---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the eligibility of land used as an ecological laboratory for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land."
description: "Relating to the eligibility of land used as an ecological laboratory for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "86"
identifier: "HB 639"
citation: "Texas HB 639 (86)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Agriculture (I0020)", "Education--Higher--General (I0231)", "Taxation--Property-Appraisals & Appraisal Districts (I0792)", "Taxation--Property-Exemptions (I0793)", "OPEN-SPACE LAND (S0378)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Nichols", "Springer"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 44
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-01-04"
last_action: "2019-06-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/aa76b280-e081-4cb6-87df-3f3b1c83a476"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/86R/billhistory/house_bills/HB00600_HB00699/HB 639.xml"
source_hash: "df9d5d83c70c4fb6e6e773e1d0c328e3264d3016998fb51ecfc6b4eaf75c2408"
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 639 (86) — Relating to the eligibility of land used as an ecological laboratory for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land.

## 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/HB00639I.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **117–21** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Nichols — primary (person)
- Springer — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-04** Filed `filing`
- **2019-02-21** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-02-21** Referred to Ways & Means `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-06** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-03-06** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2019-03-06** Left pending in committee
- **2019-04-03** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-04-03** Committee substitute considered in committee
- **2019-04-03** Reported favorably as substituted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-11** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
- **2019-04-12** Committee report distributed
- **2019-04-12** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2019-04-29** Considered in Calendars
- **2019-05-01** Placed on General State Calendar
- **2019-05-02** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2019-05-02** Passed to engrossment
- **2019-05-03** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2019-05-03** Passed `passage`
- **2019-05-03** Record vote
- **2019-05-03** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-05-04** Reported engrossed
- **2019-05-06** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2019-05-06** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-05-06** Referred to Property Tax `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-09** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-05-13** Reported favorably w/o amendments `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-05-13** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2019-05-13** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2019-05-15** Placed on intent calendar
- **2019-05-17** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2019-05-17** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
- **2019-05-17** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-05-17** Three day rule suspended
- **2019-05-17** Record vote
- **2019-05-17** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2019-05-17** Passed `passage`
- **2019-05-17** Record vote
- **2019-05-17** Senate passage reported
- **2019-05-17** Reported enrolled
- **2019-05-20** Signed in the House
- **2019-05-20** Signed in the Senate
- **2019-05-21** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-06-02** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-06-02** 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/aa76b280-e081-4cb6-87df-3f3b1c83a476`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).