---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the eligibility of certain retired firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical services providers to purchase continued health benefits coverage; the creation of certain special purpose districts and the name, powers, and duties of the 3 B&J Municipal Utility District; granting a limited power of eminent domain; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes."
description: "Relating to the eligibility of certain retired firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical services providers to purchase continued health benefits coverage; the creation of certain special purpose districts and the name, powers, and duties of the 3 B&J Municipal Utility District; granting a limited power of eminent domain; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "88"
identifier: "HB 5344"
citation: "Texas HB 5344 (88)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["3 B&J MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT (DD96E)", "DEER CREEK RANCH MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 1 (DA9HS)", "DENTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT DISTRICT NO. 2 (DP2IA)", "JARRELL ESTATES MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 1 (DP07Z)", "MONTGOMERY COUNTY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 236 (DR59F)", "Special Districts & Authorities--Municipal Utility Districts (I0009)", "Special Districts & Authorities--Water & Utility (I0755)", "WILLIAMSON COUNTY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 49 (DK0V6)", "WILLIAMSON COUNTY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 51 (DB4NO)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell, Cecil", "Creighton"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 73
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-04-05"
last_action: "2023-06-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2c50e57b-4a38-460f-968e-427bc8ae6d10"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/88R/billhistory/house_bills/HB05300_HB05399/HB 5344.xml"
source_hash: "593802364473d312e82af976793074f79ecce20a0db33c0aa2999e11b231a961"
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 5344 (88) — Relating to the eligibility of certain retired firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical services providers to purchase continued health benefits coverage; the creation of certain special purpose districts and the name, powers, and duties of the 3 B&J Municipal Utility District; granting a limited power of eminent domain; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes.

## 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/88R/billtext/html/HB05344I.HTM)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB05344E.HTM)
3. **House Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB05344H.HTM)
4. **Senate Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB05344S.HTM)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB05344F.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **27–4** (pass) · upper
- passage — **108–34** (pass) · lower
- passage — **119–21** (pass) · upper
- passage — **119–21** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bell, Cecil — primary (person)
- Creighton — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-04-05** Filed `filing`
- **2023-04-05** Transmitted to the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-10** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-04-10** Referred to Land & Resource Management `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-26** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-04-26** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2023-04-26** Left pending in committee
- **2023-04-27** Considered in formal meeting
- **2023-04-27** Recommended to be sent to Local & Consent `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-27** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-03** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator `filing`
- **2023-05-03** Committee report distributed
- **2023-05-03** Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar
- **2023-05-03** Recommendations filed with the Speaker `filing`
- **2023-05-06** Considered in Local & Consent Calendars
- **2023-05-09** Placed on Local, Consent, and Res. Calendar
- **2023-05-09** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2023-05-09** Passed to engrossment
- **2023-05-09** Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-05-09** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-05-09** Passed `passage`
- **2023-05-09** Record vote
- **2023-05-09** Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-05-09** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-05-09** Reported engrossed
- **2023-05-10** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2023-05-10** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-05-10** Referred to Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-12** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2023-05-12** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-05-12** Vote taken in committee
- **2023-05-15** Reported favorably as substituted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-15** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2023-05-15** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2023-05-23** Placed on local & uncontested calendar
- **2023-05-24** Laid before the Senate `receipt`
- **2023-05-24** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading `reading-2`
- **2023-05-24** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-05-24** Three day rule suspended
- **2023-05-24** Record vote
- **2023-05-24** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-05-24** Passed `passage`
- **2023-05-24** Record vote
- **2023-05-25** Senate passage as amended reported `amendment-passage`
- **2023-05-25** Senate Amendments distributed
- **2023-05-25** Senate Amendments Analysis distributed
- **2023-05-26** House refuses to concur in Senate amendments
- **2023-05-26** House requests conference committee
- **2023-05-26** House appoints conferees
- **2023-05-26** House refuses to concur-reported
- **2023-05-26** House requests conference committee-reported
- **2023-05-26** House appoints conferees-reported
- **2023-05-26** Senate grants request for conference comm.
- **2023-05-26** Senate appoints conferees
- **2023-05-26** Senate grants request for conf comm-reported
- **2023-05-26** Senate appoints conferees-reported
- **2023-05-27** Conference committee report filed `filing`
- **2023-05-27** Conf. Comm. Report distributed
- **2023-05-28** House adopts resolution to go outside bounds
- **2023-05-28** House adopts conference committee report `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-28** Record vote
- **2023-05-28** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-05-28** House adopts conf. comm. report-reported
- **2023-05-28** Senate adopts resolution to go outside bounds
- **2023-05-28** Senate adopts conference committee report `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-28** Record vote
- **2023-05-28** Senate adopts conf. comm. report-reported
- **2023-05-28** Reported enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-05-29** Signed in the House `passage`
- **2023-05-29** Signed in the Senate `passage`
- **2023-05-30** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-06-13** Filed without the Governor's signature `became-law`
- **2023-06-13** See remarks for effective date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2c50e57b-4a38-460f-968e-427bc8ae6d10`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).