Texas House bill by Rep. Lopez enhances confidentiality of terrorism-related information

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Ray Lopez seeks to enhance the confidentiality of information concerning terrorism prevention, emergency response, and critical infrastructure security following approval in both chambers, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, 55 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while one Democrat opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 10 Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor, while one Democrat voted against it.

Ray Lopez introduced the bill in the Texas House on Thursday, March 13, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Lopez, a Democrat, was elected to the Texas State House in 2019 to represent the state’s 125th House district, replacing previous state representative Justin Rodriguez.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the confidentiality of information used to prevent, detect, respond to, or investigate a hostile act of a foreign adversary of the United States’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends multiple sections of the Texas Government Code to enhance the confidentiality of information related to preventing, detecting, or investigating acts of terrorism or hostile actions by foreign adversaries of the United States. The bill makes confidential any information that pertains to emergency response staffing requirements, tactical plans, and communication numbers; risk or vulnerability assessments of infrastructure; encryption or security codes of public communication systems; and technical details of critical infrastructure vulnerabilities. It also protects data involved in reports to U.S. agencies that require confidentiality to ensure compliance with federal statutes or regulations, facilitate state-federal information sharing, or secure federal funding. The act takes effect immediately with a two-thirds majority vote; otherwise, it becomes effective Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (Republican – District 98), Rep. Greg Bonnen (Republican – District 24), and Rep. Will Metcalf (Republican – District 16), along with 15 other authors.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Tuesday, May 20, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.