Texas HUB Certification for Women-Owned Businesses in 2026
Last verified: 3 November 2026. Written by the BusinessHer.com editorial team from Texas Comptroller releases, court records and news reports. This is general information, not legal advice. We will update this page after the court rules.
Quick answer: A woman-owned business can no longer get Texas Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) certification because it is woman-owned. Since December 2025 the Texas Comptroller has limited the program, now called VetHUB, to businesses owned by service-disabled veterans, and since May 12, 2026 that has been written into permanent rules. A lawsuit challenging the change is still in Travis County court. In the meantime, women-owned firms can pursue SBA women-owned small business certification, WBENC certification for corporate buyers, and registration on the state’s Centralized Master Bidders List.
What happened to the Texas HUB program?
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2025 | The Comptroller freezes new and renewed HUB certifications. |
| Dec 2, 2025 | Emergency rules rename the program VetHUB and limit it to small businesses at least 51% owned and controlled by veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 20% or higher. Certifications based on race, ethnicity or sex no longer qualify. |
| Early Jan 2026 | Certifications based on race, ethnicity or sex are cancelled. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit say more than 15,000 businesses lost their certification. |
| Feb 26, 2026 | The Comptroller announces that its agreements with regional certification partners have expired. The list includes the City of Austin, the City of Houston and the Women’s Business Council Southwest. The office says it now handles all certifications itself and that VetHUB has 1,075 certified businesses. |
| Mar 2, 2026 | Business owners and a contractors’ association sue the Comptroller in Travis County. Two more businesses join on March 13, for six business plaintiffs. |
| Mid-April 2026 | A Travis County judge grants a temporary injunction. It restores the earlier rules only for the six plaintiff businesses. |
| May 12, 2026 | Permanent rules take effect, replacing the emergency rules. The program operates on a race-, ethnicity- and sex-neutral basis. |
| Summer 2026 | The Fifteenth Court of Appeals treats the temporary injunction as moot because the permanent rules replaced the emergency ones. It declines to end the lawsuit, which returns to the trial court. |
The trial court had set a trial for November 9, 2026. We could not confirm whether that date still stands after the appeal, so check the Travis County docket or recent news before you plan around it.
Can a woman-owned business still get HUB certified in Texas?
Not on the basis of being woman-owned. The Comptroller’s rules now certify only small businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, and its release says classifications based on race, ethnicity or sex were removed. If you are a woman who is also a service-disabled veteran with a rating of at least 20%, you may qualify as a VetHUB. Questions about eligibility go to VetHUBProgram@cpa.texas.gov, the address the Comptroller publishes.
Businesses that already had state contracts when the change was announced were reported to keep them. Check your own contract terms and talk to your contracting officer if you are unsure.
Why did the state make this change?
The Comptroller’s office says the new rules end race- and sex-based preferences in state contracting and keep the program focused on service-disabled veterans. The plaintiffs argue that the HUB program was created by the Legislature and that the Comptroller had no authority to rewrite it. A trial judge agreed at the temporary-injunction stage, but the appellate ruling means the legal question is still open.
What can women-owned businesses in Texas do instead?
- Register on the Centralized Master Bidders List (CMBL). The Comptroller has said any qualified business can register on the list that state agencies use to notify vendors of bids. It does not give a preference, but it puts you on the list.
- Get SBA certification for federal set-asides. The federal women-owned small business program is separate from the state program. See our guides to EDWOSB certification and to SBA’s 2026 EDWOSB review, and our overview of getting certified as a woman-owned business.
- Consider WBENC certification. WBENC is a private certification that corporate supplier-diversity programs use, and it is not affected by the state’s change. It is not a substitute for state or federal set-aside status. See how to apply for WBE certification.
- Check your city and county. Some local governments ran their own programs or relied on regional certifiers whose state agreements expired. Ask the procurement office of the cities and counties you bid with what they accept now.
- Know the federal transportation rules. Since October 3, 2025 the U.S. Department of Transportation no longer presumes that women-owned businesses are disadvantaged for its DBE program. Firms must show disadvantage individually and have been required to be re-evaluated. Contact your state’s Unified Certification Program for current steps.
- Keep your records. If you held a HUB certificate, keep it and your contract documents. They may matter if the court restores the program.
Frequently asked questions
Did my Texas HUB certification expire?
If it was based on race, ethnicity or sex, the Comptroller’s rules say it no longer qualifies, and the plaintiffs say those certifications were cancelled in January 2026. Look up your status in the state’s HUB system or ask the Comptroller.
Will the court bring the HUB program back for women-owned businesses?
No one can say yet. The temporary injunction covered only the six plaintiffs, and the appellate court treated it as moot. The case continues on the merits. We will update this page when the trial court rules.
Does this affect federal women-owned small business certification?
No. The SBA program is a federal program and is separate. It faces its own review, which we describe in our guide to SBA’s 2026 EDWOSB review.
Does this affect WBENC certification?
No. WBENC is a private organization. Its certification continues to be used by corporate supplier-diversity programs, though it no longer feeds into the state HUB list.
Is there state funding for women-owned businesses in Texas?
Separate from certification, Texas Woman’s University runs grant programs that were long described as grants for women-owned businesses, although TWU now says its funding is open to any Texas resident. We explain what is open and what to prepare in our guide to Texas grants and funding for women-owned businesses.
Sources and how we checked
- Texas Comptroller press release, February 26, 2026: expiration of regional agreements and VetHUB figures.
- Texas Tribune, December 2, 2025: announcement of the changes.
- Texas Tribune, March 2, 2026: the lawsuit.
- Jackson Lewis: summary of the complaint and the number of cancelled certifications.
- Houston Public Media, April 14, 2026: the temporary injunction.
- Texas Fifteenth Court of Appeals, No. 15-26-00091-CV: the appellate opinion.
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund explainer: timeline and trial date.
- Jones Day on the USDOT DBE rule.
We compared these sources and used the Comptroller’s own statements where they differ. The situation is changing, so confirm details with the Comptroller before you act. See a mistake? Email contact@businessher.com and we will correct it.
