2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB647
HB647 establishes a remote process for removing a driver's-license corrective-lens restriction after vision surgery, but makes mandatory implementation dependent on a specific legislative appropriation.
Official caption: Relating to the removal of certain restrictions imposed on driver's licenses; authorizing a fee.
Official report lists House author(s): Patterson, Holt, 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.
- HB647 establishes a remote process for removing a driver's-license corrective-lens restriction after vision surgery, but makes mandatory implementation dependent on a specific legislative appropriation.
- Under the process, the license holder submits the required fee and a written statement from a licensed physician or optometrist confirming that vision was surgically corrected and corrective lenses are no longer needed.
- DPS may not mail a replacement under this provision to someone whose license record indicates that the person is subject to the sex-offender-registration requirements of Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 62.
What does it do?
HB647 establishes a remote process for removing a driver’s-license corrective-lens restriction after vision surgery, but makes mandatory implementation dependent on a specific legislative appropriation. Without that funding, the Department of Public Safety may implement it using other available appropriations but is not required to do so. The bill itself appropriates no money. Signed June 20, 2025, it took effect September 1, 2025; that effective date alone is not proof that a new online service is operating. Final law; history.
Under the process, the license holder submits the required fee and a written statement from a licensed physician or optometrist confirming that vision was surgically corrected and corrective lenses are no longer needed. DPS is to accept the form and fee electronically or by mail, remove the restriction and mail a replacement license. The act refers to the required fee but does not set a dollar amount. It does not allow a driver simply to declare the restriction unnecessary.
DPS may not mail a replacement under this provision to someone whose license record indicates that the person is subject to the sex-offender-registration requirements of Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 62. This is a limit on this mailing process, not a new blanket ban on those individuals holding a driver’s license. Referenced registration chapter.
What changed along the way?
The introduced bill accepted only a licensed physician’s verification. The House committee substitute added optometrists; that change remained in the engrossed, Senate committee and final versions. Hagenbuch’s sole adopted Senate floor amendment added the funding condition, making implementation optional without a specific appropriation. The House concurred May 28. The original unconditional implementation proposal should not be mistaken for the final law. Introduced; House substitute; amendment index; adopted funding 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?
If implemented, eligible drivers could avoid an in-person visit for this particular restriction change. They still need professional verification and must pay the required fee. DPS and the state’s technology provider would have to support the submission and replacement-license process. This explanation describes the enacted authority and conditions, not a verified current application service or fee quote.
The latest Legislative Budget Board estimate projects a $1,716,750 General Revenue cost for fiscal years 2026–2027: $1,635,000 for portal development in 2026 and $81,750 for maintenance/infrastructure in 2027, with $81,750 annually thereafter through 2030. It anticipates no significant local fiscal effect. These are implementation estimates, not an appropriation or proof of spending; the final note expressly retains the funding condition. Latest fiscal note, May 26, 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.