Monitoring the Session

SB 612

bill extending the pipeline fee limit to developers

Became law

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Juan "Chuy" HinojosaDSenate 20

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 pipeline construction imposed by certain districts.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Water districts’ pipeline charges get capped for land subdividers too.

The bill extends an existing limit on what water districts can charge for pipeline construction so it covers developers, not just retail water and sewer utilities. It touches water districts and any person who subdivides land or asks for more than two water or sewer connections on one tract. Districts can no longer put unduly burdensome requirements on those developers or charge them more than the actual, reasonable, documented costs of review, legal, engineering, inspection, construction and repair work.

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-SB612 · 2024-12-13

SOLD BY

Sen. Juan "Chuy" HinojosaDSenate 20

ITEM

relating to fees for pipeline construction imposed by certain districts.

WHAT IT DOES

Water districts’ pipeline charges get capped for land subdividers too.

The bill extends an existing limit on what water districts can charge for pipeline construction so it covers developers, not just retail water and sewer utilities. It touches water districts and any person who subdivides land or asks for more than two water or sewer connections on one tract. Districts can no longer put unduly burdensome requirements on those developers or charge them more than the actual, reasonable, documented costs of review, legal, engineering, inspection, construction and repair work.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version S · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version S · May 5, 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 Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs
  5. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  6. Considered in public hearing
  7. Vote taken in committee
  8. Reported favorably as substituted
  9. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  10. Committee report printed and distributed
  11. Placed on intent calendar
  12. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  13. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  14. Vote recorded in Journal
  15. Three day rule suspended
  16. Record vote
  17. Read 3rd time
  18. Passed
  19. Record vote
  20. Reported engrossed
  21. Received from the Senate
  22. Read first time
  23. Referred to Natural Resources
  24. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  25. Considered in public hearing
  26. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  27. Left pending in committee
  28. Considered in formal meeting
  29. Recommended to be sent to Local & Consent
  30. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  31. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  32. Committee report distributed
  33. Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar
  34. Considered in Local & Consent Calendars
  35. Placed on Local, Consent, and Res. Calendar
  36. Read 2nd time
  37. Passed to 3rd reading
  38. Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
  39. Read 3rd time
  40. Passed
  41. Record vote RV#3832
  42. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  43. Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
  44. House passage reported
  45. Reported enrolled
  46. Signed in the Senate
  47. Signed in the House
  48. Sent to the Governor
  49. Signed by the Governor
  50. Effective immediately
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 104 yea · 37 nay

Senate · 31 yea · 0 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 28, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · May 8, 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

Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$18KTexas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$15KAssociated General Contractors of Texas PAC$15K

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 23, 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.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$17,500.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$17,500.00

Cash
$17,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$17,500.00

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 · Sep 3, 2024 to Jun 27, 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: 100977616, 101009664.

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$15,000.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$15,000.00

Cash
$15,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$15,000.00

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 · Jul 24, 2024 to Nov 25, 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: 100977616.

Associated General Contractors of Texas PAC$15,000.00

Associated General Contractors of Texas PAC

$15,000.00

Cash
$15,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$15,000.00

Also funds 120 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 19, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Oct 25, 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.

Report IDs: 100977616, 101059341.

Money

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

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$17,500.00

Cash
$17,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$17,500.00

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 · Sep 3, 2024 to Jun 27, 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: 100977616, 101009664.

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$15,000.00

Cash
$15,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$15,000.00

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 · Jul 24, 2024 to Nov 25, 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: 100977616.

×

Associated General Contractors of Texas PAC

$15,000.00

Cash
$15,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$15,000.00

Also funds 120 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 19, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Oct 25, 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.

Report IDs: 100977616, 101059341.

Votes4

House May 28, 2025

Yea
104
Nay
37
Present, not voting
2
Absent
1
Excused
5
Names

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

House journal

The shared roll contains conflicting member evidence. Those positions remain conflicting.

Cunningham is listed as absent in the shared roll and nay in this bill's list. That position remains conflicting.

Sources

Record 3832

SB 612 (Alders, Ashby, Bonnen, Bumgarner, Cain, Capriglione, Cook, Cunningham, Dean, DeAyala, Gerdes, Geren, Harless, Harris Davila, Hefner, Hickland, Holt, Hull, Isaac, King, Landgraf, Leach, Leo Wilson, Lowe, Metcalf, Money, Oliverson, Orr, Patterson, Schatzline, Shofner, Slawson, Swanson, Toth, Troxclair, Vasut, Wharton, and Wilson - no) (104 - 37 - 2)

Shared roll motion

The following bills which were considered on second reading on the previous legislative day on the local, consent, and resolutions calendar were laid before the house, read third time, and passed by the following record vote (members registering votes and the results of the vote are shown following the bill number). (Record 3832): 141 Yeas, 0 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 104 (published)
  • Nay: 37 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 1 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 5 (derived from named list)

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

Senate May 8, 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 J. Hinojosa moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that CSSB 612 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 8, 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 J. Hinojosa moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that CSSB 612 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 8, 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.

Witnesses1
For
1
Against
0
On
0
Names

For

  • Self; South Texans’ Property Rights Association1 registration
Sources

1 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.

Fiscal

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version S · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version S · May 5, 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 Dec 13, 2024

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.

Sponsors
Armando "Mando" MartinezDHouse 39

House committee · Natural Resources · Committee vote 8 aye, 0 nay, 5 absent · Out of committee

Senate committee · Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs · Committee vote 8 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Fees & Other Nontax Revenue--Local

Special Districts & Authorities--Soil & Water Conservation

Utilities--Water & Sewer

Text

The text as introduced · 240 words

2025S0012-1 12/04/24

By: Hinojosa
S.B. No. 612

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to fees for pipeline construction imposed by certain

districts.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 49.2127(a) and (d), Water Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) In this section :

(1) "Retail [ , "retail ] public utility" has the meaning

assigned by Section 13.002.

(2) "Developer" means a person who subdivides land or

requests more than two water or sewer service connections on a

single contiguous tract of land.

(d) A district may not impose on a developer or retail

public utility that proposes to construct a water or sewer pipeline

or associated infrastructure in the district's service area:

(1) requirements for constructing the pipeline that

are unduly burdensome; or

(2) a fee that is greater than the actual, reasonable,

and documented costs incurred by the district for review, legal

services, engineering services, inspection, construction, and

repair associated with the [ retail public utility ] construction,

and any other related costs incurred by the district in association

with the [ retail public utility ] construction.

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.