2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB334
HB334 allows a county commissioners court to create a family-leave pool funded by employees’ voluntary donations of earned sick or vacation leave.
Official caption: Relating to the establishment of a county employee family leave pool program.
Official report lists House author(s): Ordaz, Patterson, Shaheen, Garcia Hernandez, Cassandra, 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.
- HB334 allows a county commissioners court to create a family-leave pool funded by employees’ voluntary donations of earned sick or vacation leave.
- Employees may contribute one or more days of accrued leave; donated time is deducted from their own balances.
- The law imposes documentation requirements.
- The administrator approves and credits time for an eligible employee, but decides the amount within a ceiling: the lesser of 90 days or one-third of all time in the pool.
What does it do?
HB334 allows a county commissioners court to create a family-leave pool funded by employees’ voluntary donations of earned sick or vacation leave. It does not require every county to create one or provide every worker with a new allotment of leave. The county judge administers an adopted program or appoints someone to do so. The law took effect May 26, 2025, when the governor signed it. Final law · Official history
Employees may contribute one or more days of accrued leave; donated time is deducted from their own balances. Retiring employees may designate accrued hours for retirement credit or donation to the pool. To use pool time, an employee must have exhausted eligible compensatory, discretionary, sick and vacation leave for one of the listed reasons: childbirth; adoption or foster placement of a child under 18; placement of an adult requiring guardianship; serious illness of the employee or immediate family; qualifying pandemic circumstances; or a previous donation to the pool. New sections 157.082–157.084
The law imposes documentation requirements. Its provision for caring for another person specifically calls for child birth/adoption/foster records listing the employee in a specified parental or spousal relationship, or proof of guardianship of an adult requiring it. Serious-illness applications covered by section 157.085(b)—where the employee does not qualify for or has exhausted an applicable county sick-leave pool—require a treating licensed practitioner’s written statement. Pandemic applications require applicable supporting records. Listing a reason for leave does not by itself waive these conditions. Eligibility and withdrawal provisions
The administrator approves and credits time for an eligible employee, but decides the amount within a ceiling: the lesser of 90 days or one-third of all time in the pool. That is a maximum, not a guaranteed 90 days. Time used is treated as earned sick leave. A deceased employee’s estate cannot collect payment for unused withdrawn pool time. Sections 157.085–157.088
What changed along the way?
The House committee substitute changed “partner” to “spouse” in the child-care documentation provision. That narrower wording—not the introduced bill’s broader term—is in the enacted law. The rest of the operative program remained materially unchanged through the House-passed, Senate committee and final versions. The floor-amendment index lists none; that does not erase the committee-substitute change. Introduced text · House substitute · All versions · Amendment 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?
Employees facing qualifying family or medical needs could stay on paid sick-leave status after using their own eligible balances, if their county adopts a program and donated time is available. Donors give up their own accrued leave. Counties choosing to participate must administer records, eligibility and staffing during absences. The documentation and withdrawal limits may prevent some workers from receiving the amount of leave they seek. These are practical implications of the law, not measured outcomes. Program conditions
The Legislative Budget Board anticipated no state fiscal impact and no significant local-government fiscal impact. The bill makes no appropriation and contains no guarantee that administration or staffing adjustments will be cost-free in a particular county. Latest posted fiscal note
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.
