The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Texas bill empowers attorney general to investigate local governments and caps tax rates during lawsuits
Last action · August 8, 2025: FiledSponsor: Cecil Bell
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What This Bill Proposed
House Bill 294 grants the Texas Attorney General authority to investigate municipalities and counties for alleged legal violations and bring lawsuits against them. While an action is pending, affected local governments face frozen state grant funds, withheld sales tax disbursements by the comptroller, and a prohibition against adopting tax rates higher than their .
Local governments facing a lawsuit from the attorney general bear the burden of proof to establish compliance, risk losing their tax balances as a penalty if they lose, and are restricted from raising property tax rates or receiving state grants for five years following an adverse final judgment.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Municipalities
Municipalities are subject to attorney general investigations, potential lawsuits, withheld funds, and tax rate restrictions.
Counties
Counties are subject to attorney general investigations, potential lawsuits, withheld funds, and tax rate restrictions.
Comptroller of Public Accounts
The comptroller is required to withhold payments, deny grant applications, and deposit or send suspense account balances based on litigation outcomes.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which local governments are subject to attorney general investigations under this bill?
What happens to a local government's tax rate while a lawsuit brought by the attorney general is pending?
Which court handles these lawsuits?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the House.
Procedural history
1 action- Aug 8, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
State-Level Enforcement Expansion
The bill establishes a direct mechanism for the state attorney general to freeze local funding streams and cap local property tax rates during pending legal challenges.
Connected Entities
Sources
capitol.texas.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 80)
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz50Current news / social attention level
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