The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice on Oct. 11 voted to report House Bill 3425 to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation after the sponsor said the bill would expand existing law to cover disclosures made through electronic communications.

Senate sponsor Senator Zaffirini (reading sponsor remarks) said House Bill 3425 would make it an offense to disclose a person’s residence address or telephone number through electronic communications, such as text messages or emails, when done with the intent to cause harm. The sponsor told the committee that House Bill 611 of 2023 made it an offense to post someone’s address or phone number on a publicly accessible website with intent to cause harm, but current law does not explicitly address similar disclosures made by direct electronic message.

Under the bill, a disclosure of an address or phone number with intent to harm delivered by electronic communication would be treated equivalently to a public posting, and such a posting would serve as prima facie evidence of the offense, the sponsor said.

No invited or public testimony was presented on HB 3425 at the committee hearing. After the sponsor’s explanation, the chair moved that the bill be reported to the full Senate with a recommendation to pass; the roll call recorded the motion as passing 6–0.

Committee members recorded as voting "Aye" included Chair Flores; Vice Chair Parker; Senator Hinojosa; Senator Huffman; Senator Miles; and Senator King. The committee recorded 6 ayes and 0 nays.

The sponsor framed the bill as closing a gap in enforcement by treating disclosure via electronic communications the same as disclosure on public websites. The measure will proceed to the full Senate for floor consideration.