republic-os/legislation/us/states/tx/88/sb-994.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the declaration of a candidate's ineligibility on the basis of failure to pay a filing fee or submit a petition in lieu of a filing fee."
description: "Relating to the declaration of a candidate's ineligibility on the basis of failure to pay a filing fee or submit a petition in lieu of a filing fee."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "88"
identifier: "SB 994"
citation: "Texas SB 994 (88)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Elections--Candidates (I0280)", "Fees & Other Nontax Revenue--State (I0362)", "SECRETARY OF STATE (V0042)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Burrows", "Schwertner"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 58
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-02-16"
last_action: "2023-06-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0e7c5ab4-af50-4b0c-93fc-6847db179b9f"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/88R/billhistory/senate_bills/SB00900_SB00999/SB 994.xml"
source_hash: "a9308ca925f88b0a07a6f57e07938bf5ec9a501d3659ee1c49c37a2ecf45168e"
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 994 (88) — Relating to the declaration of a candidate's ineligibility on the basis of failure to pay a filing fee or submit a petition in lieu of a filing fee.

## 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/SB00994I.HTM)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/SB00994E.HTM)
3. **House Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/SB00994H.HTM)
4. **Senate Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/SB00994S.HTM)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/SB00994F.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **93–51** (pass) · lower
- passage — **23–8** (pass) · upper
- Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 994 be placed on its third reading and final passage. — **24–6** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Burrows — primary (person)
- Schwertner — primary (person)
- Bettencourt — cosponsor (person)
- Creighton — cosponsor (person)
- Flores — cosponsor (person)
- Springer — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-16** Received by the Secretary of the Senate `filing, introduction`
- **2023-02-16** Filed `filing`
- **2023-03-03** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-03-03** Referred to State Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-08** Posting rule suspended
- **2023-03-09** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2023-03-09** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-03-09** Testimony taken in committee
- **2023-03-09** Vote taken in committee
- **2023-03-13** Reported favorably w/o amendments `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-13** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2023-03-13** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2023-03-14** Co-author authorized
- **2023-03-14** Placed on intent calendar
- **2023-03-15** Co-author authorized
- **2023-03-15** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2023-03-15** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-03-15** Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment `reading-2`
- **2023-03-15** Record vote
- **2023-03-15** Three day rule suspended
- **2023-03-15** Record vote
- **2023-03-15** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-03-15** Passed `passage`
- **2023-03-15** Record vote
- **2023-03-15** Reported engrossed
- **2023-03-16** Received from the Senate `introduction`
- **2023-04-10** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-04-10** Referred to Elections `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-27** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-04-27** Committee substitute considered in committee `substitution`
- **2023-04-27** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2023-04-27** Left pending in committee
- **2023-05-01** Considered in formal meeting
- **2023-05-01** Committee substitute considered in committee `substitution`
- **2023-05-01** Reported favorably as substituted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-09** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator `filing`
- **2023-05-09** Committee report distributed
- **2023-05-10** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2023-05-12** Considered in Calendars
- **2023-05-16** Placed on General State Calendar
- **2023-05-16** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2023-05-16** Passed to 3rd reading
- **2023-05-17** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-05-17** Passed `passage`
- **2023-05-17** Record vote
- **2023-05-17** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-05-17** House passage as amended reported `amendment-passage`
- **2023-05-21** House amendment(s) laid before the Senate
- **2023-05-21** Read
- **2023-05-21** Senate concurs in House amendment(s)
- **2023-05-21** Record vote
- **2023-05-22** Reported enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-05-22** Senate concurs in House amendment(s)-reported
- **2023-05-22** Signed in the Senate `passage`
- **2023-05-22** Signed in the House `passage`
- **2023-05-23** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-06-18** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-06-18** 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/0e7c5ab4-af50-4b0c-93fc-6847db179b9f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).