Two More TAB Newsroom Priority Bills Heard in Committee, More Scheduled for Hearing This Week

posted on 4.14.2025

Two of the Texas Sunshine Coalition’s package of priority Open Government reforms have now been heard by House committee and await a committee vote.

The House Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee heard HB 4218 and HB 4219 last week, both by the committee’s chairman, Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake.

Searchable/Sortable Records

HB 4218 would codify existing Attorney General guidance by requiring governmental bodies to produce documents in their original format, e.g., releasing data in spreadsheet form, rather than converting such data into PDFs.

KXAN-TV senior investigative producer David Barer testified on the importance of having information released in its original format as it allows for comparative database journalism. 

He cited KXAN’s reporting on delays in issuing funds by the Texas Attorney General’s Crime Victims Compensation Division. 

While the AG’s office said crime victims’ claims were being processed quickly, KXAN’s analysis revealed those claims were being averaged with sexual assault exam reimbursements, skewing the timeframe by making it shorter. 

This specialized reporting is possible because of the access to data in useable format and it has spurred the AG’s office to make changes.

HB 4218 was left pending and is expected to have its committee vote soon.

“Required Response” / Texas Public Information Act

Existing law does not require governments to notify requestors that an agency doesn't have information that satisfies a Texas Public Information Act request. 

Requestors are then left to wonder what’s happened to their TPIA request. 

HB 4219 mandates governmental agencies make that notification within 10 business days of the request.

TAB Newsroom Legislative Committee member Rachel Clow of KRIS-TV testified on some of the ways that governmental bodies ignore Texas Public Information Act requests “with virtually no consequences.” 

Clow detailed one instance in which a government official casually told her he was “too busy” to complete the station’s TPIA request for a city official’s text messages. 

In another instance, the City of Taft let multiple TPIA requests by KRIS, and the general public, go unanswered while the city secretary was under arrest on fraud charges. 

The city secretary is the city employee responsible for answering TPIA requests.

The city had made no arrangements for an interim replacement for her. 

In a third instance, a citizen contacted the station after 30 of their TPIA requests to San Patricio County went unanswered over the course of year. 

Clow recounted how a county employee informed her there are no consequences for not responding to TPIA requests if there is no information that is responsive to that request. 

The House Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee approved HB 4219 on Monday.

The bill now heads to the House Calendars Committee to seek a spot on a House calendar for House floor action.

More Open Government Reform Bills to be Heard This Week

Three more Sunshine Coalition priority reforms are set for hearing this week before House Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee.

HB 4990 by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, would require the Attorney General’s office to operate a toll-free open records hotline to assist Texans in the procedure to request information under the TPIA. 

It also creates a written complaint process for requesters to use with the Attorney General’s office in instances in which the requestor believes that the government agency has failed to provide information in compliance with the law. 

The Attorney General’s office will review the complaints with the agency involved and issue a written response to both the agency and the complaining requestor.

Another Canales bill, HB 4991, would require attorney training in the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Texas Public Information Act by lawyers advising government agencies about that agency's responsibilities under the state’s Open Government laws.

A third bill, HB 3719 by Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, seeks to require the disclosure of dates of birth in public records to ensure individuals can be properly identified.

This is particularly important in criminal justice system records when common names are often involved. 

DOBs also help lenders, employers, background check companies and other businesses obtain accurate information and avoid misidentifying people who have common names. 

Disclosing DOBs on applications filed by candidates for public office also helps the public properly identify and better understand who is on the ballot.

House Bill Deadlines Loom

The next three to four weeks are incredibly busy ones in House committees. 

House lawmakers face a May 12 deadline to have House bills reported out of committee or else they die there.

As a practical matter, House bills need to be out of committee by the end of the first week in May or they are likely dead.

There simply isn’t enough time for the House Calendars Committee to add them to a House calendar for floor action because of all the measures already in that committee by that point.

TAB will keep stations informed as to the progress of these Open Government measures as it occurs.

Questions? Contact TAB’s Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944. 

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