---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the liability of a business owner or operator arising from the exposure of an individual to a pandemic disease."
description: "Relating to the liability of a business owner or operator arising from the exposure of an individual to a pandemic disease."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "88"
identifier: "HB 609"
citation: "Texas HB 609 (88)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Business & Commerce--General (I0050)", "Civil Remedies & Liabilities (I0065)", "Health--Other Diseases & Medical Conditions (I0383)", "IMMUNIZATIONS (S4341)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Middleton", "Vasut"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 50
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2022-11-14"
last_action: "2023-05-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0316e03a-5aa2-410e-a02d-0ee00f9cf45b"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/88R/billhistory/house_bills/HB00600_HB00699/HB 609.xml"
source_hash: "697698cd16af2ad43931a24d029c3b31b73067ae1dd6f251f5500a1bf53acca4"
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 609 (88) — Relating to the liability of a business owner or operator arising from the exposure of an individual to a pandemic disease.

## 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/HB00609I.HTM)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB00609E.HTM)
3. **House Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB00609H.HTM)
4. **Senate Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB00609S.HTM)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB00609F.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **19–11** (pass) · upper
- passage — **19–11** (pass) · upper
- passage — **104–39** (pass) · lower
- passage — **98–48** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Middleton — primary (person)
- Vasut — primary (person)
- Bailes — cosponsor (person)
- Cain — cosponsor (person)
- Creighton — cosponsor (person)
- Hefner — cosponsor (person)
- Metcalf — cosponsor (person)
- Spiller — cosponsor (person)
- Tepper — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-11-14** Filed `filing`
- **2023-02-23** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-02-23** Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-08** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-03-08** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2023-03-08** Left pending in committee
- **2023-03-15** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-03-15** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2023-03-15** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-27** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator `filing`
- **2023-03-27** Committee report distributed
- **2023-03-28** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2023-04-19** Considered in Calendars
- **2023-04-24** Placed on General State Calendar
- **2023-04-24** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2023-04-24** Passed to engrossment
- **2023-04-24** Record vote
- **2023-04-24** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-04-25** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-04-25** Passed `passage`
- **2023-04-25** Record vote
- **2023-04-25** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-04-25** Reported engrossed
- **2023-04-26** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2023-04-26** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-04-26** Referred to State Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-04** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2023-05-04** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-05-04** Testimony taken in committee
- **2023-05-04** Vote taken in committee
- **2023-05-05** Reported favorably w/o amendments `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-05** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2023-05-09** Placed on intent calendar
- **2023-05-10** Co-sponsor authorized
- **2023-05-10** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2023-05-10** Record vote
- **2023-05-10** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading `reading-2`
- **2023-05-10** Record vote
- **2023-05-11** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2023-05-11** Record vote
- **2023-05-11** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-05-11** Passed `passage`
- **2023-05-11** Record vote
- **2023-05-11** Senate passage reported `passage`
- **2023-05-11** Reported enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-05-12** Signed in the House `passage`
- **2023-05-15** Signed in the Senate `passage`
- **2023-05-15** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-24** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-24** Effective on 9/1/23 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0316e03a-5aa2-410e-a02d-0ee00f9cf45b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).