The bill, S.B. No. 1796, proposes significant amendments to the statutory construction guidelines within the Texas Government Code. Key changes include the clarification of terms such as "shall" and "must," with "shall" now explicitly imposing a duty without indicating discretion, and "must" imposing a requirement that creates a duty or condition precedent. Additionally, the bill introduces new sections that prohibit courts from considering legislative intent or legislative history when interpreting statutes, mandating that courts enforce the statutory text as written. This includes a prohibition on using statements from individual legislators, committee reports, or comments from presiding officers or the governor during the interpretation process.

Further amendments include provisions for severability, ensuring that unless a statute explicitly states otherwise, all parts of a statute are severable, and invalid applications do not affect the validity of remaining applications. The bill also addresses grammatical or scrivener's errors, stating that such errors do not invalidate a law and allowing courts to interpret statutes in a manner consistent with ordinary understanding. Several existing sections of the Government Code are repealed, and the bill is set to take effect on September 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Government Code 311.016, Government Code 311.025, Government Code 311.026, Government Code 311.028, Government Code 311.034, Government Code 311.021 (Government Code 311)