BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	H.B. 1522
	By: Gerdes (Kolkhorst)
	Business & Commerce
	5/9/2025
	Engrossed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Bad actors in local government can take, and in the past have taken, advantage of the open-ended wording surrounding the laws pertaining to local government postings. This allows local government to make postings late Friday for a Monday hearing and withhold important information from the public to keep them unprepared and in the dark about relevant meeting information.

H.B. 1522 requires the three-day posting rule to cover only business days and strengthens the mandate by requiring readily available relevant materials to the public.

H.B. 1522 amends current law relating to notice of a meeting held under the open meetings law.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends the heading to Section 551.043, Government Code, to read as follows:

Sec. 551.043. TIME AND ACCESSIBILITY OF NOTICE; POSTING OF BUDGET; GENERAL RULE.

SECTION 2. Amends Section 551.043, Government Code, by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and (c-1), as follows:

(a) Requires that the notice of a meeting of a governmental body be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times for at least three business days, rather than 72 hours, before the scheduled date, rather than time, of the meeting, except as provided by certain provisions of the Government Code, including Section 551.1281 (Governing Board of General Academic Teaching Institution or University System: Internet Posting of Meeting Materials and Broadcast of Open Meeting). Makes a nonsubstantive change.

(c) Requires that the notice of a meeting required to be posted under Subsection (a) at which a governmental body will discuss or adopt a budget for the governmental body include:

(1) a physical copy of the budget unless the governmental body has made the budget clearly accessible on the home page of the governmental body's Internet website; and

(2) a taxpayer impact statement showing, for the median-valued homestead property, a comparison of the property tax bill in dollars pertaining to the property for the current fiscal year to an estimate of the property tax bill in dollars for the same property for the upcoming fiscal year if the proposed budget is adopted and a balanced budget funded at the no-new-revenue tax rate as calculated under Chapter 26 (Assessment), Tax Code, is adopted.

(c-1) Provides that Subsection (c) does not apply to the governing board of a general academic teaching institution or of a university system to which Section 551.1281 applies.

SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 2025.