HB 4329 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to a study by the Texas Water Development Board on the costs of developing flood infrastructure in this state.

HB 4329 requires the Texas Water Development Board to study factors affecting the costs of developing drainage infrastructure across Texas, with a report due by January 1, 2027. The study must identify cost drivers like location, materials, and project scale, then compare regional cost differences. The Board must submit a written report to the legislature based on this analysis. The bill expires September 1, 2027, and does not allocate funding or mandate specific infrastructure projects.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Apr 1, 2025 Last action May 12, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Engrossed · 5 edits · May 10, 2025

MODERATE

This bill was substantially rewritten from a simple study directive into a comprehensive flood infrastructure analysis requiring detailed cost mapping, multi-agency coordination, and specific mitigation strategy evaluations. The revision adds precise definitions, expands the study scope to include multiple cost drivers and mitigation options, and updates reporting deadlines.

Scope change

The bill now requires a more extensive study involving coordination with multiple state agencies and specific analysis of cost drivers, high-cost drainage zones, and various flood mitigation strategies rather than a general cost study.

DEFINITION

Added new definitions for 'Artificial drainage system', 'Board', and 'High-cost drainage zone' to clarify key terms.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the study requirements from general cost analysis to specific tasks including mapping high-cost zones, analyzing cost drivers, creating heat maps, and evaluating multiple mitigation strategies.

Added requirement to incorporate precipitation frequency estimates from NOAA's Precipitation-Frequency Atlas volumes 14 and 15.

Added requirement to provide recommendations for cost-effective flood mitigation strategies and potential funding mechanisms.

TIMELINE

Updated the report deadline from January 1, 2027 to September 1, 2026, and changed the expiration date from September 1, 2027 to January 1, 2027.

Floor votes · House May 10, 2025

How they voted

0–43

Passed

Total votes 43

May 10, 2025

R Republican43

43 Nay

100% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 12, 2025

Introduced

Received from the House

upper

May 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

May 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed to engrossment

lower

May 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report distributed

lower

Apr 29, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably as substituted

lower

Apr 29, 2025

Committee

Recommended to be sent to Local & Consent

lower

Apr 9, 2025

Lower · Passed

Left pending in committee

lower

Apr 9, 2025

Lower · Passed

Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee

lower

Apr 1, 2025

Committee

Referred to Natural Resources

lower

Apr 1, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

lower

5 primary · 14 co-sponsors