Texas Senate Bill SB 140

Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

• Filed: 11/12/24
• Out of Senate Committee: 3/4/25
• Voted on by Senate: 3/11/25
• Out of House Committee: 5/19/25
• Voted on by House: 5/27/25
• Governor Action: 6/20/25

Caption

Relating to certain definitions relating to the regulation of and private rights of action arising from certain solicitation-related communications.

Summary

SB 140 revises Texas law governing telephone solicitation, telemarketing, and related solicitation communications. It expands the definition of “telephone solicitation” to cover not only traditional phone calls, but also other transmissions such as text messages, graphic messages, and images when initiated by a seller or salesperson to induce a purchase, rental, claim, or receipt of an item. The bill also clarifies that calls made by a purchaser in response to a solicitation sent by mail or by other means can fall within the definition. The bill further directs that the relevant chapters on telephone solicitation, telemarketing, and certain solicitation-related communications be liberally construed to protect the public from false, misleading, abusive, or deceptive practices. It adds provisions making violations of Chapters 304 and 305 actionable as deceptive trade practices under Chapter 17, Subchapter E, which allows both public and private remedies to be used to enforce those chapters. It also states that a claimant’s prior recovery in a private action does not limit recovery in a later proceeding, and it applies only to conduct occurring on or after September 1, 2025.

Impact

SB 140 broadens the scope of Texas Business & Commerce Code provisions regulating solicitation-related communications by expressly including text, graphic, and image-based transmissions within the definition of telephone solicitation and by tying violations of Chapters 304 and 305 to the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. This gives consumers and enforcement authorities additional remedies, including private causes of action and public enforcement tools under Chapter 17, and may increase liability exposure for businesses engaged in telemarketing or solicitation. The bill applies prospectively to conduct on or after September 1, 2025.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate unanimously, passed the House overwhelmingly with 136 yeas and no nays, and the Senate later concurred in the House amendment unanimously. The vote history suggests strong bipartisan agreement on updating solicitation law and consumer protections.

Contention

There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record. The main policy issue reflected in the bill is whether solicitation laws should be expanded to cover modern communication methods like texts, images, and other electronic transmissions, and whether violations should be enforceable as deceptive trade practices with both public and private remedies. The bill’s language also preserves broad recovery for repeat claimants, which could matter to businesses facing multiple lawsuits, but no recorded debate or votes indicate organized resistance to that approach.