Relating to the creation of the Puerto Verde Port Authority District; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes; granting a limited power of eminent domain.
HB 74 creates the Puerto Verde Port Authority District in Maverick County, Texas, as a special district to advance economic development in the area. The bill grants the district authority to issue bonds for infrastructure, impose fees and taxes on properties within the district, and acquire private property through limited eminent domain for port-related projects. It directly affects property owners and businesses in the designated district area by enabling the district to fund and develop port facilities, transportation infrastructure, and economic initiatives. The legislation aims to promote job growth, commerce, and community development in Maverick County under Texas Constitution provisions for special districts.
Bill status
signed
all 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Apr 2025
Committee Review
May 2025
House Passage
May 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Apr 3, 2025
Signed Apr 1, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
Engrossed
·
3 edits
·
May 8, 2025
MINOR
The bill was reformatted from an introduced draft to an engrossed version with updated metadata, sponsor information, and corrected formatting. The substantive legislative text remains unchanged, including the creation of the Puerto Verde Port Authority District, its powers, and the detailed boundary survey.
Scope change
No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; the legislative content is identical to the introduced version.
TECHNICAL
Header metadata was updated to reflect the engrossed version status and corrected sponsor attribution from 'AAMorales' to 'Morales of Maverick, Guillen, McLaughlin, Lujan, Harris, et al.'
Formatting inconsistencies were corrected, including removal of extraneous text like 'The digital content on TLO has been updated to align with the accessibility standards required by WCAG 2.1' and cleanup of spacing and line breaks throughout the document.
Page number artifacts and draft markings (e.g., '89(R)', 'AAMorales of Maverick') were removed to produce a clean, final version suitable for publication.
Floor votes · House May 8, 2025
How they voted
138–3
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 143
May 8, 2025
D
Democratic58
98% Yea
R
Republican85
95% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
28
Key actions
9
Committee
7
Amendments
2
May 12, 2025
Committee
Referred to Transportation
upper
May 12, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
May 9, 2025
Introduced
Received from the House
upper
May 8, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
May 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed to engrossment as amended
lower
May 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amended
lower
Apr 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
Apr 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
Apr 15, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
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 3, 2025
Committee
Referred to Trade, Workforce & Economic Development
lower
Apr 3, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Signed into law
Transmitted to the Governor
lower
5 primary · 14 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Cody Harris
RRepublican
P
Don McLaughlin
RRepublican
P
Eddie Morales
DDemocratic
P
John Lujan
RRepublican
P
Ryan Guillen
RRepublican
Co
Armando Walle
DDemocratic
Co
Brooks Landgraf
RRepublican
Co
Carl Tepper
RRepublican
Co
Claudia Ordaz
DDemocratic
Co
Janie Lopez
RRepublican
Co
Liz Campos
DDemocratic
Co
Mihaela Pleșa
DDemocratic
Co
Philip Cortez
DDemocratic
Co
Ramon Romero
DDemocratic
Co
Richard Raymond
DDemocratic
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