---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to a restriction on the acceptance of political contributions and the making of certain political expenditures by a member of the legislature and certain political committees during certain periods in which a member is absent from a legislative session; authorizing a civil penalty."
description: "Relating to a restriction on the acceptance of political contributions and the making of certain political expenditures by a member of the legislature and certain political committees during certain periods in which a member is absent from a legislative session; authorizing a civil penalty."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "892"
identifier: "HB 18"
citation: "Texas HB 18 (892)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Ethics (I0345)", "FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS (VM34V)", "Legislature (I0520)", "POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS (S0114)", "Salaries & Expenses (I0745)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gerdes", "Hinojosa, Adam", "Shaheen", "Swanson"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 75
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2025-08-21"
last_action: "2025-09-17"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f6c119aa-2d4c-4307-9e77-90b897d6c187"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/892/billhistory/house_bills/HB00001_HB00099/HB 18.xml"
source_hash: "a0959e30e904da07f462a15f94bebe064b72c229f339b96f08f3fc85556ece6f"
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 18 (892) — Relating to a restriction on the acceptance of political contributions and the making of certain political expenditures by a member of the legislature and certain political committees during certain periods in which a member is absent from a legislative session; authorizing a civil penalty.

## 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/892/billtext/html/HB00018I.HTM)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/892/billtext/html/HB00018E.HTM)
3. **House Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/892/billtext/html/HB00018H.HTM)
4. **Senate Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/892/billtext/html/HB00018S.HTM)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/892/billtext/html/HB00018F.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **86–46** (pass) · lower
- passage — **86–46** (pass) · lower
- passage — **18–8** (pass) · upper
- other — **44–85** (fail) · lower
- passage — **18–9** (pass) · upper
- passage — **18–8** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Gerdes — primary (person)
- Hinojosa, Adam — primary (person)
- Shaheen — primary (person)
- Swanson — primary (person)
- Bell, Keith — cosponsor (person)
- Bonnen — cosponsor (person)
- Buckley — cosponsor (person)
- Button — cosponsor (person)
- Capriglione — cosponsor (person)
- Cunningham — cosponsor (person)
- Hayes — cosponsor (person)
- Hefner — cosponsor (person)
- Isaac — cosponsor (person)
- King — cosponsor (person)
- LaHood — cosponsor (person)
- Lopez, Janie — cosponsor (person)
- Luther — cosponsor (person)
- Metcalf — cosponsor (person)
- Middleton — cosponsor (person)
- Morgan — cosponsor (person)
- Oliverson — cosponsor (person)
- Orr — cosponsor (person)
- Patterson — cosponsor (person)
- Paul — cosponsor (person)
- Pierson — cosponsor (person)
- Richardson — cosponsor (person)
- Spiller — cosponsor (person)
- Vasut — cosponsor (person)
- Wharton — cosponsor (person)
- Wilson — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-08-21** Filed `filing`
- **2025-08-21** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2025-08-21** Referred to Elections `referral-committee`
- **2025-08-25** Considered in public hearing
- **2025-08-25** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2025-08-25** Left pending in committee
- **2025-08-28** Considered in formal meeting
- **2025-08-28** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-08-28** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator `filing`
- **2025-08-28** Committee report distributed
- **2025-08-28** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2025-08-28** Considered in Calendars
- **2025-09-02** Placed on General State Calendar
- **2025-09-02** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2025-09-02** Amendment(s) offered `amendment-introduction`
- **2025-09-02** Amendment to amendment fails of adoption `amendment-failure`
- **2025-09-02** Record vote
- **2025-09-02** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-09-02** Amendment to amendment fails of adoption `amendment-failure`
- **2025-09-02** Record vote
- **2025-09-02** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-09-02** Amendment to amendment offered
- **2025-09-02** Point of order sustained (amendment)
- **2025-09-02** Amendment to amendment offered
- **2025-09-02** Point of order withdrawn (amendment) `withdrawal`
- **2025-09-02** Point of order overruled (amendment)
- **2025-09-02** Amendment amended `amendment-amendment`
- **2025-09-02** Record vote
- **2025-09-02** Point of order withdrawn (amendment) `withdrawal`
- **2025-09-02** Amendment to amendment fails of adoption `amendment-failure`
- **2025-09-02** Record vote
- **2025-09-02** Amendment to amendment fails of adoption `amendment-failure`
- **2025-09-02** Record vote
- **2025-09-02** Amendment to amendment offered
- **2025-09-02** Point of order withdrawn (amendment) `withdrawal`
- **2025-09-02** Amendment to amendment withdrawn `withdrawal`
- **2025-09-02** Amendment adopted as amended `amendment-passage`
- **2025-09-02** Record vote
- **2025-09-02** Passed to engrossment as amended `amendment-passage`
- **2025-09-02** Record vote
- **2025-09-02** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-09-02** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2025-09-02** Passed `passage`
- **2025-09-02** Record vote
- **2025-09-02** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-09-02** Reason for vote recorded in Journal
- **2025-09-02** Reported engrossed
- **2025-09-02** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2025-09-02** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2025-09-02** Referred to State Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2025-09-02** Posting rule suspended
- **2025-09-02** Record vote
- **2025-09-03** Co-sponsor authorized
- **2025-09-03** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2025-09-03** Considered in public hearing
- **2025-09-03** Testimony taken in committee
- **2025-09-03** Vote taken in committee
- **2025-09-03** Reported favorably w/o amendments `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-09-03** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2025-09-03** Printing rule suspended
- **2025-09-03** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2025-09-03** Record vote
- **2025-09-03** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading `reading-2`
- **2025-09-03** Record vote
- **2025-09-04** Laid before the Senate `receipt`
- **2025-09-04** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2025-09-04** Passed `passage`
- **2025-09-04** Record vote
- **2025-09-04** Senate passage reported `passage`
- **2025-09-04** Reported enrolled `enrolled`
- **2025-09-04** Signed in the House `passage`
- **2025-09-04** Signed in the Senate `passage`
- **2025-09-04** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-09-17** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-09-17** Effective on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f6c119aa-2d4c-4307-9e77-90b897d6c187`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).