Texas Senate bill by Sen. Bettencourt restricts school district tax rates after voter rejection

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt aims to limit school districts from setting tax rates above voter-approved levels following a failed election, seeking to ensure adherence to voter decisions, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the Senate, eight Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while three Democrats opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the House, 20 Democrats and 82 Republicans voted in favor, while 27 Democrats voted against it.

Paul Bettencourt introduced the bill in the Texas Senate on Thursday, Feb. 20, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Bettencourt graduated from Texas A&M University with a BS.

Bettencourt, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2015 to represent the state’s 7th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Dan Patrick.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the authority of the governing body of a school district to adopt an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the district’s voter-approval tax rate’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Tax Code to restrict school districts from adopting a tax rate for a given year that exceeds the voter-approval tax rate if the district previously proposed a tax rate surpassing this threshold, conducted an election under the designated section to validate the proposed rate, and the rate was not approved by voters. The measure applies to ad valorem tax years starting on or after the bill’s effective date of Jan. 1, 2026.

The bill was co-authored by Sen. Adam Hinojosa (Republican – District 27).

The bill received its final legislative approval on Saturday, May 10, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday, May 24.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.