---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the open meetings law."
description: "Relating to the open meetings law."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "86"
identifier: "SB 1640"
citation: "Texas SB 1640 (86)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Crimes--Miscellaneous (I0200)", "Open Meetings (I0546)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bettencourt", "Canales", "Guerra", "Meyer", "Murr", "Phelan", "Watson"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 58
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2019-03-06"
last_action: "2019-06-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c96c1524-0637-42d1-be15-2bf712053941"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/86R/billhistory/senate_bills/SB01600_SB01699/SB 1640.xml"
source_hash: "7eead3b0e5b2183b1a58e5d37fedf7cac9e76d07184dc342eb6b1e14ee202a27"
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 SB 1640 (86) — Relating to the open meetings law.

## 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/86R/billtext/html/SB01640I.HTM)

## Sponsors

- Bettencourt — primary (person)
- Canales — primary (person)
- Guerra — primary (person)
- Meyer — primary (person)
- Murr — primary (person)
- Phelan — primary (person)
- Watson — primary (person)
- Buckingham — cosponsor (person)
- Hinojosa — cosponsor (person)
- Johnson — cosponsor (person)
- West — cosponsor (person)
- Zaffirini — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-03-06** Received by the Secretary of the Senate `filing`
- **2019-03-06** Filed `filing`
- **2019-03-14** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-03-14** Referred to State Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-19** Co-author authorized
- **2019-03-20** Co-author authorized
- **2019-03-25** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2019-03-25** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-03-25** Testimony taken in committee
- **2019-03-25** Left pending in committee
- **2019-04-01** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-04-03** Reported favorably as substituted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-03** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2019-04-03** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2019-04-08** Placed on intent calendar
- **2019-04-09** Co-author authorized
- **2019-04-09** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2019-04-09** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-04-09** Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
- **2019-04-09** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-04-09** Three day rule suspended
- **2019-04-09** Record vote
- **2019-04-09** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2019-04-09** Passed `passage`
- **2019-04-09** Record vote
- **2019-04-09** Reported engrossed
- **2019-04-10** Received from the Senate `introduction`
- **2019-04-11** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-04-11** Referred to State Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-15** Scheduled for formal meeting on . . .
- **2019-04-15** Considered in formal meeting
- **2019-04-15** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage`
- **2019-04-25** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
- **2019-04-25** Committee report distributed
- **2019-04-26** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2019-05-15** Considered in Calendars
- **2019-05-17** Placed on General State Calendar
- **2019-05-17** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2019-05-17** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2019-05-17** Passed to 3rd reading as amended
- **2019-05-17** Constitutional 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** Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-05-19** House passage as amended reported
- **2019-05-23** House amendment(s) laid before the Senate
- **2019-05-23** Read
- **2019-05-23** Senate concurs in House amendment(s)
- **2019-05-23** Record vote
- **2019-05-23** Senate concurs in House amendment(s)-reported
- **2019-05-23** Reported enrolled
- **2019-05-25** Signed in the Senate
- **2019-05-25** Signed in the House
- **2019-05-25** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-06-10** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-06-10** Effective immediately

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c96c1524-0637-42d1-be15-2bf712053941`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).