Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB3015 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Creighton S.B. No. 3015
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6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to local government regulation.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	ARTICLE 1.
11	11	SECTION 1.01. This Act shall be known as the Texas Home
12	12	Ownership and Market Efficiency Act or the Texas HOME Act.
13	13	SECTION 1.02. The legislature finds that:
14	14	(1) the state continues to attract employers and add
15	15	historic numbers of jobs;
16	16	(2) home ownership is not just the American Dream, it
17	17	is the Texan Dream;
18	18	(3) the state faces an availability and affordability
19	19	crisis;
20	20	(4) more Texans than ever cannot afford to own a home
21	21	and live in the community of their choice, near their work;
22	22	(5) unnecessary and burdensome local government
23	23	regulation is a major contributor to this affordability crisis;
24	24	(6) burdensome local government regulation:
25	25	(A) slows or prevents a market demanded supply of
26	26	housing;
27	27	(B) retards economic growth;
28	28	(C) interferes with the orderly development of
29	29	quality public infrastructure;
30	30	(D) causes unnecessary and expensive delays on
31	31	business; and
32	32	(E) ultimately, makes housing less available and
33	33	affordable than it should and could be;
34	34	(7) legislative session after legislative session,
35	35	the Texas Legislature passes laws to reign-in the over-regulation
36	36	of local government;
37	37	(8) many local governments respond by continuing, and
38	38	even advancing, the level of regulation in contravention of state
39	39	law; and
40	40	(9) the citizens of the state who bear the cost of
41	41	over-regulation do not have adequate means to protest
42	42	over-regulation and require compliance with state law.
43	43	ARTICLE 2. LOCAL GOVERNMENT REGULATION
44	44	SECTION 2.01. Subchapter F, Chapter 43, Local Government
45	45	Code, is amended by adding Section 43.1215 to read as follows:
46	46	Sec. 43.1215. EFFECT OF LIMITED PURPOSE ANNEXATION. After
47	47	annexation for limited purposes, the area remains in the
48	48	extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality.
49	49	SECTION 2.02. Section 212.172, Local Government Code, is
50	50	amended by adding Subsection (l) to read as follows:
51	51	(l) Any provision of a contract that provides for the full
52	52	purpose annexation of land into a municipality, whether conditional
53	53	or unconditional, without following the procedures of Chapter 43 is
54	54	void and unenforceable as against public policy.
55	55	SECTION 2.03. Subchapter A, Chapter 232, Local Government
56	56	Code, is amended by adding Section 232.0014 to read as follows:
57	57	Sec. 232.0014. CHAPTER-WIDE LIMITATION OF REGULATION.
58	58	Notwithstanding any other law, a commissioners court may not
59	59	regulate, either directly or indirectly, under this chapter the
60	60	size of a lot, dimensions of a lot, width of a lot frontage,
61	61	distance a lot must be set back from a road or property line, or
62	62	another component of lot density on a particular tract of land.
63	63	SECTION 2.04. Subchapter A, Chapter 232, Local Government
64	64	Code, is amended by amending Section 232.0031 and adding Section
65	65	232.00315 to read as follows:
66	66	Sec. 232.0031. STANDARD FOR ROADS IN SUBDIVISION. (a) A
67	67	county may not impose under Section 232.003 a higher standard for
68	68	streets or roads in a subdivision than the county imposes on itself
69	69	for the construction of streets or roads with a similar type and
70	70	amount of traffic.
71	71	(b) A county may not adopt or enforce an order, rule, or
72	72	other measure regulating the design or construction of a public
73	73	road or bridge that serves a developed tract of land if the order,
74	74	rule, or other measure conflicts with or is more stringent than a
75	75	design or construction standard adopted by the Texas Transportation
76	76	Commission.
77	77	(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the commissioners court
78	78	of a county may not adopt or enforce an order, rule, or other
79	79	measure that regulates the construction and maintenance of a public
80	80	road that is not or will not be maintained by the county.
81	81	Sec. 232.00315. ROAD MAINTENANCE. A county may not impose a
82	82	requirement, including a provision in a development agreement or
83	83	plat notation, that an applicant or third party other than the
84	84	county or the applicant agree to maintain a public road as a
85	85	condition of plat approval, A provision of an agreement that
86	86	violates this section is void and unenforceable as against public
87	87	policy.
88	88	SECTION 2.05. Subsection 247.001(4), Local Government
89	89	Code, as added by Chapter 654 (H.B. 14), Acts of the 88th
90	90	Legislature, Regular Session, 2023, is amended to read as follows:
91	91	(4) "Plan" means a subdivision development plan,
92	92	including a subdivision plan, subdivision construction plan, site
93	93	plan, land development application, and site development plan [has
94	94	the meaning assigned by Section 212.001].
95	95	SECTION 2.06. Section 247.002, Local Government Code, as
96	96	added by Chapter 654 (H.B. 14), Acts of the 88th Legislature,
97	97	Regular Session, 2023, is amended to read as follows:
98	98	Sec. 247.002. OPTION FOR THIRD-PARTY REVIEW OR INSPECTION
99	99	[REQUIRED]. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, an applicant for
100	100	[If a regulatory authority does not approve, conditionally approve,
101	101	or disapprove a development document by the 15th day after the date
102	102	prescribed by a provision of this code for the approval,
103	103	conditional approval, or disapproval of the document,] any required
104	104	review of a development [the] document may obtain review of the
105	105	document from [be performed by] a person:
106	106	(1) other than:
107	107	(A) the applicant; or
108	108	(B) a person whose work is the subject of the
109	109	application; and
110	110	(2) who is:
111	111	(A) employed by the regulatory authority to
112	112	review development documents;
113	113	(B) employed by another political subdivision to
114	114	review development documents, if the regulatory authority has
115	115	approved the person to review development documents; or
116	116	(C) an engineer licensed under Chapter 1001,
117	117	Occupations Code.
118	118	(b) Notwithstanding any other law, an owner of land or an
119	119	improvement to the land that requires a development [If a
120	120	regulatory authority does not conduct a required development
121	121	inspection by the 15th day after the date prescribed by a provision
122	122	of this code for conducting the inspection, the] inspection may
123	123	obtain the inspection from [be conducted by] a person:
124	124	(1) other than:
125	125	(A) the owner of the land or improvement to the
126	126	land that is the subject of the inspection; or
127	127	(B) a person whose work is the subject of the
128	128	inspection; and
129	129	(2) who is:
130	130	(A) certified to inspect buildings by the
131	131	International Code Council;
132	132	(B) employed by the regulatory authority as a
133	133	building inspector;
134	134	(C) employed by another political subdivision as
135	135	a building inspector, if the regulatory authority has approved the
136	136	person to perform inspections; or
137	137	(D) an engineer licensed under Chapter 1001,
138	138	Occupations Code.
139	139	SECTION 2.07. Chapter 580, Local Government Code, is
140	140	amended by adding Section 580.006 to read as follows:
141	141	Sec. 580.006. REGULATION OF CERTAIN WATER AND WASTEWATER
142	142	FACILITIES. A municipality may not in the extraterritorial
143	143	jurisdiction and a county may not in the unincorporated area of the
144	144	county regulate the size, type, or method of construction of a water
145	145	or wastewater facility that can be constructed to serve a tract of
146	146	land if the facility meets the minimum standards established for
147	147	water or wastewater facilities by state and federal regulatory
148	148	entities.
149	149	SECTION 2.08. Section 13.2451, Water Code, is amended by
150	150	adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
151	151	(a-1) A municipality may provide retail water or sewer
152	152	service in an area removed from its extraterritorial jurisdiction
153	153	under Chapter 42, Local Government Code, without a certificate of
154	154	public convenience and necessity.
155	155	SECTION 2.09. Subchapter H, Chapter 49, Water Code, is
156	156	amended by adding Section 49.2131 to read as follows:
157	157	Sec. 49.2131. CONTRACTS WITH OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.
158	158	(a) This section applies only to a district with a board of the
159	159	majority of which is appointed by the governing body of a
160	160	municipality.
161	161	(b) A district that sells or contracts for the sale of water
162	162	to another political subdivision may not adopt or enforce an order,
163	163	rule, or other measure that discriminates between political
164	164	subdivisions to which the district sells or contracts for the sale
165	165	of water.
166	166	SECTION 2.10. Section 54.016, Water Code, is amended by
167	167	adding Subsections (k), (l), and (m) to read as follows:
168	168	(k) A city may not require a payment from a developer of land
169	169	in the district in consideration for its consent.
170	170	(l) A city's consent shall not limit the amount of the
171	171	district's bonds.
172	172	(m) The provisions of an agreement conflicting with this
173	173	section are void and unenforceable.
174	174	SECTION 2.11. Section 54.0161, Water Code, is amended by
175	175	adding subsection (d) to read as follows:
176	176	(d) A county may not require the petitioners to enter into
177	177	an agreement that imposes rules and regulations for the development
178	178	of the land other than the county's rules and regulations adopted
179	179	under Chapter 232, Local Government Code. An agreement conflicting
180	180	with this subsection is void and unenforceable.
181	181	SECTION 2.12. Section 54.021, Water Code, is amended by
182	182	adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
183	183	(f) Notwithstanding any other law, the rights of a
184	184	municipality and a county under this subchapter are the exclusive
185	185	rights of a municipality or a county relating to the granting or
186	186	refusal of the petition by the commission.
187	187	ARTICLE 3. REPEALER, TRANSITIONS, AND EFFECTIVE DATE
188	188	SECTION 3.01. The following provisions of the Local
189	189	Government Code are repealed:
190	190	(1) Section 232.103; and
191	191	(2) Section 232.104.
192	192	SECTION 3.02. Chapter 247, Local Government Code, as
193	193	amended by this Act, applies only to a development document or a
194	194	request for a development inspection, as those terms are defined by
195	195	Section 247.001, Local Government Code, that was not final on the
196	196	effective date of this Act. A development document or request for a
197	197	development inspection that was final before the effective date of
198	198	this Act is governed by the law applicable to the document or
199	199	inspection immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
200	200	that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
201	201	SECTION 3.03. This Act takes effect immediately if it
202	202	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
203	203	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
204	204	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
205	205	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.