HB 3359 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to identifying an individual with veteran's status and providing notice to the Texas Veterans Commission.

HB 3359 amends Texas Election Code Section 13.004 to require voter registration applications to confidentially identify individuals with veteran status, protecting this information from public disclosure. Voters claiming veteran status must submit an affidavit or completed form to the registrar to trigger this confidentiality. The bill ensures the Texas Veterans Commission receives notice of veterans' status through this process, directly affecting Texas voters who serve or served in the military. This change aligns veteran status with other protected information like social security numbers and addresses of victims of family violence.

Issues: ✓ Veterans

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 21, 2025 Last action May 23, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Engrossed · 6 edits · May 13, 2025

MODERATE

This bill updates Texas election and transportation laws to better protect veteran status information, requiring voter registration forms to include veteran status as an optional field and ensuring that veteran status is not publicly disclosed on websites. It also modifies the Transportation Code to define veterans for driver's license purposes and establishes a confidential process for sharing veteran status information with the Texas Veterans Commission to connect veterans with available services.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of veteran status protection from just election registration to include driver's license applications and adds specific requirements for how veteran information is collected, stored, and shared across state agencies.

REQUIREMENT

Added mandatory veteran status checkbox on voter registration forms with clear statements that providing this information is optional and will remain confidential.

Modified Section 13.004 to add veteran status as confidential information that cannot be posted on websites, alongside other sensitive voter data.

DEFINITION

Added new definition of 'veteran' in Transportation Code Section 521.011 to include those who served in US armed forces but did not request license designations.

FISCAL

Added requirement for Texas Veterans Commission to receive notification of veteran status to connect veterans with available services, though no specific funding amounts are specified.

TIMELINE

Added effective date of September 1, 2025 for new voter registration forms, with grandfather provisions for applications distributed before that date.

TECHNICAL

Removed and reorganized formatting inconsistencies from the original bill text, including duplicate sections and inconsistent numbering.

Floor votes · House May 13, 2025

How they voted

116–18

Passed · 6 other

Total votes 140

May 13, 2025

D Democratic56

53 Yea 1 Nay 2

94% Yea

R Republican84

63 Yea 17 Nay 4

75% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

Left pending in committee

upper

May 14, 2025

Committee

Referred to Vet Affairs

upper

May 14, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

upper

May 14, 2025

Introduced

Received from the House

upper

May 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

May 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed to engrossment

lower

May 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report sent to Calendars

lower

May 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report distributed

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Recalled from subcommittee

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Left pending in subcommittee

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in subcommittee

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to s/c on Defense & Veterans' Affairs by Speaker

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors