2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · House bill

HB346

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Official caption: Relating to the fee amounts prescribed by the secretary of state for expedited commercial and business record searches or filings and the exemption from the franchise tax and certain filing fees for veteran-owned businesses.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists House author(s): Harris Davila, Capriglione, Cook, Simmons. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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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.

HB346 removes two statutory ceilings on Secretary of State expedited-service fees: the $15 ceiling for certain security-interest record searches or filings, and the $25 ceiling for expedited filing or review of specified business-organization documents.
The law also cancels the January 1, 2026 sunset changes that would have closed an existing program for new veteran-owned businesses.
The preserved definition requires a new Texas-formed business that first begins doing business in Texas on or after January 1, 2022, with every owner an individual who served in the U.S. armed forces, was honorably discharged and provides the required verification.

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What does it do?

HB346 removes two statutory ceilings on Secretary of State expedited-service fees: the $15 ceiling for certain security-interest record searches or filings, and the $25 ceiling for expedited filing or review of specified business-organization documents. The secretary may set those amounts and vary them by business type, but must publish the amounts and any varying schedule online. The bill does not itself name replacement prices. It leaves intact the separate $10 ceiling for expedited certified copies or certificates of fact and the cost-based rule for electronic access. It took effect September 1, 2025, after being signed June 12. Final law · Official history

The law also cancels the January 1, 2026 sunset changes that would have closed an existing program for new veteran-owned businesses. It preserves the qualifying businesses’ initial franchise-tax relief and waiver of specified business-filing fees. This keeps the program available to later qualifying businesses; it does not give any one business a permanent tax holiday. HB346 repealer provisions · 2021 law establishing the benefits and scheduled sunset

The preserved definition requires a new Texas-formed business that first begins doing business in Texas on or after January 1, 2022, with every owner an individual who served in the U.S. armed forces, was honorably discharged and provides the required verification. Franchise-tax relief ends at the earlier of five years after the business begins operating in Texas or loss of qualifying status. The specified filing-fee waiver similarly ends at the earlier of five years after formation or loss of status. It is not an exemption from every tax or fee charged by every government agency. Eligibility and five-year limits in the preserved law

What changed along the way?

The original and House-passed bill was a much broader startup proposal: work toward eliminating first-year licensing and registration fees where legally authorized, efforts toward five-percent targets for new-business contracts and development funding, and new reporting requirements. The Senate committee substitute replaced that package with the expedited-fee and veteran-business provisions that became law. The House agreed to the Senate changes on May 30. The original startup initiatives are not part of enacted HB346. Introduced text · House-passed text · Senate substitute

The floor-amendment index lists none, but the Senate amendments packet includes the adopted committee substitute. Comparing only the amendment index would miss this major rewrite. The enrolled text matches the substitute’s operative provisions. Amendment index · Senate amendments packet · 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?

New businesses wholly owned by qualifying veterans retain access to time-limited tax and filing-fee relief after the former cutoff date. Businesses choosing expedited services may face different charges as the secretary sets the fees. More pricing flexibility could support service administration, but this review does not claim a particular new price or faster processing result. Nonqualifying startups do not receive the broad first-year fee relief proposed in the original bill. Final provisions

The final fiscal note said the state fiscal effect could not be determined because both the expedited fees and the number of businesses choosing those services were unknown. It anticipated no significant local-government impact. The earlier $240 million two-year revenue-loss estimate applied to the superseded House proposal—not the enacted law. Neither figure establishes actual collections, savings or spending. Final fiscal note · Earlier House-version estimate

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.