2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB551
HB551 requires the Texas Ethics Commission to remove the street-level portions of an individual's home address from online campaign-finance reports when the individual received a political expenditure and the address is marked as…
Official caption: Relating to address information contained on reports of political contributions and expenditures made available on the Internet by the Texas Ethics Commission.
Official report lists House author(s): Swanson. 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.
- HB551 requires the Texas Ethics Commission to remove the street-level portions of an individual's home address from online campaign-finance reports when the individual received a political expenditure and the address is marked as residential in the report.
- This does not make the address completely confidential: the removed information must remain available on the report kept at the commission's office, though not electronically at that office.
What does it do?
HB551 requires the Texas Ethics Commission to remove the street-level portions of an individual’s home address from online campaign-finance reports when the individual received a political expenditure and the address is marked as residential in the report. City, state and ZIP code remain visible. The commission must add a place on the reporting form to identify such residence addresses. The existing online redaction for contributors’ addresses continues. Final law.
This does not make the address completely confidential: the removed information must remain available on the report kept at the commission’s office, though not electronically at that office. It also does not remove recipients’ names or payment amounts, automatically redact every business address, or create a general rule for every locally filed report. The governor signed the bill June 20, 2025. It took effect September 1, 2025, but the changes apply only to reports required to be filed on or after January 1, 2026. Official history.
What changed along the way?
The core residence-address protection was in the introduced and House committee bills. Swanson’s single adopted House amendment corrected the statutory drafting: it labeled the retained office-access rule subsection (e-2), rather than (e-1), and properly moved the existing sentence out of subsection (e). The engrossed, Senate committee and final versions preserve that correction without changing the basic redaction policy. No Senate amendments are listed. Introduced text; amendment index; adopted amendment.
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?
Individuals paid by campaigns—for example, an individual worker using a home address—gain less exposure of that address on the commission’s website if the report marks it correctly. Filers must identify residential addresses accurately; the commission must adapt its forms and electronic system. Researchers lose immediate online access to the redacted address detail but retain the specified office access. The bill does not quantify privacy benefits or research costs.
The Legislative Budget Board anticipated no significant state or local fiscal impact, assuming the commission could modify its electronic filing system within existing resources. That estimate does not mean the change requires no staff work. Engrossed fiscal note, May 16, 2025.
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.