Texas Senate passes package of bills on CPA licensure, telemarketing, parental rights and more

The Texas Senate on March 11, 2025, passed a group of bills and a proposed constitutional amendment covering professional licensure, telemarketing rules, public-safety coordination and parental-rights language.

The measures adopted during the floor session included changes to certified public accountant eligibility, an expanded definition of “telephone call” for solicitation law enforcement, confidentiality protections for certain employees, creation of a statewide firefighting equipment database, clarified authority for local governments to enter water-planning interlocal agreements, housekeeping changes to dietitian licensure, and a proposed constitutional amendment on parental rights. Several bills were amended on the floor before final passage.

Why it matters: The bills affect professional licensing and administrative procedures across the state and propose a constitutional amendment that, if approved by voters, would place protections for parental authority into the Texas Constitution.

On CPA licensure, Senator Perry said the bill responds to a decline in CPA candidates by creating an alternate licensure path that requires a baccalaureate degree, specified accounting coursework and two years of relevant work experience. The Senate adopted a floor amendment that changed the measure’s effective-date language; the amendment was offered from the floor and adopted without objection. The committee substitute for what the Senate read as SB 262 then passed final passage by a roll call recorded as 31 ayes and no nays.

Senator Hall described Senate Bill 140 as a fix to two chapters of the Business & Commerce Code, explaining that one chapter defined a telephone call while the other did not and that courts had read the code narrowly. “Simply put,…