Bill Text: TX HB4187 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the authority and responsibilities of the Texas Historical Commission; authorizing fees.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)

Status: (Passed) 2025-06-20 - Effective on 9/1/25 [HB4187 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB4187-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 4187

AN ACT
relating to the authority and responsibilities of the Texas
Historical Commission; authorizing fees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 442, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 442.0046 to read as follows:
Sec. 442.0046. AUTHORITY OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO ENTER
CERTAIN CONTRACTS. (a) The executive director may negotiate with
and award a contract for goods or services to any qualified vendor
if the executive director:
(1) solicits bids for the goods or services through a
competitive process in compliance with all applicable laws,
including Chapters 2155, 2254, and 2269, that fails to result in
competitive responsive bids;
(2) makes a written determination that resoliciting
bids for the goods or services would:
(A) be unlikely to result in responsive bids;
(B) increase costs to the commission; or
(C) delay the ability of the commission to
address a critical need; and
(3) determines that the vendor meets the requirements
of the original solicitation.
(b) To the extent practicable, the executive director may
combine the procurement of multiple goods or services into a single
competitively bid contract to enhance the contract's attraction for
potential vendors.
SECTION 2. Section 442.005(p), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(p) The commission may accept a gift, grant, devise, or
bequest of money, securities, services, or property to carry out
any purpose of this chapter, including funds raised or services
provided by a volunteer or volunteer group to promote the work of
the commission. The commission may participate in the establishment
and operation of an affiliated nonprofit organization whose
purpose is to raise funds for or provide services or other benefits
to the commission or one or more historic sites as defined by
Section 442.071.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 442, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 442.0062 to read as follows:
Sec. 442.0062. PRESERVATION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF
OFFICIAL TEXAS HISTORICAL MARKERS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Official Texas historical marker" means a marker,
medallion, monument, or plaque awarded, approved, or administered
by the commission, including:
(A) centennial monuments installed by the State
of Texas in the 1930s;
(B) monuments installed by the State of Texas in
the 1950s and 1960s to commemorate Texas history;
(C) medallions, plaques, or markers installed by
the Texas State Historical Survey Committee, the commission's
predecessor, in or after 1953; and
(D) markers, medallions, monuments, or plaques
installed by the commission in or after 1973 on public or private
property to commemorate an area, event, or person that are engraved
with text or to which a plaque with text is attached.
(2) "Institution of higher education" and "university
system" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003, Education
Code.
(b) An official Texas historical marker is state property,
regardless of whether the marker is located on public or private
property.
(c) The commission has jurisdiction over and is responsible
for the preservation, maintenance, and repair of official Texas
historical markers.
(d) This section may not be construed as transferring
ownership or control of, or the responsibility to preserve,
maintain, or repair, a museum, statue, exhibition building, or
other building that is owned or operated by a private entity,
municipality, county, or institution of higher education or
university system.
SECTION 4. Sections 442.0151(b), (f), and (h), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The historic infrastructure sustainability trust fund
is created as a trust fund outside the treasury held by the trust
company and administered by the comptroller as trustee on behalf of
the people of this state to generate earnings on money in the fund
for the purpose of maintaining, preserving, rehabilitating,
improving, and restoring historic sites throughout the state.
(f) The commission annually may request a distribution from
the fund in an amount that may not exceed the amount the trust
company determines is available for distribution in the applicable
year under Subsection (d). Money distributed from the fund to the
commission may be used only for the purpose of maintaining,
preserving, rehabilitating, improving, and restoring state
historic sites under the control of the commission and for the
historic courthouse preservation program under Section 442.0081.
The commission shall allocate at least one-third of each annual
distribution from the fund under this subsection for the historic
courthouse preservation program. The commission may not use money
received from an annual distribution under this subsection to pay
salaries, employee benefits, costs associated with employee
benefits, or administration, operating, or program costs of the
commission.
(h) The commission may receive an additional distribution
from the fund under Subsection (g) only after the commission
certifies to the Legislative Budget Board that:
(1) the commission has reviewed and approved the use
of the money;
(2) all purchases made with the money will conform to
any applicable provision of law governing state procurement and
contracting; and
(3) the money will not be used to:
(A) pay salaries, employee benefits, costs
associated with employee benefits, or administration, operating,
or program costs of the commission or the state historic sites under
the control of the commission;
(B) acquire new historic sites [or real
property]; or
(C) purchase capital equipment that is not
related to the rehabilitation or restoration of a historic site
under the control of the commission or the historic courthouse
preservation program under Section 442.0081.
SECTION 5. Chapter 442, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter A-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A-1. AFFILIATED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS; FRIENDS OF THE
TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Sec. 442.041. DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
"organization" means an affiliated nonprofit organization
established under Section 442.005(p), including the Friends of the
Texas Historical Commission or any other affiliated nonprofit
organization referenced in this chapter.
Sec. 442.042. PURPOSE. The commission shall designate each
organization as responsible for providing:
(1) services and other benefits to the commission or a
historic site defined by Section 442.071; and
(2) financial support as requested by the commission
and approved by the organization's board.
Sec. 442.043. RULES; GUIDELINES. (a) The commission shall
adopt rules:
(1) establishing guidelines under which an
organization may solicit and accept sponsorships or donations from
private entities in connection with commission activities;
(2) establishing best practices under which an
organization may engage in business activities described by this
subchapter;
(3) requiring an organization to comply with specified
standards and safeguards for the accounting of state assets held by
the organization; and
(4) governing the relationship between the commission
and an organization that, at a minimum:
(A) define the extent to which commission
employees with regulatory responsibilities, including the
executive director, may participate in activities that raise funds
for an organization, which may not include the direct solicitation
of funds; and
(B) define the relationship between commission
employees and an organization.
(b) The commission shall establish guidelines for
identifying and defining the administrative and financial support
the commission may provide for an organization.
Sec. 442.044. AGREEMENTS. (a) Notwithstanding any other
law, an organization and the commission may enter into an agreement
to use state money for the following purposes:
(1) expanding, renovating, or improving historic
sites or facilities, including through construction;
(2) maintaining, preserving, restoring, and
protecting historical markers, monuments, and historic sites;
(3) promoting and conducting archeological studies;
(4) designing and fabricating exhibits and
preserving, storing, and displaying artifacts, historical data,
items of historical significance, and other items;
(5) creating interpretive and educational programs;
(6) acquiring additional artifacts, historical and
marketing data, real estate, and items of historical significance
relevant to state history, settlement, and culture and historic
sites; and
(7) supporting programming or providing financial
support for projects of the commission or a historic site.
(b) Each agreement entered into under this section must be
approved by the commission.
Sec. 442.045. COLLECTION AND USE OF CERTAIN FEE AND REVENUE
RECEIPTS. (a) An agreement described by Section 442.044 may
authorize an organization to:
(1) charge and collect fees in connection with the
organization's activities, including fees for viewing special
exhibits or films, attending programs or events, and using
commission facilities or other facilities; and
(2) collect revenue from gift shop and concession
sales.
(b) An organization shall hold, invest, manage, use, and
apply money received from the fees and sales described by
Subsection (a) only for the benefit of the commission and may
exercise discretion, subject to the terms of an agreement described
by Section 442.044, regarding business operations, exhibits,
programming, management, preservation, restoration, and site
development.
Sec. 442.046. OWNERSHIP AND ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY. An
organization:
(1) retains ownership of property purchased using the
organization's money and held in the organization's name; and
(2) may acquire items by gift, grant, or purchase
using the organization's money.
Sec. 442.047. DISPOSITION OF ORGANIZATION ASSETS ON
DISSOLUTION. (a) In the event of an organization's dissolution,
the commission is the sole beneficiary of all items held in the
organization's name that relate to the commission, except as
otherwise provided by the organization's articles of incorporation
or the terms of the gift or other transfer of the items to the
organization.
(b) An item for which the commission is not the sole
beneficiary must be clearly identified and described on an agreed
list prepared jointly by the commission and the organization.
Sec. 442.048. CONFIDENTIALITY OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. The
name, address, and other identifying information of a person who
makes a donation, including a gift, grant, or other financial
contribution, to an organization is confidential and excepted from
disclosure under Chapter 552.
Sec. 442.049. ACCOUNTABILITY; INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS;
AUDIT. (a) Chapter 2256 applies to an organization that is a party
to an agreement under this subchapter to the extent that the
agreement authorizes the organization to exercise control over
state money.
(b) An organization that is a party to an agreement under
this subchapter shall have an annual audit prepared by an
independent auditor. The organization shall file the audit report
with the commission.
(c) All financial transactions involving, and financial
records relating to, state money held by an organization that is a
party to an agreement under this subchapter are subject to audit by
the state auditor as provided by Section 321.013.
Sec. 442.050. EXPENDITURES; LIMITS. (a) The commission
shall direct, by the terms of an agreement entered into under this
subchapter, an organization's spending of state money.
(b) A state employee may not directly spend or obligate an
organization's money.
(c) An organization may not spend state money to:
(1) lobby or otherwise attempt to influence a member
of the legislature; or
(2) directly or indirectly attempt to influence
legislation.
SECTION 6. Section 442.072(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The following historic sites in this state are under the
commission's jurisdiction:
(1) Acton State Historic Site;
(2) Barrington Living History Farm State Historic
Site;
(3) Bush Family Home State Historic Site;
(4) Caddo [Caddoan] Mounds State Historic Site;
(5) [(3)] Casa Navarro State Historic Site;
(6) [(4)] Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic
Site;
(7) [(5)] Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site;
(8) [(6)] Fannin Battleground State Historic Site;
(9) [(7)] Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site;
(10) [(8)] Fort Griffin State Historic Site;
(11) [(9)] Fort Lancaster State Historic Site;
(12) Fort Martin Scott State Historic Site;
(13) [(10)] Fort McKavett State Historic Site;
(14) French Legation State Historic Site;
(15) [(11)] Fulton Mansion State Historic Site;
(16) Goodnight Ranch State Historic Site;
(17) Harvey House State Historic Site;
(18) Iwo Jima Monument and Museum State Historic Site;
(19) Kreische Brewery State Historic Site;
(20) [(12)] Landmark Inn State Historic Site;
(21) [(13)] Levi Jordan State Historic Site;
(22) [(14)] Lipantitlan State Historic Site;
(23) [(15)] Magoffin Home State Historic Site;
(24) [(16)] Mission Dolores State Historic Site;
(25) [(17)] Monument Hill [and Kreische Brewery]
State Historic Site [Sites];
(26) [(18)] National Museum of the Pacific War;
(27) Old Socorro Mission State Historic Site;
(28) Palmito Ranch Battlefield State Historic Site;
(29) Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historic Site;
(30) Presidio La Bahia State Historic Site;
(31) [(19)] Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic
Site;
(32) [(20)] Sam Bell Maxey House State Historic Site;
(33) [(21)] Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site;
(34) [(22)] San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site;
(35) San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site;
(36) Star of the Republic Museum State Historic Site;
(37) [(23)] Starr Family Home State Historic Site;
(38) Stephen F. Austin Memorial State Historic Site;
(39) [(24)] Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic
Site; and
(40) [(25)] Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic
Site[; and
[(26) the property known as the French Legation].
SECTION 7. Section 442.101(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Except as authorized by Section 442.0046, the [The]
commission by rule shall adopt policies and procedures consistent
with Subchapter A, Chapter 2254, and other applicable state
procurement practices for soliciting and awarding contracts under
this section.
SECTION 8. Section 442.113, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (d) to
read as follows:
(a) The Texas Historical Commission retail operations fund
is a special fund established outside the state treasury as a fund
to be held and administered by the comptroller as directed by the
commission to provide support for commission retail operations
under Section 442.112. The fund may include [consists of] revenue
from commission retail operations and earned revenue from operating
receipts but [and] may not include appropriated money.
(a-1) Appropriated money may be used to provide financial
support for and grow retail operations.
(d) The commission's retail operations are considered an
auxiliary enterprise for purposes of Section 2155.141.
SECTION 9. Subchapter D, Chapter 442, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 442.114 to read as follows:
Sec. 442.114. HISTORIC SITE THEMES AND INTERPRETATION. (a)
The commission shall approve historical themes and interpretive
storylines for each historic site based on a framework that
portrays a cohesive story of Texas as seen through its historic
sites.
(b) Staff historians and interpretive planners employed by
the commission shall develop the framework described by Subsection
(a) and submit the framework to the commission for approval.
(c) The historical themes and interpretive storylines
approved by the commission for each historic site shall be the basis
for exhibits and interpretive plans produced for each historic site
by commission staff or contractors.
(d) Staff and volunteer educators, interpreters, guides,
and presenters must be trained by commission staff in a manner
consistent with the framework described by Subsection (a) and
approved by the commission.
(e) The commission shall ensure that visitors to each
historic site are presented with exhibits and programs that are
consistent with the framework described by Subsection (a) and
approved by the commission.
SECTION 10. Chapter 442, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter D-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER D-1. WASHINGTON-ON-THE-BRAZOS HISTORICAL FOUNDATION
Sec. 442.151. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "foundation"
means the Washington-on-the-Brazos Historical Foundation.
Sec. 442.152. PURPOSE OF FOUNDATION. (a) The foundation is
a nonprofit historical association established under Section
442.005(p) for the purposes of supporting the operations of:
(1) the Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site;
(2) the Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site;
(3) the Barrington Living History Farm State Historic
Site; and
(4) the Star of the Republic Museum State Historic
Site.
(b) The commission shall designate the foundation as the
entity responsible for providing operational support for the sites
described by Subsection (a) and engaging in related activities for,
and providing financial support to, those sites.
Sec. 442.153. RESPONSIBILITIES OF FOUNDATION AND
COMMISSION. The foundation and the commission shall enter into an
agreement that establishes the:
(1) working relationship between the foundation and
the commission in connection with the activities conducted at the
sites described by Section 442.152(a);
(2) best practices under which the foundation may
engage in business activities described by this subchapter;
(3) relationship between the commission's employees
and the foundation; and
(4) guidelines for identifying and defining the
administrative and financial support the commission may provide in
connection with the sites described by Section 442.152(a).
Sec. 442.154. AGREEMENTS REGARDING CERTAIN HISTORIC SITES.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the foundation and the
commission may enter into an agreement under Subchapter A-1 to use
state money for the following purposes regarding a site described
by Section 442.152(a):
(1) expanding, renovating, managing, maintaining,
operating, or providing financial support for the site;
(2) maintaining, preserving, restoring, and
protecting property located on the site;
(3) promoting and conducting archeological studies at
the site;
(4) maintaining, repairing, renovating, restoring,
improving, expanding, or equipping improvements at the site,
including constructing new improvements;
(5) designing and fabricating exhibits and
preserving, storing, and displaying artifacts, historical data,
and items of historical significance, including artifacts, data,
livestock, and items owned or held by the foundation, at the site;
(6) creating interpretive and educational programs
regarding the site;
(7) acquiring real property, additional artifacts,
historical data, and items of historical significance relevant to
the Texas Revolution and the period in which it occurred, and early
Texas settlement and culture related to the site; and
(8) preserving, restoring, storing, and conserving
artifacts, historical data, and items of historical significance
related to the site.
(b) Subject to the terms of an agreement under Subchapter
A-1, the foundation may exercise discretion regarding business
operations, exhibits, programming, collection management,
preservation, restoration, storage, and site development at the
site that is the subject of the agreement.
Sec. 442.155. COLLECTION AND USE OF CERTAIN FEE AND REVENUE
RECEIPTS. (a) An agreement described by Section 442.154 may
authorize the foundation to, at the site that is the subject of the
agreement:
(1) charge and collect fees in connection with the
foundation's activities at the site, including fees for viewing
special exhibits or films, attending programs or events, and using
the facilities at the site; and
(2) collect revenue from gift shop and concession
sales at the site.
(b) The foundation shall hold, invest, manage, use, and
apply money received from the fees and sales described by
Subsection (a) only for the benefit of the sites described by
Section 442.152(a).
Sec. 442.156. COMMISSION ADVICE AND OVERSIGHT. (a) The
commission shall advise the foundation on the operation,
interpretation, and presentation of historical events,
preservation, archeology, education, nature, philanthropy, and
business development regarding a site described by Section
442.152(a).
(b) The commission may appoint two nonvoting members to the
foundation's board.
Sec. 442.157. FUNDRAISING. (a) The foundation shall set
priorities for fundraising activities at the sites described by
Section 442.152(a).
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the commission may
adopt rules to establish naming opportunities as described by
Section 442.032.
Sec. 442.158. OWNERSHIP AND ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY. The
foundation:
(1) retains ownership of property purchased using the
foundation's money and held in the foundation's name; and
(2) may acquire items by gift, grant, or purchase
using the foundation's money.
Sec. 442.159. DISPOSITION OF FOUNDATION ASSETS ON
DISSOLUTION. (a) In the event of the foundation's dissolution, the
commission is the sole beneficiary of all items held in the
foundation's name that relate to the revolutionary history of a
site described by Section 442.152(a) and to early Texas settlement
and culture, except as otherwise provided by the foundation's
articles of incorporation or the terms of the gift or other transfer
of the items to the foundation.
(b) An item for which the commission is not the sole
beneficiary must be clearly identified and described on an agreed
list prepared jointly by the commission and the foundation.
SECTION 11. Subchapter K, Chapter 2166, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2166.504 to read as follows:
Sec. 2166.504. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER TO CERTAIN
MARKERS. This subchapter does not apply to a marker over which the
Texas Historical Commission has jurisdiction under Section
442.0062.
SECTION 12. Section 442.0055, Government Code, is repealed.
SECTION 13. Section 442.0046, Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a contract for which bids are first
solicited on or after the effective date of this Act. A contract
for which bids are first solicited before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 14. Section 442.0151, Government Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to a distribution from the historic
infrastructure sustainability trust fund requested by the Texas
Historical Commission on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 15. On the effective date of this Act, the Texas
Historical Commission is responsible for the preservation,
maintenance, and repair of official Texas historical markers as
provided by Section 442.0062, Government Code, as added by this
Act, including markers described by that section for which the
Texas Facilities Commission previously had responsibility before
that date.
SECTION 16. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 4187 was passed by the House on April
30, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. No.
4187 on May 23, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 129, Nays 9, 1
present, not voting; and that the House adopted H.C.R. No. 166
authorizing certain corrections in H.B. No. 4187 on May 28, 2025, by
the following vote: Yeas 121, Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 4187 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 20, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays
4; and that the Senate adopted H.C.R. No. 166 authorizing certain
corrections in H.B. No. 4187 on May 30, 2025, by the following vote:
Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor