Monitoring the Session

SB 825

Middleton Bill Orders Yearly Illegal Immigration Study, Private Firms Welcome

Did not pass

Verdict: Smells

SmellsReviewed
Sen. Mayes MiddletonRSenate 11
Why it's charged
Study, task force, commission, report

THE TEXT

…“office of the governor shall conduct an annual study on the”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The only duty in the bill is to study and report. No policy changes until the Legislature acts on the report later, though the caption honestly says it is a study.

Study, task force, commission, report

Reviewed · 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 an annual study on the economic, environmental, and financial impact of illegal immigration in this state.

Caption from analyzed text · version H.

Summary

Study only, no policy changes. Annual, but results due December 1 of even-numbered years.

The bill orders the governor's office to study, every year, the economic, environmental, and financial impact of illegal immigration in Texas. It lets the governor's office contract with agencies, universities, nonprofits, or private firms to help, and it requires the state court administration office to share information when asked. The governor's office must send the results to the lieutenant governor and the Legislature by December 1 of each even-numbered year, starting under a September 1, 2025 effective date.

Labels

Labels: GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on Apr 23, 2025. Died in the House: voted out of the State Affairs committee 10-5, no floor vote.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB825 · 2025-01-16

SOLD BY

Sen. Mayes MiddletonRSenate 11

+ 4 coauthors

ITEM

relating to an annual study on the economic, environmental, and financial impact of illegal immigration in this state.

WHAT IT DOES

Study only, no policy changes. Annual, but results due December 1 of even-numbered years.

The bill orders the governor's office to study, every year, the economic, environmental, and financial impact of illegal immigration in Texas. It lets the governor's office contract with agencies, universities, nonprofits, or private firms to help, and it requires the state court administration office to share information when asked. The governor's office must send the results to the lieutenant governor and the Legislature by December 1 of each even-numbered year, starting under a September 1, 2025 effective date.

CHARGES

[x] STUDY, TASK FORCE, COMMISSION, REPORTanalysis confidence 55%

THE TEXT

…“office of the governor shall conduct an annual study on the”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The only duty in the bill is to study and report. No policy changes until the Legislature acts on the report later, though the caption honestly says it is a study.

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 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 Border Security
  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. Left pending in committee
  11. Posting rule suspended
  12. Considered in public hearing
  13. Vote taken in committee
  14. Reported favorably as substituted
  15. Committee report printed and distributed
  16. Co-author authorized
  17. Placed on intent calendar
  18. Co-author authorized
  19. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  20. Record vote
  21. Read 2nd time
  22. Amendment(s) offered FA1 Middleton
  23. Amended
  24. Vote recorded in Journal
  25. Amendment(s) offered FA2 Eckhardt
  26. Amendment fails of adoption
  27. Record vote
  28. Passed to engrossment as amended
  29. Record vote
  30. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  31. Record vote
  32. Read 3rd time
  33. Passed
  34. Record vote
  35. Reported engrossed
  36. Received from the Senate
  37. Read first time
  38. Referred to State Affairs
  39. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  40. Considered in public hearing
  41. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  42. Left pending in committee
  43. Considered in formal meeting
  44. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  45. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  46. Committee report distributed
  47. Committee report sent to Calendars
FILED UNDER

GOVERNMENT GROWTH UNDER A CONSERVATIVE BANNER

THE TEXT

“The office of the governor may collaborate or contract”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill lets the governor's office hire outside contractors, including nonprofits and private firms, to carry out the annual study.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 20 yea · 11 nay

Sources

Senate: Final passage · Apr 23, 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

Mayes Middleton

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$1.14MRussell Gordy$300,000Kenneth Fisher$215,000

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 · Jul 6, 2024 to Oct 24, 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$1,140,000.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$1,140,000.00

Cash
$1,140,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$1,140,000.00

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 12, 2024 to Oct 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: 101009502, 101012383, 101061137, 101072395, 101072779.

Russell Gordy$300,000.00
Kenneth Fisher$215,000.00
Money

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

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$1,140,000.00

Cash
$1,140,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$1,140,000.00

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 12, 2024 to Oct 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: 101009502, 101012383, 101061137, 101072395, 101072779.

Votes6

Senate Apr 23, 2025

Yea
20
Nay
11
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 20, Nays 11. (Same as previous roll call)

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

  • Yea: 20 (published)
  • Nay: 11 (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 Apr 23, 2025

Yea
20
Nay
11
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 Middleton moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 825 at this time on its third reading and final passage: CSSB 825, Relating to an annual study on the economic, environmental, and financial impact of illegal immigration in this state. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays 11.

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

  • Yea: 20 (published)
  • Nay: 11 (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 Apr 22, 2025

Yea
24
Nay
7
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
0
Excused
0
Names

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

Senate journal

Sources

CSSB 825 as amended was passed to engrossment by the following vote: Yeas 24, Nays 7.

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

  • Yea: 24 (published)
  • Nay: 7 (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 Apr 22, 2025

Yea
10
Nay
21
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 amendment to CSSB 825 was read and failed of adoption by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 21.

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

  • Yea: 10 (published)
  • Nay: 21 (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 Apr 22, 2025

Yea
Not printed
Nay
Not printed
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
Not printed
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 amendment to CSSB 825 was read and was adopted 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.

Senate Apr 22, 2025

Yea
24
Nay
7
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 Middleton moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 825 at this time on its second reading: CSSB 825, Relating to an annual study on the economic, environmental, and financial impact of illegal immigration in this state. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 24, Nays 7.

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

  • Yea: 24 (published)
  • Nay: 7 (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.

Witnesses23
For
6
Against
7
On
10
Names

For

  • Self3 registrations
  • Self; South Texans’ Property Rights Association2 registrations
  • Texas Public Policy Foundation1 registration

Against

  • El Paso County Commissioner Precinct 21 registration
  • Self6 registrations

On

  • Health and Human Services Commission2 registrations
  • Office of Court Administration1 registration
  • Office of the Governor1 registration
  • Self; ACLU of Texas1 registration
  • Self; Every Texan1 registration
  • TDCJ1 registration
  • TEA1 registration
  • Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration
  • Texas Department of Public Safety1 registration
Sources

23 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 significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 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 H by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 22, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Jan 16, 2025

05/15/2025 H Committee report sent to Calendars

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

Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 3:16 PM CST. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors
Donna CampbellRSenate 25 Brandon CreightonRSenate 4 Bob HallRSenate 2 Adam HinojosaRSenate 27
Sponsors
Ryan GuillenRHouse 31

House committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 10 aye, 5 nay · Out of committee

Senate committee · Border Security · Committee vote 5 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Subjects

Aliens

Environment--General

Governor

Law Enforcement

Safety

COURT ADMINISTRATION, OFFICE OF

PUBLIC SAFETY, DEPARTMENT OF

Text

The text as introduced · 170 words

89R8559 SCF-D

By: Middleton
S.B. No. 825

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to an annual study on the economic, environmental, and

financial impact of illegal immigration in this state.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 411, Government Code, is

amended by adding Section 411.02091 to read as follows:

Sec. 411.02091. ANNUAL IMMIGRATION IMPACT STUDY. (a) The

department shall conduct an annual study on the economic,

environmental, and financial impact of illegal immigration in this

state.

(b) The department may collaborate or contract with a state

or federal agency, a political subdivision, an institution of

higher education, or a nonprofit organization or other private

entity to assist in conducting the study required by this section.

(c) Not later than September 1 of each year, the department

shall prepare and submit a report to the governor, lieutenant

governor, and legislature containing the results of the study

conducted under this section.

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