2025 Texas Legislation
| Bill Number | Author | Caption | Summary | Stage | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SB 141 | Hall, Bob | Relating to the authority of a municipality or a property owners’ association to regulate the raising or keeping of chickens. | A municipality or HOA may not prohibit the keeping of six or fewer chickens on a single-family residential lot. Applies only to restrictive covenants created on or after September 1, 2025. | 02/03/2025 Referred to the Local Government Committee where it will surely die. | Good bill; prefer it apply to all restrictive covenants rather than only new HOA developments. |
| HB 2013 | Bell, Cecil | Relating to the authority of certain property owners’ associations to prohibit or restrict the keeping of chickens. | Says that an HOA in a municipality may not prohibit chickens if they are allowed by municipal ordinance. | Has passed the House, is currently in the Senate Local Government committee. | Not as all-encompassing as HB 294, but a good start. |
| SB 541 | Kolkhorst, Lois | Relating to cottage food production operations. | Broad cottage food reform bill. 1. Allows the director or officer of a nonprofit organization to produce cottage foods (this was in question previously). 2. Increases the sales revenue cap to $100,000 per year. 3. Allows resale/wholesale through a “cottage food vendor” at a farmers market, farm stand, food service establishment, or retail food store. A “cottage food vendor” is someone the cottage food producer has a contractual relationship with. This vendor must display in a prominent location near the location where the cottage food is offered for sale a sign that discloses the food was produced in a home kitchen and may contain allergens. 4. Makes the home address on cottage food labels optional, replaced with the name, city, and zip code of the producer, plus at least one of the following AFTER you accept payment for the food: phone number, email address, or mailing address. 5. Explicitly says local governments may not require licenses or permits in order to sell cottage foods, and says they can’t employ or “continue to employ” a person who knowingly requires or attempts to require a cottage food producer to obtain a license or permit in violation of this section. 6. Allows the sale of baked goods that require refrigeration like cheesecake, cream pies, custard pies, flan, and pumpkin pie. | Is now a copy of HB 2588. Has passed the House and Senate. | |
| HB 520 | Goodwin, Vicki | Relating to cottage food production operations. | Similar to SB 541 above, but as of introduction contains two concessions made in the House that Homemade Texas does not agree with. | Waiting for a committee hearing. | Remove additional labeling requirement for “produced on” date, and remove the restriction on wholesaling of baked goods by cottage food producers. |
| HB 294 | Cortez, Phillip | Relating to the regulation by a municipality or property owners’ association of food production on single-family residential lots. | As filed, identical to last session’s Home Food Security that passed the House 143-1. Allows 6 hens, 6 rabbits, front or side yard gardens, and prohibits HOAs from prohibiting cottage food operations. | Passed the House; in Senate Local Government committee where it will surely die. | No suggestions for improvement. |
| HB 2588 | Hull, Lacey | Relating to cottage food production operations. | Texas Food Freedom Act – includes everything in SB 541 PLUS allows more foods for sale, increases sales cap to $100k per year and indexes it for inflation beginning in 2026, clarifies sampling rules and says a cottage food producer can donate to a nonprofit bake sale the way an individual can. | Passed the House 5/13/2025. Annual sales cap raised to $150,000, indexed for inflation. | A fantastic bill, the standard bearer for this session. |
| HB 2952 | Alders, Daniel | Relating to the definition of a cottage food production operation. | Completely removes the sales cap from the cottage food law. | Waiting for a committee hearing. | Great bill! |