cap on how many contracts the Texas Department of Transportation may sign under one design-build section of the Transportation Code in each two-year budget cycle, apparently raising it from two to six. It touches the state transportation department and the firms that bid on these combined design-and-construction highway contracts. On the ground, the department could award more design-build contracts per biennium starting immediately on a two-thirds vote, or September 1, 2025 otherwise.

Labels

Labels: QUICK READ: 110 WORDS. The bill as filed runs 110 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).GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on Mar 19, 2025. Died in the House: voted out of the Transportation committee 10-0, no floor vote.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB35 · 2025-02-27

SOLD BY

Sen. Robert NicholsRSenate 3

+ 2 coauthors

ITEM

relating to design build contracts.

WHAT IT DOES

Apparently from two to six per two-year budget cycle.

The bill changes the cap on how many contracts the Texas Department of Transportation may sign under one design-build section of the Transportation Code in each two-year budget cycle, apparently raising it from two to six. It touches the state transportation department and the firms that bid on these combined design-and-construction highway contracts. On the ground, the department could award more design-build contracts per biennium starting immediately on a two-thirds vote, or September 1, 2025 otherwise.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 22, 2025

Because detailed cost information is not available, the cost to the State to implement the bill cannot be determined at this time.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

Feb 27, 2025Received by the Secretary of the Senate
Feb 27, 2025Filed
Feb 28, 2025Read first time
Feb 28, 2025Referred to Transportation
Mar 12, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Mar 12, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 12, 2025Vote taken in committee
Mar 13, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendments
Mar 13, 2025Committee report printed and distributed
Mar 18, 2025Co-author authorized
Mar 18, 2025Placed on intent calendar
Mar 19, 2025Co-author authorized
Mar 19, 2025Rules suspended-Regular order of business
Mar 19, 2025Record vote
Mar 19, 2025Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
Mar 19, 2025Record vote
Mar 19, 2025Three day rule suspended
Mar 19, 2025Record vote
Mar 19, 2025Read 3rd time
Mar 19, 2025Passed
Mar 19, 2025Record vote
Mar 19, 2025Reported engrossed
Mar 20, 2025Received from the Senate
Apr 9, 2025Read first time
Apr 9, 2025Referred to Transportation
May 12, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
May 12, 2025Withdrawn from schedule
May 19, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
May 19, 2025Considered in public hearing
May 19, 2025Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
May 19, 2025Left pending in committee
May 21, 2025Considered in formal meeting
May 21, 2025Committee substitute considered in committee
May 21, 2025Reported favorably as substituted
May 24, 2025Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
May 24, 2025Committee report distributed
May 24, 2025Committee report sent to Calendars
May 25, 2025Considered in Calendars
May 27, 2025Placed on General State Calendar

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 27 yea · 4 nay

Sources

Senate: Final passage · Mar 19, 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

Robert Nichols

Donors

James I Perkins$25,000Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC$10K Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee$10K

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 2, 2024 to Mar 25, 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.

James I Perkins$25,000.00

Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC$10,000.00

Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC

$10,000.00

Cash: $10,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $10,000.00

Also funds 2 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 5, 2024 to Oct 22, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

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

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 5, 2024. 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: 100965387.

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee$10,000.00

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

$10,000.00

Cash: $10,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $10,000.00

Also funds 140 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 2, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 5, 2024. 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: 100965387.

Money

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

×

Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC

$10,000.00

Cash: $10,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $10,000.00

Also funds 2 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 5, 2024 to Oct 22, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

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

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 5, 2024. 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: 100965387.

×

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

$10,000.00

Cash: $10,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $10,000.00

Also funds 140 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 2, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 5, 2024. 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: 100965387.

Votes4

Senate Mar 19, 2025

Yea: 27
Nay: 4
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

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

Senate journal

Sources

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 4. (Same as previous roll call)

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

Yea: 27 (published)
Nay: 4 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

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

Senate Mar 19, 2025

Yea: 27
Nay: 4
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

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

Senate journal

Sources

Senator Nichols moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 35 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 4.

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

Yea: 27 (published)
Nay: 4 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

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

Senate Mar 19, 2025

Yea: 27
Nay: 4
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

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

Senate journal

Sources

The bill was read second time and was passed to engrossment by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 4. (Same as previous roll call)

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

Yea: 27 (published)
Nay: 4 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

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

Senate Mar 19, 2025

Yea: 27
Nay: 4
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

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

Senate journal

Sources

Senator Nichols moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration SB 35 at this time on its second reading: SB 35, Relating to design-build contracts. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 4.

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

Yea: 27 (published)
Nay: 4 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

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

Witnesses10

For: 3
Against: 5
On: 2

Names

For

Hunter Industries, Ltd2 registrations
Hunter Industries, Ltd.1 registration

Against

DBIA1 registration
Fluor Corporation1 registration
Fort Bend Grand Parkway Toll Road Authority1 registration
HNTB1 registration
Kiewit Infrastructure1 registration

On

Texas Department of Transportation1 registration
Texas Department Of Transportation (TxDOT)1 registration

Sources

10 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 first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 22, 2025

Because detailed cost information is not available, the cost to the State to implement the bill cannot be determined at this time.

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 27, 2025

05/27/2025 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.

Coauthors

Brent HagenbuchRSenate 30

Royce WestDSenate 23

Companion

HB 5329 by Hunter (identical)

SB 1655 by Nichols (duplicate)

Subjects

Highways

COMPETITIVE BIDDING

DESIGN-BUILD CONTRACTS

TRANSPORTATION, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF

Text

The text as introduced · 110 words

By: Nichols
S.B. No. 35

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to design build contracts.

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

SECTION 1. Section. 223.242(d-1), Transportation Code is

amended to read as follows:

(d-1) The department may not enter into more than two six

contracts under this section in each state fiscal biennium.

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.

Verdict: No flags

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

Senate Mar 19, 2025

Senate Mar 19, 2025

Senate Mar 19, 2025

Senate Mar 19, 2025

For

Against

On

Companion