---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to a study by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on the feasibility of establishing a religious studies program at Texas Southern University."
description: "Relating to a study by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on the feasibility of establishing a religious studies program at Texas Southern University."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "87"
identifier: "HB 981"
citation: "Texas HB 981 (87)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education--Higher--Institutions & Programs (I0223)", "HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD", "TEXAS (V4280)", "Religion (I0646)", "TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY (U0214)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dutton", "Miles"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 54
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-01-06"
last_action: "2021-06-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a3ba3b89-86b5-49bd-8854-ab54194d34ee"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/87R/billhistory/house_bills/HB00900_HB00999/HB 981.xml"
source_hash: "00a976436c5da04ff28dfc81951abe3adf02e31dd8a87ffe0a3bad129484ee50"
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 981 (87) — Relating to a study by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on the feasibility of establishing a religious studies program at Texas Southern University.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB00981I.HTM)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB00981E.HTM)
3. **House Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB00981H.HTM)
4. **Senate Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB00981S.HTM)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB00981F.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **107–34** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Dutton — primary (person)
- Miles — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-06** Filed `filing`
- **2021-03-01** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-03-01** Referred to Higher Education `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-15** Considered in public hearing
- **2021-04-15** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2021-04-15** Left pending in committee
- **2021-04-19** Considered in formal meeting
- **2021-04-19** Recommended to be sent to Local & Consent `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-19** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-28** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
- **2021-04-29** Committee report distributed
- **2021-04-29** Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar
- **2021-05-04** Considered in Local & Consent Calendars
- **2021-05-08** Placed on Local, Consent, and Res. Calendar
- **2021-05-08** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2021-05-08** Passed to engrossment
- **2021-05-08** Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
- **2021-05-08** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2021-05-08** Passed `passage`
- **2021-05-08** Record vote
- **2021-05-08** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2021-05-08** Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
- **2021-05-08** Reported engrossed
- **2021-05-10** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2021-05-10** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-05-10** Referred to Higher Education `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-19** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2021-05-19** Considered in public hearing
- **2021-05-21** Reported favorably as substituted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-21** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2021-05-21** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2021-05-22** Placed on intent calendar
- **2021-05-24** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2021-05-24** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
- **2021-05-24** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2021-05-24** Three day rule suspended
- **2021-05-24** Record vote
- **2021-05-24** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2021-05-24** Passed `passage`
- **2021-05-24** Record vote
- **2021-05-26** Senate passage as amended reported
- **2021-05-26** Senate Amendments distributed
- **2021-05-26** Senate Amendments Analysis distributed
- **2021-05-28** House concurs in Senate amendment(s)
- **2021-05-28** Record vote
- **2021-05-28** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2021-05-28** Text of Senate Amendment(s)
- **2021-05-28** House concurs in Senate amendment(s)-reported
- **2021-05-29** Reported enrolled
- **2021-05-30** Signed in the House
- **2021-05-31** Signed in the Senate
- **2021-05-31** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-15** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-15** Effective immediately `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a3ba3b89-86b5-49bd-8854-ab54194d34ee`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).