---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to public school elective courses providing academic study of the Bible offered to certain students."
description: "Relating to public school elective courses providing academic study of the Bible offered to certain students."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "87"
identifier: "HB 2681"
citation: "Texas HB 2681 (87)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education--Primary & Secondary--Curriculum (I0228)", "Religion (I0646)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell, Cecil", "Buckingham", "Noble", "Wilson"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 53
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-03-03"
last_action: "2021-06-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5273ccab-251f-4e65-86d8-b364ae5dafcb"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/87R/billhistory/house_bills/HB02600_HB02699/HB 2681.xml"
source_hash: "5c6367f2bce3d2fc7c882a808a1224f57765430ce3b2bc61dfc89d2397eedf05"
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 2681 (87) — Relating to public school elective courses providing academic study of the Bible offered to certain students.

## 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/87R/billtext/html/HB02681I.HTM)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02681E.HTM)
3. **House Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02681H.HTM)
4. **Senate Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02681S.HTM)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02681F.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **143–1** (pass) · lower
- other — **147–0** (fail) · upper
- passage — **119–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bell, Cecil — primary (person)
- Buckingham — primary (person)
- Noble — primary (person)
- Wilson — primary (person)
- Bonnen — cosponsor (person)
- Buckley — cosponsor (person)
- Cain — cosponsor (person)
- Cason — cosponsor (person)
- Cook — cosponsor (person)
- Ellzey — cosponsor (person)
- Frank — cosponsor (person)
- Hefner — cosponsor (person)
- Jetton — cosponsor (person)
- Krause — cosponsor (person)
- Leach — cosponsor (person)
- Leman — cosponsor (person)
- Metcalf — cosponsor (person)
- Middleton — cosponsor (person)
- Oliverson — cosponsor (person)
- Paddie — cosponsor (person)
- Patterson — cosponsor (person)
- Paul — cosponsor (person)
- Rogers — cosponsor (person)
- Sanford — cosponsor (person)
- Schaefer — cosponsor (person)
- Shaheen — cosponsor (person)
- Slaton — cosponsor (person)
- Spiller — cosponsor (person)
- Stephenson — cosponsor (person)
- Swanson — cosponsor (person)
- Thompson, Ed — cosponsor (person)
- Tinderholt — cosponsor (person)
- Toth — cosponsor (person)
- Vasut — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-03-03** Filed `filing`
- **2021-03-17** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-03-17** Referred to Public Education `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-13** Considered in public hearing
- **2021-04-13** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2021-04-13** Left pending in committee
- **2021-04-23** Considered in formal meeting
- **2021-04-23** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage`
- **2021-05-06** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
- **2021-05-06** Committee report distributed
- **2021-05-07** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2021-05-10** Considered in Calendars
- **2021-05-12** Placed on General State Calendar
- **2021-05-13** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2021-05-13** Passed to engrossment
- **2021-05-14** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2021-05-14** Passed `passage`
- **2021-05-14** Record vote
- **2021-05-14** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2021-05-16** Reported engrossed
- **2021-05-17** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2021-05-17** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-05-17** Referred to Education `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-20** Posting rule suspended
- **2021-05-21** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2021-05-21** Considered in public hearing
- **2021-05-21** Left pending in committee
- **2021-05-22** Considered in public hearing
- **2021-05-24** Reported favorably as substituted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-24** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2021-05-25** Placed on intent calendar
- **2021-05-27** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2021-05-27** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
- **2021-05-27** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2021-05-27** Three day rule suspended
- **2021-05-27** Record vote
- **2021-05-27** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2021-05-27** Passed `passage`
- **2021-05-27** Record vote
- **2021-05-27** Senate passage as amended reported
- **2021-05-27** Senate Amendments distributed
- **2021-05-27** Senate Amendments Analysis distributed
- **2021-05-28** House concurs in Senate amendment(s)
- **2021-05-28** Record vote
- **2021-05-28** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2021-05-28** Text of Senate Amendment(s)
- **2021-05-28** House concurs in Senate amendment(s)-reported
- **2021-05-30** Reported enrolled
- **2021-05-30** Signed in the House
- **2021-05-31** Signed in the Senate
- **2021-05-31** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-15** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-15** Effective immediately `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5273ccab-251f-4e65-86d8-b364ae5dafcb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).