2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB3005
HB3005 narrows a dispute exception in Texas's governmental prompt-payment law.
Official caption: Relating to the payment of funds under certain construction contracts.
Official report lists House author(s): Gervin-Hawkins, Lujan. 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.
- HB3005 narrows a dispute exception in Texas's governmental prompt-payment law.
- This is not a requirement that all audits stop after 60 days, and it does not declare every payment due on day 61.
- The change applies only to contracts entered into on or after September 1, 2025, when the act took effect.
What does it do?
HB3005 narrows a dispute exception in Texas’s governmental prompt-payment law. For a public-work construction contract, a “bona fide dispute” under Government Code Chapter 2251 does not include an audit of the project continuing more than 60 days after substantial completion. An ongoing audit alone therefore cannot indefinitely serve as that dispute exception. Final law.
This is not a requirement that all audits stop after 60 days, and it does not declare every payment due on day 61. Existing payment deadlines, invoice requirements, genuine disputes and other statutory exceptions still matter. The retained law separately governs notice of disputed invoices, interest when a dispute is resolved in a vendor’s favor, and how much may be withheld for a disputed amount. HB3005 changes what qualifies as a dispute; it does not erase those rules. Exceptions; payment timing; disputed invoices.
The change applies only to contracts entered into on or after September 1, 2025, when the act took effect. It does not automatically rewrite older contracts. The governor signed June 20, 2025. Official history.
What changed along the way?
The filed bill and House committee printing proposed two parallel rules: one for governmental public-work payments under Government Code Chapter 2251, and another for construction payments under Property Code Section 28.003.
The sole indexed amendment, offered by Gervin-Hawkins and adopted May 6, deleted the entire proposed Property Code change. The House-passed, Senate and final versions retain only the governmental public-work provision. The proposed separate Property Code audit limit did not become law through HB3005. Amendment index; text-version index.
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?
Contractors and others awaiting payment on covered public projects gain protection against an audit being used by itself as an open-ended dispute justification. Governmental entities and relevant contractors may need to identify genuine payment disputes separately from a continuing audit. Whether a particular amount is due, disputed or subject to interest still depends on the contract and applicable payment rules; faster payment in every case is not guaranteed.
The May 22 fiscal note anticipates no significant state or local-government fiscal impact, assuming costs can be absorbed with existing resources. It does not calculate contractors’ cash-flow gains, individual interest awards or a reduction in audit costs. The act makes no appropriation.
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.
