2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB163
HB163 lets an entity in Texas, including a government entity, choose to adopt a policy for maintaining, administering and disposing of emergency epinephrine delivery systems.
Official caption: Relating to the possession and administration of epinephrine delivery systems by certain entities.
Official report lists House author(s): Cortez, Simmons, Leo Wilson. 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.
- HB163 lets an entity in Texas, including a government entity, choose to adopt a policy for maintaining, administering and disposing of emergency epinephrine delivery systems.
- This is permission, not a requirement for every organization to buy medication.
- Organizations using this section still have to follow its existing safeguards.
- “Delivery systems” is broader than auto-injectors.
What does it do?
HB163 lets an entity in Texas, including a government entity, choose to adopt a policy for maintaining, administering and disposing of emergency epinephrine delivery systems. It removes the former list of eligible types of organizations and the exclusion of governmental entities. The law took effect September 1, 2025. Final act, Sections 1–3
This is permission, not a requirement for every organization to buy medication. There is also an important exception: Section 773.0145 does not apply to an entity that another law already requires to adopt and implement such a policy. HB163 does not replace those separate legal requirements. Final act, Section 1
Organizations using this section still have to follow its existing safeguards. Only authorized, trained employees or volunteers may administer the medication to someone reasonably believed to be experiencing anaphylaxis—a severe allergic reaction—on the organization’s premises. A trained, authorized person must be present throughout the hours the organization is open to the public or the people it serves. The section requires annual training, training records, appropriate storage, and access for authorized personnel. It also provides for prescriptions and standing orders in the organization’s name without requiring a previously established doctor-patient relationship with the recipient. Health and Safety Code, Section 773.0145(d)–(q)
“Delivery systems” is broader than auto-injectors. A separate 2025 law, SB1619, added the chapter’s definition: FDA-approved devices delivering epinephrine to treat anaphylaxis, including auto-injectors and nasal sprays. That definition and the related terminology changes should not be credited solely to HB163. SB1619, Sections 22 and 24
What changed along the way?
The original HB163 already proposed opening the policy option to entities statewide, including government, repealing the eligibility list and government exclusion, and preserving the exception for organizations subject to a separate mandatory-policy law. It used “auto-injectors.” The House committee report and House-passed text retained those provisions without substantive changes. Filed text · House report · House-passed text
The Senate committee substitute changed the two operative references from “auto-injectors” to “delivery systems,” along with the caption. The final act retained that substitute’s three sections. The official amendment index lists no separate amendments; that does not mean the bill was unchanged, because the Senate substitute changed its wording. Senate substitute · Amendment index
The House passed the bill April 30 by 138–0, with two present but not voting. The Senate passed it May 25 by 31–0. The House agreed to the Senate changes May 28 by 105–29, with one present but not voting. The governor signed it June 20. Final vote certificates · Official history
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?
People experiencing severe allergic reactions could benefit when an organization newly eligible under this law chooses to keep medication and train personnel. The potential benefit depends on actual participation, availability and timely administration; the bill itself does not establish how many organizations will participate or how many emergencies will be treated. Final act
Participating organizations may face medication purchase and replacement costs, staff or volunteer training, recordkeeping and storage responsibilities. The Legislative Budget Board anticipated no state fiscal implication, assumed any costs could be absorbed within existing resources, and anticipated no significant local-government fiscal implication. That is a budget estimate, not a promise that participation costs nothing or that private organizations will be reimbursed. HB163 makes no appropriation. Final fiscal note
The underlying section contains broad liability protections, including good-faith protection for specified actions or failures to act, and immunity from suit for entities and their employees or volunteers. It also says the section does not create a new cause of action or duty supporting one. HB163 expands access to this existing framework rather than writing a new liability standard. These protections can reduce participating organizations’ exposure but also limit legal remedies for an alleged failure under the section. Section 773.0145(r)–(w)
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.