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Senate passes bill clarifying state access to national criminal-history checks
Summary
The Texas Senate advanced and ultimately passed a committee substitute clarifying which state agencies and populations are eligible for national criminal-history background checks and preserving Texas—s continued access to FBI systems.
The Texas Senate moved and approved a committee substitute to Senate Bill 25 87 on the floor, a measure lawmakers said clarifies which state agencies and groups are entitled to access national criminal-history record checks and preserves Texas— continued access to FBI background-check systems.
Supporters said the bill addresses gaps in existing law. "State law must explicitly define which state agencies and population groups are entitled to national background checks," the senator who moved the suspension of regular order said on the floor, arguing the bill would "correct inefficiencies by explicitly defining the agencies and persons eligible for national background checks in state law and sharing Texas continued access to the FBI's background check system."
The measure moved rapidly through the Senate after the motion to suspend rules was granted. Senator Zaffirini (recognized on the floor for subsequent motions) moved passage to engrossment and then moved final passage. The clerk called the roll on final passage and the record shows 31 ayes and 0 nays; the chair announced the bill was finally passed.
The bill caption read in session as relating "to the access to and use of certain criminal history record information to the procedure for obtaining that information to correct correct terminology for certain licenses, the issuance of which requires a criminal history background." The Senate did not discuss amendments on the floor in the recorded excerpt.
Senate action consisted of suspension of the regular order to take up the committee substitute, passage to engrossment, suspension of the three-day constitutional rule, and a roll-call vote for final passage. The transcript records the procedural steps and the roll call totals above; no further implementing details or effective dates were discussed in the recorded segment.
The measure was presented and acted on entirely on the Senate floor during this session. The transcript does not include further committee reports, engrossed text, or signatures included in the excerpt provided.
The Senate record shows the bill advanced under expedited procedures; any next steps (enrollment, transmittal to the House if required, or signature by the governor) were not recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.
