Texas House Bill HB 39

Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

• Filed: 3/3/25
• Out of House Committee: 3/31/25
• Voted on by House: 4/15/25
• Out of Senate Committee: 5/19/25
• Voted on by Senate: 5/21/25
• Governor Action: 6/20/25

Caption

Relating to information and data regarding the incidence of veteran deaths in this state.

Summary

HB 39 requires the Texas Department of State Health Services, through the vital statistics process, to provide the Texas Veterans Commission with deidentified information from death certificates for certain deceased persons who are veterans or otherwise covered by the statute. The information includes manner of death, age, race, sex, occupation, and, when reasonably available, prior use of psychotropic drugs. For deaths by suicide or homicide, the manner of death is specifically included. The bill is aimed at improving the state’s understanding of veteran mortality patterns. The bill also requires the Texas Veterans Commission to compile the information into an annual report due each December 1, beginning with an initial report due by December 1, 2027. That report must include aggregated data from the prior year, an evaluation of the data, and recommendations for legislative or other action. The report must be submitted to the legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over veterans affairs and posted on the commission’s website. The act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Impact

HB 39 amends Section 193.006 of the Health and Safety Code to expand the flow of deidentified death-certificate data from the state’s vital statistics unit to the Texas Veterans Commission. It creates a new reporting duty for the commission and establishes a recurring annual publication requirement. The bill does not create new benefits or penalties, but it changes how state agencies collect, share, analyze, and publicly report veteran death data, with implications for veterans policy, suicide prevention, and public health analysis.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislative process. The House votes reflected overwhelming approval, and the Senate committee reported the bill favorably by a 6-0 vote through a committee substitute. The available record suggests general agreement that better data on veteran deaths is useful for policy and oversight, with no recorded committee testimony indicating significant opposition.

Contention

There is little evidence of major contention in the available materials. The main policy choice is the scope of data sharing: the bill limits the information to deidentified fields and only includes psychotropic drug history if reasonably available, which suggests privacy and data-availability concerns were considered. Any potential debate would likely center on balancing confidentiality of death records with the need for more detailed veteran mortality data, but no specific opponents or disputed provisions are reflected in the provided record.