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2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB11
HB11 requires the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to pursue more licensing-reciprocity agreements with other states, within existing legal limits.
Official caption: Relating to licensing reciprocity agreements entered into by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Official report lists House author(s): Phelan. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- HB11 requires the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to pursue more licensing-reciprocity agreements with other states, within existing legal limits.
- The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation must establish procedures for deciding whether another state’s requirements are substantially equivalent and for entering and implementing agreements.
- TDLR must identify state laws that prevent agreements.
- This is not an automatic Texas license for every out-of-state worker, a universal right to practice, or an automatic reduction of professional standards.
What does it do?
HB11 requires the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to pursue more licensing-reciprocity agreements with other states, within existing legal limits. Reciprocity is an agreement between licensing authorities to recognize qualifying licensing requirements. The final law applies to licenses issued by TDLR, not every Texas occupational licensing board. It was signed and took immediate effect May 29, 2025. Official history; enrolled law.
The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation must establish procedures for deciding whether another state’s requirements are substantially equivalent and for entering and implementing agreements. The comparison must consider training and testing, including how work experience can satisfy those requirements; the license’s scope of practice; and the other state’s complaint procedures and good-standing determinations. The Act required these rules by January 1, 2026.
TDLR must identify state laws that prevent agreements. Its report to the governor and Legislative Budget Board must describe its efforts, where Texas requirements exceed other states’, completed agreements, unsuccessful efforts, and recommended legislative changes—including reductions in licensing requirements that would make more agreements possible. Reports are due December 1 of odd-numbered years, but the first report is specifically due December 1, 2027, not 2025. Sections 1–3.
This is not an automatic Texas license for every out-of-state worker, a universal right to practice, or an automatic reduction of professional standards. Agreements, substantially equivalent requirements and applicable legal limits still matter. The bill’s direction to recommend statutory changes does not itself repeal those laws. This explanation covers the enacted duties and deadlines; it does not certify that a particular agreement exists, that an applicant qualifies, or that every implementation deadline was met.
What changed along the way?
The introduced bill would have applied to every state agency issuing or renewing an occupational license, broadly defined to include permits, registrations, certificates and other authorizations needed to work in a business, occupation or profession. The House committee substitute narrowed the program to TDLR and placed it in a new Subchapter K of Occupations Code Chapter 51, rather than the proposed general Chapter 61. It assigned rulemaking to TDLR’s commission and reporting to the department.
The substantive comparison criteria, reporting topics, January 2026 rule deadline and December 2027 initial-report deadline survived that narrowing. The House committee, House-passed, Senate committee and enrolled versions contain the same operative provisions. The official amendment index explicitly says there are no amendments; the major change occurred through the committee substitute, not a floor amendment. All posted versions.
The final certificates record House passage 141–0, with two present but not voting, and Senate passage 31–0. The immediate-effect vote threshold was met; the governor signed May 29. The bill did not create the broader all-agency program described in its introduced version. Final text and passage certificates.
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Qualifying workers may face fewer duplicative licensing steps when agreements are reached, and Texas license holders may gain mobility where another state reciprocates. TDLR and its commission must compare requirements, negotiate and administer agreements, identify legal barriers and report results. The bill guarantees neither a particular profession’s inclusion nor a number of agreements, licenses or jobs.
The May 7, 2025 fiscal note for the narrowed, Senate-considered text anticipates no significant state or local governmental fiscal impact and assumes costs can be absorbed using existing resources. The April 10 committee note reaches the same conclusion.
That differs from the March 25 introduced-bill estimate, which projected a $949,552 general-revenue-related cost for fiscal 2026–27, additional agency staffing and unquantified public-safety licensing-system costs for the much broader all-agency proposal. Those projections are not the final law’s cost estimate, and the bill itself makes no appropriation. Government budget estimates also do not measure private application expenses or guarantee fee savings. Any practical benefit depends on the agreements reached and the terms applicable to individual license holders.
Recorded House vote
04/24/2025 · Record 464
House passage of HB 11. This is the stated House motion, not necessarily a separate vote on an amendment.
141 yea · 0 nay · 2 present, not voting
Individual recorded positions and absences
Yea (141)
Alders, Allen, Anchía, Ashby, Barry, Bell, C., Bell, K., Bernal, Bhojani, Bonnen, Bowers, Bryant, Buckley, Bucy, Bumgarner, Button, Cain, Canales, Capriglione, Cole, Collier, Cook, Cortez, Craddick, Cunningham, Curry, Darby, Davis, A., Davis, Y., Dean, DeAyala, Dorazio, Dutton, Dyson, Fairly, Flores, Frank, Gámez, Garcia, L., Garcia Hernandez, Gates, Gerdes, Geren, Gervin-Hawkins, González, J., González, M., Goodwin, Guerra, Guillen, Harless, Harris Davila, Harrison, Hayes, Hefner, Hernandez, Hickland, Hinojosa, Holt, Hopper, Howard, Hunter, Isaac, Johnson, Jones, J., Kerwin, King, Kitzman, LaHood, Lalani, Lambert, Landgraf, Leach, Leo Wilson, Little, Longoria, Lopez, J., Lopez, R., Louderback, Lowe, Lozano, Lujan, Luther, Manuel, Martinez, McLaughlin, McQueeney, Metcalf, Meyer, Meza, Money, Moody, Morales, C., Morales, E., Morales Shaw, Morgan, Muñoz, Noble, Olcott, Oliverson, Ordaz, Orr, Patterson, Paul, Perez, M., Perez, V., Phelan, Pierson, Plesa, Raymond, Reynolds, Richardson, Rodríguez Ramos, Romero, Rose, Rosenthal, Schatzline, Schofield, Schoolcraft, Shaheen, Shofner, Simmons, Slawson, Smithee, Spiller, Swanson, Talarico, Tepper, Thompson, Tinderholt, Troxclair, Turner, VanDeaver, Vasut, Villalobos, Virdell, Walle, Ward Johnson, Wharton, Wilson, Wu, Zwiener
Present, not voting (2)
Mr. Speaker, Harris(C)
Absent, excused (1)
Vo
Absent (6)
Campos, Garcia, J., Hull, Jones, V., Martinez Fischer, Toth
Names and categories appear as printed in the official journal. Read the exact House record ↗
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.