Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4000 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R14834 MLH-D
2	2	By: Lowe H.B. No. 4000
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to providing for the statewide election of the speaker of
10	10	the house of representatives by the voters of this state.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 52.092(c), Election Code, is amended to
13	13	read as follows:
14	14	(c) Statewide offices of the state government shall be
15	15	listed in the following order:
16	16	(1) governor;
17	17	(2) lieutenant governor;
18	18	(3) speaker of the house of representatives;
19	19	(4) attorney general;
20	20	(5) [(4)] comptroller of public accounts;
21	21	(6) [(5)] commissioner of the General Land Office;
22	22	(7) [(6)] commissioner of agriculture;
23	23	(8) [(7)] railroad commissioner;
24	24	(9) [(8)] chief justice, supreme court;
25	25	(10) [(9)] justice, supreme court;
26	26	(11) [(10)] presiding judge, court of criminal
27	27	appeals;
28	28	(12) [(11)] judge, court of criminal appeals.
29	29	SECTION 2. Section 67.008, Election Code, is amended to
30	30	read as follows:
31	31	Sec. 67.008. SEPARATE COUNTY RETURNS FOR GOVERNOR, [AND]
32	32	LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, AND SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. (a) In addition to
33	33	the returns required by Section 67.007, each county clerk shall
34	34	prepare separate county election returns of an election for the
35	35	office of governor, [or] lieutenant governor, or speaker of the
36	36	house of representatives that contain the same information as the
37	37	returns for those offices prepared under Section 67.007.
38	38	(b) The returns shall be delivered to the secretary of state
39	39	as provided by Section 67.007.
40	40	(c) The secretary of state shall retain the returns until
41	41	the first day of the next regular legislative session, when the
42	42	secretary shall deliver the returns to the speaker of the house of
43	43	representatives or, for the office of speaker of the house, to the
44	44	speaker pro tempore.
45	45	(d) The county clerk shall retain a copy of the county
46	46	returns for the offices to which this section applies [of governor
47	47	and lieutenant governor] for the period for preserving the precinct
48	48	election records.
49	49	SECTION 3. Section 67.009(a), Election Code, is amended to
50	50	read as follows:
51	51	(a) Before each election for which county election returns
52	52	are required, the secretary of state shall deliver to each county
53	53	clerk in the territory covered by the election two copies of the
54	54	officially prescribed form for reporting county election returns.
55	55	The secretary shall also deliver two copies of the official form for
56	56	the separate returns for the offices of governor, [and] lieutenant
57	57	governor, and speaker of the house of representatives, if
58	58	applicable.
59	59	SECTION 4. Section 67.010(a), Election Code, is amended to
60	60	read as follows:
61	61	(a) The county election returns for an election for a
62	62	statewide office other than governor, [or] lieutenant governor, or
63	63	speaker of the house of representatives, a statewide measure, a
64	64	district office, or president and vice-president of the United
65	65	States shall be canvassed by the governor.
66	66	SECTION 5. Section 67.011(a), Election Code, is amended to
67	67	read as follows:
68	68	(a) The county election returns for an election for the
69	69	office of governor, [or] lieutenant governor, or speaker of the
70	70	house of representatives shall be canvassed by the legislature and
71	71	the official result declared by the speaker of the house of
72	72	representatives in accordance with [Article IV,] Section 3, Article
73	73	IV, [of the] Texas Constitution, or by the speaker pro tempore of
74	74	the house of representatives in accordance with Section 9-a,
75	75	Article III, Texas Constitution.
76	76	SECTION 6. Section 67.015(e), Election Code, is amended to
77	77	read as follows:
78	78	(e) If a discrepancy exists between the legislature's
79	79	canvass of the election for governor, [or] lieutenant governor, or
80	80	speaker of the house of representatives and the register entries
81	81	pertaining to any [either] of those offices that are made from the
82	82	secretary of state's tabulation, the secretary shall make the
83	83	entries in the register necessary to make it correspond to the
84	84	legislature's canvass.
85	85	SECTION 7. Section 67.016(g), Election Code, is amended to
86	86	read as follows:
87	87	(g) This section does not apply to the offices of governor,
88	88	[and] lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of
89	89	representatives.
90	90	SECTION 8. Section 203.001, Election Code, is amended to
91	91	read as follows:
92	92	Sec. 203.001. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter
93	93	applies to the offices of speaker of the house of representatives,
94	94	state senator, and state representative.
95	95	SECTION 9. If this Act takes effect as provided by Section
96	96	10 of this Act:
97	97	(1) the initial election for the office of speaker of
98	98	the house of representatives as provided by the proposed
99	99	constitutional amendment shall be held at the general election for
100	100	state and county officers conducted in 2026; and
101	101	(2) the secretary of state by order may extend the
102	102	deadline for filing as a candidate for the office of speaker in
103	103	connection with the initial election in 2026 as necessary to
104	104	provide a period of at least five business days during which a
105	105	candidate may file for election as speaker.
106	106	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect when the constitutional
107	107	amendment proposed by the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025,
108	108	providing for the statewide election of the speaker of the house of
109	109	representatives by the voters of this state takes effect if that
110	110	proposed amendment is approved by the voters. If that amendment is
111	111	not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.