---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to employment and referral services for veterans and military service members."
description: "Relating to employment and referral services for veterans and military service members."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "86"
identifier: "HB 696"
citation: "Texas HB 696 (86)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Labor--Workforce Development (I0495)", "Military & Veterans (I0535)", "VOLUNTEERS (S1314)", "WORKFORCE COMMISSION", "TEXAS (V0470)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Blanco", "Guillen", "Powell", "Zwiener"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 51
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2019-01-09"
last_action: "2019-06-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a7ee0f17-66c7-4863-abdf-4f95a1dec194"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/86R/billhistory/house_bills/HB00600_HB00699/HB 696.xml"
source_hash: "dbb9625d251451b84326329c369e970b64780b34bb024c983e0e378aef21b6a6"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tx"]
---

# Texas HB 696 (86) — Relating to employment and referral services for veterans and military service members.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/86R/billtext/html/HB00696I.HTM)

## Sponsors

- Blanco — primary (person)
- Guillen — primary (person)
- Powell — primary (person)
- Zwiener — primary (person)
- Alvarado — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-01-09** Filed `filing`
- **2019-02-21** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-02-21** Referred to Defense & Veterans' Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-04** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-03-04** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2019-03-04** Left pending in committee
- **2019-04-08** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-04-08** Recommended to be sent to Local & Consent `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-08** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage`
- **2019-04-16** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
- **2019-04-16** Committee report distributed
- **2019-04-17** Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar
- **2019-04-23** Considered in Local & Consent Calendars
- **2019-04-26** Placed on Local, Consent, and Res. Calendar
- **2019-04-26** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2019-04-26** Passed to engrossment
- **2019-04-26** Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-04-26** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2019-04-26** Passed `passage`
- **2019-04-26** Record vote
- **2019-04-26** Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-04-26** Reported engrossed
- **2019-04-29** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2019-04-29** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-04-29** Referred to Vet Affairs & Border Security `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-15** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2019-05-15** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-05-15** Testimony taken in committee
- **2019-05-15** Left pending in committee
- **2019-05-17** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-05-17** Reported favorably w/o amendments `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-05-17** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2019-05-17** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2019-05-20** Placed on intent calendar
- **2019-05-21** Co-sponsor authorized
- **2019-05-22** Placed on local & uncontested calendar
- **2019-05-22** Laid before the Senate
- **2019-05-22** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
- **2019-05-22** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-05-22** Three day rule suspended
- **2019-05-22** Record vote
- **2019-05-22** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2019-05-22** Passed `passage`
- **2019-05-22** Record vote
- **2019-05-23** Senate passage reported
- **2019-05-24** Reported enrolled
- **2019-05-26** Signed in the House
- **2019-05-27** Signed in the Senate
- **2019-05-28** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-06-10** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-06-10** Effective immediately

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a7ee0f17-66c7-4863-abdf-4f95a1dec194`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).