2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB3135
HB3135 requires the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to design and issue specialty license plates for retired firefighters, with no fee for issuing those plates.
Official caption: Relating to the issuance of specialty license plates for retired firefighters.
Official report lists House author(s): Smithee. 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.
- HB3135 requires the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to design and issue specialty license plates for retired firefighters, with no fee for issuing those plates.
- The act defines a retired firefighter as someone who was formerly either a volunteer firefighter certified by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection or the State Firefighters' and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas, or qualifying fire protection personnel under Government Code 419.021.
- The act does not set a minimum age, minimum years of service or pension-receipt condition in its definition.
- The governor signed May 24, 2025.
What does it do?
HB3135 requires the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to design and issue specialty license plates for retired firefighters, with no fee for issuing those plates. It adds a separate retired-firefighter category alongside the existing firefighter plate law. Final law.
The act defines a retired firefighter as someone who was formerly either a volunteer firefighter certified by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection or the State Firefighters’ and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas, or qualifying fire protection personnel under Government Code 419.021. That cross-reference includes specified full-time fire and arson investigators, aircraft rescue personnel and fire-department employees assigned qualifying fire-protection duties; it does not encompass every former administrative or support employee. Referenced definition.
The act does not set a minimum age, minimum years of service or pension-receipt condition in its definition. Its no-fee language concerns issuance of these license plates; it does not expressly waive ordinary vehicle registration charges or create free parking, toll exemptions or emergency-driving privileges.
The governor signed May 24, 2025. The law took effect September 1, 2025. Official history.
What changed along the way?
The filed bill already contained the eligibility definition, design-and-issuance duty, fee provision and effective date. Those provisions remained substantively unchanged through the House report, House passage, Senate report and final law. Both committees reported it without amendments, and the amendment index lists none. All versions.
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?
Eligible former firefighters gain a dedicated way to recognize their service without an issuance fee for this plate category. DMV must handle design and administration. The bill itself does not prescribe a particular design, application document or guaranteed delivery date.
The May 5 fiscal note anticipates no significant state fiscal impact and no local-government fiscal impact, assuming state implementation costs can be absorbed using existing resources. No appropriation is made.
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.
