Monitoring the Session

SB 402

bill puts redirected property tax refunds on a form

Became law, effective Sep 1, 2025

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Angela PaxtonRSenate 8

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 the payment of certain ad valorem tax refunds.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

A comptroller form, with a warning about false statements.

The bill changes how property tax refunds get mailed when a person asks for the check to go to a different address. A request to redirect a refund must now be filed on a form the comptroller writes, and that form must warn about the penalties for false statements on government records. Property owners owed refunds, tax collectors and taxing units are affected, and a person can revoke a redirect request in writing.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB402 · 2024-11-21

SOLD BY

Sen. Angela PaxtonRSenate 8

+ 1 coauthor

ITEM

relating to the payment of certain ad valorem tax refunds.

WHAT IT DOES

A comptroller form, with a warning about false statements.

The bill changes how property tax refunds get mailed when a person asks for the check to go to a different address. A request to redirect a refund must now be filed on a form the comptroller writes, and that form must warn about the penalties for false statements on government records. Property owners owed refunds, tax collectors and taxing units are affected, and a person can revoke a redirect request in writing.

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 · March 8, 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 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. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  17. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  18. Vote recorded in Journal
  19. Three day rule suspended
  20. Record vote
  21. Read 3rd time
  22. Passed
  23. Record vote
  24. Reported engrossed
  25. Received from the Senate
  26. Read first time
  27. Referred to Ways & Means
  28. Considered in formal meeting
  29. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  30. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  31. Committee report distributed
  32. Committee report sent to Calendars
  33. Considered in Calendars
  34. Placed on General State Calendar
  35. Read 2nd time
  36. Passed to 3rd reading
  37. Record vote RV#2946
  38. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  39. Read 3rd time
  40. Passed
  41. Record vote RV#3016
  42. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  43. House passage reported
  44. Reported enrolled
  45. Signed in the Senate
  46. Signed in the House
  47. Sent to the Governor
  48. Signed by the Governor
  49. Effective on 9/1/25
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 144 yea · 1 nay

Senate · 30 yea · 0 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 20, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · Mar 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

Angela Paxton

Donors

James Stanton$47,500Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$40KGary Blake$30,000

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 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.

James Stanton$47,500.00
Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$40,000.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$40,000.00

Cash
$40,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$40,000.00

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 · Dec 11, 2024 to Jun 30, 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: 100982305, 101012314.

Gary Blake$30,000.00
Money

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

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$40,000.00

Cash
$40,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$40,000.00

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 · Dec 11, 2024 to Jun 30, 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: 100982305, 101012314.

Votes5

House May 20, 2025

Yea
144
Nay
1
Present, not voting
2
Absent
2
Excused
1
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 3016

SB 402 was passed by (Record 3016): 144 Yeas, 1 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 144 (published)
  • Nay: 1 (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 19, 2025

Yea
138
Nay
5
Present, not voting
2
Absent
1
Excused
4
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 2946

SB 402 was passed to third reading by (Record 2946): 138 Yeas, 5 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 138 (published)
  • Nay: 5 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 1 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 4 (derived from named list)

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

Senate Mar 24, 2025

Yea
30
Nay
0
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
1
Names

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

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

Sources

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0. (Same as previous roll call)

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

  • Yea: 30 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

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

Senate Mar 24, 2025

Yea
30
Nay
0
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
1
Names

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

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

Sources

Senator Paxton moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 402 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.

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

  • Yea: 30 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

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

Senate Mar 24, 2025

Yea
Not printed
Nay
Not printed
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
1
Names

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

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

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: 1 (derived from named list)

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

Witnesses3
For
2
Against
0
On
1
Names

For

  • Karyn Ward CPA1 registration
  • Texas Apartment Association1 registration

On

  • Texas comptroller of public Accounts1 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 significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 8, 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 Nov 21, 2024

05/30/2025 E Effective on 9/1/25

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
Royce WestDSenate 23
Sponsors
Mitch LittleRHouse 65
Cosponsors
Andy HopperRHouse 64 J. M. LozanoRHouse 43 Will MetcalfRHouse 16 Brent MoneyRHouse 2 Tony TinderholtRHouse 94 Wes VirdellRHouse 53

House committee · Ways & Means · Committee vote 10 aye, 1 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

Senate committee · Local Government · Committee vote 6 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Companion

HB 1979 by Little (identical)

Subjects

Taxation--Property-Assessment & Collection

Taxation--Property-State Administration

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

Text

The text as introduced · 323 words

89R3694 DRS-F

By: Paxton
S.B. No. 402

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the payment of certain ad valorem tax refunds.

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

SECTION 1. Section 1.071, Tax Code, is amended to read as

follows:

Sec. 1.071. DELIVERY OF REFUND. (a) Except as provided by

Subsection (b), a [ A ] collector or taxing unit required by this

title to deliver a refund to a person shall send the refund to the

person's mailing address as listed on the appraisal roll.

(b) If [ Notwithstanding Subsection (a), if ] a person to whom

a refund is owed files a written request on a form prescribed by the

comptroller with a [ the ] collector or taxing unit before the date

the [ that a ] refund is issued requesting that the refund [ owed to

the person ] be sent to a particular address, the collector or taxing

unit shall send the refund to the address stated on the form [ in the

request ].

(c) The comptroller shall prescribe a form a person may use

to make a request under Subsection (b). The comptroller shall

include on the form a notice of the penalties prescribed by Section

37.10, Penal Code, for making or filing an application containing a

false statement.

(d) A person who files a request with a collector or taxing

unit under Subsection (b) may revoke the request by filing a written

revocation with the collector or taxing unit.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only

to a request filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A

request filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by

the law in effect on the date the request is filed, and the former

law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.